“How to get your Cat to stop biting you?” is a question all Cat owners tend to ask.. including me!
Hi I’m Ibrahim and in this article I’m going to talk about how you can get your little feline friend to stop biting that hand that feeds them.
I mean we love our Cats, infact love them to bits. They become family right?
However, their behavior can become really frustrating!
They can tend to get aggressive when playing.. or just attack you out of nowhere!
Check out the scenarios below and I’m sure you’d agree.. I would not be surprised if these scenarios have actually happened to you already because It’s happened to me..
You’ve just come home from work and all of a sudden your Cat out of nowhere attacks you and bites you.
Or you’re just sitting down minding your own business and again your Cat decides he wants to bite you and takes a little nibble on your arm or bites your ankle.
Or the one that always happens to me – Your Cat knows where you keep the treats so he decides to hang out there and DEMANDS a treat.. You ignore them, they get angry and lash out!
It has happened to you right?
It is frustrating and annoying which we can’t deny
But the last thing we want to do is shout at them or scold them! This will harm your relationship with your Cat and that’s not something us Cat parents would want.
You should never punish your Cat if he has bitten you or attacked you.
It could have a lasting negative impact on your Cat
Punishing your Cat could lead to
- Stress
- Increased Unwanted behavior
- Your Cat may become afraid of you
- Your Cat may not even know why she is being punished
- The behavior could get worse
All the above points is something we Cat parents would want to highly avoid right?
So I can’t stress how important it is to never resort to punishing your Cat.
End of the day your Cat deserves better.
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Here are 6 ways on how to get your Cat to stop biting you
1.Never use your fingers as toys
If you have never given your fingers or your hand as a toy to your Cat or kitten then I would highly advise you not to! Why? Because it may be very cute when your little kitten that weighs 2 pounds playing with you with their baby teeth however when they are a fully grown adult with grown little fangs digging right into your flesh will be a different story
Get your Cat to play with real toys from the beginning that way they get used to playing with toys. If you give them your hand then of course they will get use to playing with your hand then you’ll have to get used spending the next 15 or so years covering your hand and arms!
2. Provide toys for your Cat
Just how we get bored your Cat does not want to get bored too. Your Cat is a predator so they want to hunt and kill. They have this adrenaline in them that they need to release so if they have been using your hand or arms as toys then this is what they will prey upon. Providing your Cat with toys will help both of you. There are many toys out there that you can purchase. Play around with a couple and see which one your Cat loves. Then play with him everyday for at least 15 – 20 minutes. This will not only keep your Cat entertained but will also strengthen the bond between you two.
If you have only one Cat then another thing you could think about is getting another Cat. If you are not at home for most of the day and there is nobody else to play with him then getting another Cat will give your little feline friend company. They could play together so that way when you’re at work or gone out they can keep themselves busy.
3. Find out why your Cat is biting you
Are you getting your Cat angry without even knowing? Or maybe he is stressed? Do you have children or kids that come over and run after your Cat trying to stroke him or pet him? These are some of the things you need to analyze and figure out why your Cat may be biting. He may be bored and wants to play so to get your attention your Cat may bite you.
4. Spray him with water
This is pretty simple. When your Cat bites you then you spray him with a water bottle or a small water gun. The only problem with this method is – you need to know when exactly your Cat bites you so you’re ready to spray with the water bottle. This needs to be consistent and also done exactly when your Cat bites you. This is because your Cat then can associate biting you with water being sprayed towards him. If you spray the water bottle 2 – 3 minutes after he has has bitten you, your Cat will not learn and may result in your Cat biting even more!
This method will work and be most effective if your Cat bites you at a specific time or place so you can be ready with the spray bottle. My Cat tends to get aggressive when he wants a treat and we don’t give him! He’s more demanding then my 18 month old daughter! But hey, I love my Cat to bits
5. Stop Playtime when it becomes aggressive
If you notice that your Cat is biting you during playtime with him then you need to show him that this behavior is not acceptable. You can do this by turning your back towards him when he attacks you and stopping play immediately. In this moment, do not speak to him and resume play after a minute or two. If you consistently do this then your Cat will get the message
6. Start using Time out
If number 5 does not work then you can be a bit more stern in your approach and send out a stronger message to your cat when bites you during play. What you do is, as soon as he bites you, stop playing him,pick him up, take him to another room and walk away. This will help him understand the connection between when he bites you and how that results in the fun being completely stopped.
