Help! I've tried everything to make my cat stop biting me!

[Spyros]

I don't know about in your particular situation, however at our hospital seems about once a month we get similar complaints (usually from elderly people with circulation problems or diabetes). Upon questioning most of them it comes out that someone in the house has been 'wrestling' with the cat on a regular basis using their hands. This only teaches the cat that biting/scratching a human hand is ok and is fun.

In your case I don't know exactly what might be causing it (a check up with the vet to rule out medical problems should be in first order).


However assuming it's behavioral there are a few things you can try.

1) If ANYONE in the house is 'wrestling' with the cat (whether it's with a bare hand, foot or a gloved hand) put a stop to it NOW.

2) Keep a small squirt bottle of water near you at all times. If the cat even attempts to bite/scratch, give it a good squirt in the rear, or a mist in the face. Most cats hate this and it will teach them that when they bite/scratch something unpleasant happens. If it continues biting/scratching keep squirting.

3) If squirting doesn't work, try a loud noise, from say a horn/whistle. Cats dislike high pitched loud noises.

Hopefully these suggestions help, but please do at least call your vet to see if they have any further suggestions since they know your cat better.

I don't know who told you spots have to be on the fur only. My Cami has a black spotted belly too (she's a tabby), and I was assisting the surgery the day she was spayed, and her spots are on the skin, as well as about 100 or more tabbies I've prepped for surgery in the past. But that's beside the point. LOL

Good luck

Hi, I have a pure white fur, blue eyed kitten named Shine. She has been biting me since she was very tiny, and has never stopped biting. She almost NEVER bites or scratches hard enough to draw blood, but I've got pretty thick skin, and it hurts SO bad, on occasion she even does draw blood.

Of course I didn't wrestle with her when she was very small, but she's getting to be around 5 or 6 months old now, and I wrestle with her using my hands.. almost every time she comes close to me. She will run up to me, and just latch onto me and start clawing and biting, wanting to wrestle and play. (It gets MUCH worse when the fleas get bad on her, I bathe her every couple weeks with anti-flea shampoo)

I know now, from reading this thread, that I need to stop encouraging that kind of play if I want to stop being bitten.

My problem is this.. I've tried to stop wrestling with the kitty before, because of the pain, but if I do not wrestle, she will not come near me. When she latches on to me, I can either wrestle with her, or she will just scratch and bite a few times and then run away. She will never just let me pet her. She can even be sleeping, and if I pet her, she will wake up and dig her claws into me and just cling to me like that and start biting.

I want to have her be a calm cat that I can pet and cuddle with. She sleeps with me just fine, but if I am awake, she just wants to fight.

I've tried to reward her for not biting.. But I -never- get the chance. If she can see me, she is ready to pounce and bite.

I can stop wrestling her to stop being bitten, but then how do I get her to start being affectionate, in place of that aggression? I don't want to just have a kitty that won't come near me anymore.

[Catty1]

Stop the wrestling...and I think if you wait long enough, and can get some caresses in, she will learn that different contact is possible. She just needs to learn and be shown.

It will take time and patience.