Conference misery::feline_v1

    I, also, am new to owning a cat.  Katie is almost 7 months old now
    and STILL loves to bite when she's in a playful mood.  It can be
    annyoying, however, when she goes for the bare feet!  The other
    day I was trying to get ready for work and she followed me all over
    the house biting my bare feet!  OUCH!!!  She also likes to bite
    hands and arms when I'm in bed...little devil!
    
    I don't know what to tell you about keeping them from biting.  Maybe
    they will grow out of it.  When I was growing up, we had a cat and
    she lived to be 14 and never 'went for the flesh'.  Maybe each cat
    is different...good luck!

    One thing I can suggest is that when your playing, never play with
    your hands or your feet....always use a toy of some sort.  It's
    easy to teach a kitten to bite fingers and toes without really
    realizing your doing it....you know, like moving your fingers back
    and forth to get their attention!!!   
    
    With my kitties I will play with them with toys, but as soon as
    they go for fingers or feet I give a loud "NO" and stop playing.
    Then resume playing with a toy...maybe they'll get the idea.
    
    Seems to work for me, but persians are much more mellow!!!
    
    cin...whose got her hands full now with an Exotic Shorthair kitten!
    

    
    I think this behavior varies from cat to cat.  I do think, however,
    that kittens tend to get "nippy" out of playful excitement, and if you
    don't pull away when they do it, they get bored because their "toy" is
    no longer trying to get away, and you end up less war-torn.  One of my
    cats bit a lot when she was small, and it lasted about six months.  The
    male rarely bit, just gently, and never has used his claws in play.  I
    have known both types of cats which is why I think it's part of their
    individual personalities...  I think he'll grow out of it... in the
    meantime, ever thought of wearing gloves? ;-) 
    
    I think there is better advice in other notes in this file however,
    try a SHOW KEYWORDS.  I know the subject has come up before, and
    I do believe I myself once suggested using hot pepper sauce on your
    fingers...  I think that it's hard to get the cat to realize just
    exactly what it is your punishing them for, you certainly don't
    want to punish them for being playful...      
    
    certainly a dilemma to ponder...
    
    amy.
        

    When Witch (the name was earned) was a kitten she adopted me as
    her person and she liked to play by nibbling my fingers when I was
    reading.  If she bit too hard I said "Gently" and she would back
    off.  She would nab Jeanne, who named her.  Witch's kittens have
    all been nippers.  What has worked when they bite too hard, gentle
    nips are not punished, has been to tap them lightly between the
    ears with the bony part of the finger and say "NO".  If they don't
    get the hint then I grasp the scruff of the neck and gently shake
    and say "No"
    
    Frank 

    .4's reply is good advice.
    
    Billie (10+ years) STILL does it from time to time, and I've had
    her since she was about 8 months old.  And she doesn't just like
    to bite, she likes to CHEW!  So what I do whenever she starts that
    is to say NO! loudly, and get up and leave her.  I don't go near
    her for at least 5 minutes after--usually way before then she comes
    to me, purring and rubbing, as if to say "Sorry, didn't mean to
    get carried away."  Then we either play again (gently) or I give
    her a good scratch and/or a brushing to show that there's no hard
    feelings.
    
    I guess I just try to let her know that some behavior isn't
    appreciated; just like she lets ME know when I do something she
    doesn't like!
    
    Cats own US, not the other way around!
    
    Jane

    
    Thanks for all the good advice .. it does help.  Being a new owner
    I really appreciate the willingness of everyone to share their
    experiences.  We have a wonderful company full of wonderful
    feline owners! Thanks!
    
    Donna

    We *did* go over this one before, but I'll be happy to give my advice
    again.  Kittens, like babies, cut teeth.  As well as being playful,
    your kitty's chewing may be an effect of his gums hurting.  Make
    sure he has something other than your hands and your furniture to
    chew on!
    
    Try getting some of the teething medicine for infants.  I used Ambusol
    (I think) for our kitten instead of Oragel, which contains alcohol.
    Read the labels and get the non-alcohol one.  Rub it on the litten's
    gums when he chews.  It will ease any gum pain, and it doesn't taste
    really good (I know, I tried it first, the things we do for kitty
    love! :-)  so if it is *not* teething pain, it will be a deterant
    to chewing anyhow!  Basil got through the chewing stage without
    taking our fingers this way!
    
    Good luck!
    
    Rita
    

    My kitty whose name happens to be "Kitty" bites when she plays.
    It is only a little minor chewing, nothing to get upset about.
    My advice to you is to just tap her on the nose (very lightly of
    course) and say a firm "no".  Cats are not, by any means, stupid.
    They'll get the hang of it soon.  I don't mind "Kitty" nibbling
    on my fingers or toes because it shows me she loves me and is trying
    to show her affection.  She is so cute when she lays upside down
    and stretches her paws out to grab my hand or foot to nibble on.
    How can you help but let them get their own way?  She even talks
    to me.  Someday I'm afraid I will really know what she is talking
    about!!
    