7. Infected tooth or Gum Disease
One of the reasons your Cat may be biting at you is because of a infected tooth or even a gum disease. If you notice your Cat has started snapping at you for no reason then it may be worth taking them for a check up at the vets.
8. Stop petting your Cat and give him some space
When my Cat has had enough of petting and stroking him then he will lash out at me. This is a warning from my Cat saying “back off please because now is not a good time”. What I do in this situation is slowly back off and speak to him softly and stop petting him or stroking (I love petting him though!). We all love stroking our little feline friend but hey! Too much can get annoying for the little fella right? When he wants affection or wants to be stroked let them come to you
In Conclusion – How to get your Cat to stop biting you
It is normal when you have a Cat that bites because they use their mouth and paw to explore the world and in reality you can’t stop them from this but what you can do is go through this list and find out why they may be biting you.
We as Cat owners need to understand our Cats so we can built that connection with them.
Otherwise if there is no connection then ultimately there’s no love.
Just as we as humans need love and affection, our Cats do too
We as Cat Parents need to understand why our Cat may be biting us, or scratching us.
There’s no point in just shouting at them or spraying them with water
That does not solve the problem.
Infact, it could make things worse between you and your litter furball
That is why I believe it is essential we take out some time from our busy days and learn about our Cats.
If you haven’t already, you should check out my in depth review on “Cat Language Bible” by clicking here. 
This guide I would really recommend to Cat owners because we don’t want to be just like casual roommates to each other and all we do is give a wink or a nod of the head.
We should build that connection with them.
Why?
Because this will only help strengthen our bond and connection with them.
We owe it to our Cats
Hi, I recently got a new kitten (for the first time) a week ago, she’s currently 8 1/2 weeks old Ragdoll/Persian. I know it’s a bit early to have her leave her mother but the home she came from contained at least 6 other cats and 1 dog, it wasn’t particularly big but seemed to have a lot of clutter. She was a bit dirty when we got her – dirty ears, black nose and eyes and had fleas. We’ve removed most of the fleas by comb but have to wait a couple weeks until the old flea treatment wears off, the breeder used cheap rubbish spray on stuff on her.
So we just wanted her out of that kind of environment, and we thought that a few days before she turns 8 weeks probably won’t make too much difference development wise (probably showing our inexperience there).
She seemed very calm at first, didn’t struggle when we held her on the way home, she was a bit shy for a few hours and didn’t come out of her cat carrier but did start to explore after that.
She slept in the same room as us and has ever since, we lined her cat carrier with a blanket from her old home but after a night or two she just came out of it and slept on the bed with us, often snuggling up with us.
She’s eating well and drinking regularly, we leave dry food out throughout the day which she regularly eats from.
She uses the litter tray very well and went about 3-4 times a day although it’s more like twice a day now.
We did notice she had a bit runny poo at first with slight hints of almost watered down blood, although very minimal. We thought this was down to having diarrhoea. She has got her first vaccination in a couple days with a check up, so will mention to the vet all this.
She tends to like to play a lot and has recently started going a little crazy, dashing everywhere scratching and biting everything, but it’s not because we don’t play with her. We have multiple toys for her although her favourite is a long feather string, we often play with her daily for at least an hour or two in total throughout the day.
She tends to shrink up a bit when we walk by or when we’re doing other activities and run away around a corner almost like she’s stalking.
But I don’t know if she’s doing this because she’s wanting to play still or if she’s still a bit anxious of us and her surroundings?
She doesn’t rub up against us although when she’s tired she does still like to lay on us or near us. Is it normal for her not to rub up against us at that age?
If there’s anything else that jumps out to you about Layla that’s perhaps not normal or even should be changed, please let me know.
Thank you for your time reading this.
Matt & Leah
Proud parents of Layla
Hi Matt & Leah
Thank you for sharing this with me
It’s very sweet of you to take in Layla
I personally think she’s doing fine
In regards to her not rubbing against you, that will come in time
My Tigger was very skirmish and scared too but with time he opened up and now is a lap cat and loves rubbing against us too
I think when she’s in the corner and is shrunk up it could be she’s ready to pounce. Cats tend to do that
What you’re doing is great
Carry on spending time with her, bond with her because that’s what she needs right now
They are very energetic at this age so enjoy it and cherish every moment
With time she’ll start to show more affection to both of you for sure!
I would recommend checking out my article How to raise a kitten to be cuddly you’ll find some good tips in there
Get some treats for her too and when she’ll want one see how she’ll rub against you and get her to give you.
Tigger does that a lot to us. He’ll slowly blink and meow and purr at the same time. Very hard to say no to that!