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Biting cat
?I have a 4 year old neutered male cat who came to live with us when he was
a week-old kitten. His mother, a stray I had been feeding, moved into my house with one tiny kitten as the weather got cold. The mother is shy, won't allow anyone to pick her up, but is a very sweet cat. Baby Kitty, on the other hand, is just plain mean. He is nasty and intimidating to his mother and he bites me. In the warm weather, he hangs around outdoors most of the time. But now that it's cold out and he is frustrated by being indoors (his choice - I let him out if he wants to go out, and let him in promptly), he has taken to attacking his mother and jumping on my lap, insisting on being petted, and then suddenly biting me. Hard. Eight days ago, he bit me on the wrist down to the bone. The wound is still oozing. If I don't pet him, by the way, he bites me. This morning, I picked up some towels that were on the bed near where he was lounging and he bit at me, but I pulled away in time. Obviously I do not react in a friendly way to being bitten. It ends the petting session and I usually scream in pain and forcefully push him away. He always seems slightly confused by this, as if he doesn't understand why I reacted that way. Is there anything I can do to stop this behavior? |
#2
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On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:06:58 GMT, "mcdowelldrew"
dijo: I have a 4 year old neutered male cat who came to live with us when he was I have had a number of cats over the years, mostly neutered males. I have observed this behavior to varying degrees in all of the males. The females react a bit differently. Here's the deal. When a male cat mounts a female he holds on by grasping her around the middle with his forelegs, claws extended to hang on, while at the same time biting her on the back of the neck to provide further traction. In short, the behavior we are seeing is the mating behavior. Your cat loves you. Unfortunately, sort of like teenage human males, they cannot distinguish between lust and love. It's all the same to them. So when your cat bites you and grabs you with his forelegs, claws extended, it is an expression of love. And just as with teenage boys, it is an instinctive reaction. However, we humans have an incredible intellect. We can use our intellect to override any of our instincts. We can even commit suicide, overriding self-preservation, the most basic instinct of all animals. Thus, it is possible to teach even teenage boys to behave themselves in society. (Well, with some difficulty, but let's not go there.) It is also possible to teach a cat not to bite or scratch you when expressing love. However, you have to deal on a more basic level than you would with teenagers, because their intellect is so limited in comparison. Over many years with male cats I have discovered that a simple reward/punishment system works best. When my current neutered male came to live with me from the shelter he bit and grabbed too hard. Every time he did so I bopped him on the head and yelled "Ow!" I didn't hit him hard; just enough so he closed his eyes and ducked. If he bit or grabbed really hard I yelled, bopped him, and he got ignored and I wouldn't have anything further to do with him (the cat equivalent of a time out). It didn't take too long. Most of the time now he bites and grabs me, but very gently so as not to hurt me. And when he does he keeps an eye on me to be sure he hasn't gone too far. My teenage human is now a first year university student and doing similarly well. -- Bogus e-mail address, but I read this newsgroup regularly, so reply here. |
#3
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"Marek Williams" wrote in message ... On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:06:58 GMT, "mcdowelldrew" dijo: I have a 4 year old neutered male cat who came to live with us when he was I have had a number of cats over the years, mostly neutered males. I have observed this behavior to varying degrees in all of the males. The females react a bit differently. Here's the deal. When a male cat mounts a female he holds on by grasping her around the middle with his forelegs, claws extended to hang on, while at the same time biting her on the back of the neck to provide further traction. In short, the behavior we are seeing is the mating behavior. Your cat loves you. Unfortunately, sort of like teenage human males, they cannot distinguish between lust and love. It's all the same to them. So when your cat bites you and grabs you with his forelegs, claws extended, it is an expression of love. And just as with teenage boys, it is an instinctive reaction. However, we humans have an incredible intellect. We can use our intellect to override any of our instincts. We can even commit suicide, overriding self-preservation, the most basic instinct of all animals. Thus, it is possible to teach even teenage boys to behave themselves in society. (Well, with some difficulty, but let's not go there.) It is also possible to teach a cat not to bite or scratch you when expressing love. However, you have to deal on a more basic level than you would with teenagers, because their intellect is so limited in comparison. Over many years with male cats I have discovered that a simple reward/punishment system works best. When my current neutered male came to live with me from the shelter he bit and grabbed too hard. Every time he did so I bopped him on the head and yelled "Ow!" I didn't hit him hard; just enough so he closed his eyes and ducked. If he bit or grabbed really hard I yelled, bopped him, and he got ignored and I wouldn't have anything further to do with him (the cat equivalent of a time out). It didn't take too long. Most of the time now he bites and grabs me, but very gently so as not to hurt me. And when he does he keeps an eye on me to be sure he hasn't gone too far. My teenage human is now a first year university student and doing similarly well. -- "Bopped" is a much better term for that abrupt, but gentle swat you are talking about. I did the same thing with my biting female, but stupidly used the term "slapped" and got flamed to hell and back. In any case, it was a "bop" and together with a loud "Ow!" it worked on her too. |
#4
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"mcdowelldrew" wrote in message
... ?I have a 4 year old neutered male cat who came to live with us when he was a week-old kitten. His mother, a stray I had been feeding, moved into my house with one tiny kitten as the weather got cold. The mother is shy, won't allow anyone to pick her up, but is a very sweet cat. Baby Kitty, on the other hand, is just plain mean. He is nasty and intimidating to his mother and he bites me. In the warm weather, he hangs around outdoors most of the time. But now that it's cold out and he is frustrated by being indoors (his choice - I let him out if he wants to go out, and let him in promptly), he has taken to attacking his mother and jumping on my lap, insisting on being petted, and then suddenly biting me. Hard. Eight days ago, he bit me on the wrist down to the bone. The wound is still oozing. If I don't pet him, by the way, he bites me. This morning, I picked up some towels that were on the bed near where he was lounging and he bit at me, but I pulled away in time. Obviously I do not react in a friendly way to being bitten. It ends the petting session and I usually scream in pain and forcefully push him away. He always seems slightly confused by this, as if he doesn't understand why I reacted that way. Is there anything I can do to stop this behavior? We have a neutered male who, for two very long years after joining our household, alternated - sometimes from hour to hour - between debilitating anxiety and predatory, unprovoked aggression. Even when he took to daily spraying and urinating over every square inch of our home, we persevered in our efforts to help him, but he was refractory to all of the usual behavioral strategies. Quite by accident, we learned that fluoxetine (Prozac) therapy can be quite effective in resolving anxiety-aggression behaviors, and so, with the help of our veterinarian, we began treating our little 'monster' with 0.5mg/kg/day fluoxetine, which we had compounded in #3 gel caps. Within 48 hours, the spraying and urinating stopped completely, and within 7 days we could see a very extraordinary change in this cat's demeanor. He became sociable and friendly, amenable to holding and stroking, and eager to spend time in our fenced back yard ... the latter a minor miracle in itself, as he had never before mustered the courage to set even one foot over the threshold! Almost two years latter, our little friend remains on daily maintenance fluoxetine and is healthy, energetic, well adjusted and as lovable as they come. This sort of outcome is much more the exception than the rule when relying on behavioral therapy alone. |
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