Show us your kitty cats

[TrixiBuG]

I give Snoopy a light bop on the nose with my finger and say 'A A! NO!' and she stops and lets go...

But the other thing I have been told in the past is to got very still - don't move - and they will stop and wonder 'what the hell?' OR if they have have clamped down pretty hard on your hand, don't try and pull your hand out/away, push your hand in slightly...they will let go then. Same works for if a dog has hold of you apparently

On how to stop? No idea - its just a phase (like a child) that they go through and will stop the older they get

 

[sunama]

Whats the best way to persuade my kitten to stop biting?

He might be teething.
From what I understand he is not biting in a malicious way - he just wants something to chew.

Try shoving a pen in his mouth, he wants to chew on something. My bengal loves to chew and it is very obvious, when he is on the hunt for something to chew. Do not discipline him if he is just biting because he wants something to chew on.

If he is biting maliciously, you MUST slap him round the face, as soon as he does this and let out a squeal - just like another cat would behave if he attempted to bit another cat. This is discipline and when a pet is well-behaved they are a pleasure to be around. Conversely, when they are badly behaved, they are a complete pain.

 

[Kamwah]

He might be teething.
From what I understand he is not biting in a malicious way - he just wants something to chew.

Try shoving a pen in his mouth, he wants to chew on something. My bengal loves to chew and it is very obvious, when he is on the hunt for something to chew. Do not discipline him if he is just biting because he wants something to chew on.

If he is biting maliciously, you MUST slap him round the face, as soon as he does this and let out a squeal - just like another cat would behave if he attempted to bit another cat. This is discipline and when a pet is well-behaved they are a pleasure to be around. Conversely, when they are badly behaved, they are a complete pain.

No.

 

[Nexus18]

Wow!

No way would I ever slap either of my cats for biting/scratching my hand etc. let alone even consider doing it! A firm "no" is all they get.

 

[knip]

Mine get a loud "NO" and i've found whistling distracts them out of whatever they're doing they shouldn't. If they're scratching the carpet, or doing something dangerous like chewing a wire, they get a light tap on the nose and
another loud "NO" which mostly works.

Distraction with the laser pen works well too. Can't imagine me slapping them round the face.

 

[sunama]

You do realise that when a cat is a kitten and it gets out line, the mother slaps it round the muzzle? Am I the only one who knows this?

When 2 cats fight, they get on the hind legs and they slap eachother. This is feedback.

With dogs, discipline/feedback is performed by simulating a bite and a yelp.

What you shouldn't do is just allow a pet to mis-behave. You do this...and you will end up with one very badly behaved animal. The pet will never know that it has done something wrong...or are we now expecting animals to read our minds?

A yelp is also important to re-inforce to the badly behaved animal, that what it has done, is wrong (and perhaps painful).

If one animal, bites another cat or dog...what do they do? They yelp and snap back immediately. This is all part of socialising. An animal learns from feedback and learns what it can do and what it cannot do.

My sister allows her cats to bite and scratch humans (no feedback or discipline was performed when they were kittens). Consequently, they don't understand that what they are doing is wrong and still bite/scratch other humans, as adults. My cat bit me once and it was shouted out. He never bit me again. Ever. And I have never seen my cats bite/scratch another human being....ever.

 

[Kamwah]

You do realise that when a cat is a kitten and it gets out line, the mother slaps it round the muzzle? Am I the only one who knows this?

When 2 cats fight, they get on the hind legs and they slap eachother. This is feedback.

With dogs, discipline/feedback is performed by simulating a bite and a yelp.

What you shouldn't do is just allow a pet to mis-behave. You do this...and you will end up with one very badly behaved animal. The pet will never know that it has done something wrong...or are we now expecting animals to read our minds?

A yelp is also important to re-inforce to the badly behaved animal, that what it has done, is wrong (and perhaps painful).

If one animal, bites another cat or dog...what do they do? They yelp and snap back immediately. This is all part of socialising. An animal learns from feedback and learns what it can do and what it cannot do.

My sister allows her cats to bite and scratch humans (no feedback or discipline was performed when they were kittens). Consequently, they don't understand that what they are doing is wrong and still bite/scratch other humans, as adults. My cat bit me once and it was shouted out. He never bit me again. Ever. And I have never seen my cats bite/scratch another human being....ever.