    A fellow feline mother  *SHA*
    

If you have a kitten, and she/he is teething, braid an old pair of pantyhose
for the kittent to play with, chew on and drag around the house.  The nylon
doesn't hurt either their gums or teeth, so it's relatively safe.

If worse comes to worse, bite the kitten/cat back!  Boy, do they get the
message fast! Remember to say, "NO" when you bite.

Regards,
J

    Hi.  My two cents about biting:
    
    First of all, teach them now.  If they are allowed to continue biting
    in the hope that they will "grow out of it" then you may have a
    real problem adult later.  
    
    Like it has been suggested before, do not use your hands or fingers
    as a play toy.  Always use a real toy.  Do not rough up the cat
    with your hand (like rolling them on their back and rubbing your
    hand quickly on their stomach back and forth); they will only get
    frustrated and want to bite the offending hand.
    
    Do tell them NO when they bite, even if it doesn't hurt.  Kitten's
    bites MAY not hurt now, but WILL hurt as the cat gets older.  Always
    take your hand away from them after telling them no.
    
    In the case of an older cat who has never been trained, it may be
    more difficult.  When we got Tyler he had never had any discipline.
    He found PLEASURE in shredding people's arms with his claws and
    biting them.  I took more drastic action with him, and if he bit
    my finger then I would continue the finger down his throat briefly.
    This would gag him and he would stop biting.  If he bit my hand
    I continued to insert my hand in his mouth until it was uncomfortable
    for him, then quickly withdraw it (you don't want to hurt them).
    He is now a loving cat (more each day) and has learned to purr,
    and he does NOT shred people.  He had to learn the hard way not
    to bite.  Most cats are probably not as stubborn (or obnoxious)
    as he was, so temper what you do to your cat's personality.
    
                     Carol

    The following advice came from my sister Jo Ann and worked for me.
    
    When your kitty bites you take your finger and put it in his/her
    mouth and press down on his/her tongue while saying NO firmly. 
    The kitty will react by opening its mouth to get away from the
    pressure on its tongue.  Do this each time.  It doesn't take very
    long for them to get the message.  My cats learned after only a
    few tries.
    
    Jo Ann has recently experimented with the "bite 'em back" method.
    Her Maine Coon mix was bullying her Birman (Joui).  Jo Ann made
    several attempts to get him to stop and when nothing worked she
    picked up his paw and bit him and said "how do you like it".  There
    hasn't been a problem since.
    
    Jan (who's been very out of touch with this file lately)
                                       

    RE: .12
    
    Should we start a new note on how to get cat hair out of your mouth??
    
    Marion
    

    The cat hair will stick to the peanut butter stuck to the roof of
    your mouth.

    
    
    
    Humanmalt... for those nasty furballs.
    
    (but biting back DOES work)
    
    Dave

    RE:  .15
    
    Does biting back *really* work????  Do you think the critters actually
    get the connection?  Not that I'm saying they are too stupid, but
    I never really believed that a cat would stoop to trying to figure
    a human out.
    
    Marion

    I have always used the mom kitty tap-that is when I catch the
    cat doing something I don't like- I tap the cat on the nose
    (lightly with a finger or two) and say no. Mom cats will
    discpline their kittens with a swat on the nose and apparently
    the conditoning is strong. It has always worked for me.
    

    Biting back does work, but I've only used it in cases where nothing
    else would work.  The kitty tap method is a good idea.
    
    Of course, if your kitty taps like my Crunch (Crunch, though male,
    loves to mother kittens.  Imagine a cat being able to TOTALLY wash
    a kitten in two licks.), you may have to tap harder.  Crunch taps,
    sans claws of course, tend to result in 3.5 somersaults and a dazed
    kitten saying "Did anyone get the license of that truck?".  Adult
    cats tend to only do 2 somersaults, but don't tend to speak
    intelligibly for a few minutes.  must be in the wrist snap, I guess.
    
    Dave

From:	LILAC::FALVELLA      5-JUN-1990 10:05:43.71
To:	@MDD_DIS
CC:	FALVELLA
Subj:	KITTENS - FREE TO A GOOD HOME

I found a litter of abandoned kittens in the woods near my house 
on last Saturday morning.  We rescued them and now have them
living on my screened porch.  I'd like to try and find homes for
them before turning them over to a shelter (if the shelter will
even take them - it's kitten season).

We think they're about two-three weeks old.  They're all
females--one tiger, one all black, one white and black, and one
white and black with long hair.

If anyone has room in their hearts and homes for a nice little 
kitten who'll grow up to be a nice cat, please let me know.

Thanks,
Linda
DTN 264-3646
Home: 508-433-9796 (after 7:00 pm)