Hitting your cat/kitten will only cause them to become afraid of you rather than actually correcting their behaviour.

Dogs are different because they love unconditionally and take more punishment before they become aggressive.

 

[krooton]

Hitting your cat/kitten will only cause them to become afraid of you rather than actually correcting their behaviour.

Dogs are different because they love unconditionally and take more punishment before they become aggressive.

Yep, dogs can learn from negative reinforcement, cats don't, they don't associate the punishment with the 'crime', they just associate you with punishment.

Correct socialising works best if the kitten stay with its mother until 12/13 weeks, and is handled thoroughly whilst young.

Winston has been brought up with us only interacting with him in a playful manner using toys. As such the never attacks our feet or hands, and if we do engage him with hands/feet now, he is super gentle and doesn't claw or bite enough to cause pain.

Friends of mine raised their cat differently, using their hands to play with him from the point that they got him. As such, he is much more rough and tumble with them, treating them like litter-mates, proper scratching and biting.

 

[Twirlywoos]

If my cat misbehaves then I get out the compressed air and blow it towards her from a safe distance. Now when it sees any aerosol it runs a mile lol Failing that just shout at it, but slapping a cat/kitten is a bit harsh imo.

 

[pingwing]

Never known a cat to bite people to be mean! My cat bites when he's being uber excited and friendly, but its a little grab with his hands and tries to chew in a friendly fashion.

Can only guess he's teething a little and needs more dry munchies that tends to help cats with teeth coming through, Tim gets loads just to keep his teeth in good shape (sort of like brushing them for cats).

Wouldn't be harsh on him and go for him whilst he's doing it though because cats are nothing like dogs in that they don't really deliberately misbehave to get attention in the same way so don't need pushing in the same way.

 

[Loki]

Well I have never had a cat before as we have always had dogs. So on Weds on Sat night we allowed in a stray as it had been hanging around for a few days. It looked really malnourished. So the new addition to our family is Minnie

She has really started to come round and is starting to look happy after a few good meals

 

[Street]

Thanks for the replies.. Hes definitely not biting maliciously and it doesn't really hurt, so I think he just likes chewing things! I left him a box to play with and thats been chewed to pieces. I'll try giving him more dry food to see if that makes a difference.

 

[Dunks]

If my cat misbehaves then I get out the compressed air and blow it towards her from a safe distance. Now when it sees any aerosol it runs a mile lol Failing that just shout at it, but slapping a cat/kitten is a bit harsh imo.

Yeah, blasting the cat with cold compressed air is /much/ nicer

 

[Nexus18]

Not had any problems with our cats and just shouting "no", they know what it means now as they stop doing whatever it is and back of.

Besides if I where to even slap them or tap their nose, they would swipe back at me. Sprite uses her paws/nails, never her mouth where as TC uses his mouth and hardly ever his paws/nails (his breath is the worst thing though, absolutely reeks! [his teeth are good, but he catches a lot of mice, birds and even rabbits and most of the time, the head is missing from the mice/birds ]). TC would be very gentle, where as Sprite will scratch our hands to pieces!

 

[Skunkworks]

I find a loud hiss gets the message across to mine. That and calling them every profanity under the sun.

 

[grudas]

you should see my cat.. damn she bites hard and she really does it everytime you try to pat her i guess she just hates it.

 

[TrixiBuG]

Well I have never had a cat before as we have always had dogs. So on Weds on Sat night we allowed in a stray as it had been hanging around for a few days. It looked really malnourished. So the new addition to our family is Minnie

snip

She has really started to come round and is starting to look happy after a few good meals

OWWW She is lovely!!

Just make sure she isnt chipped - ie: owned by someone. She could belong to someone and she has run off/ got lost. There could be an owner out there who lost their kitty a few weeks ago and is having sleepless nights.

Just go to the Cats Protection League/ RSPCA/ local Vets and ask them to scan for a chip

 

[TrixiBuG]

This is too god damn cute

 

[Cosimo]

This is too god damn cute

 

[TrixiBuG]

Awwe!! That is just too cute for words.

So very jealous of the kitten tho...it gets a proper snuggle off its mum!