Endless biting will it ever stop!

My husband and I adopted a young 10 week old kitten in October. So now
he is about five months old. His name is Norman, I think he is
partially siamese, I can tell by some of his markings. He is a
sweetheart and a bit of a big baby. Thing is, is he tends to misbehave
he just doesn't listen. He goes on the counters, scoots into open
cupboards or an open washer dryer, bites and scratches, jumps on the
computer keyboard, helps himself to our dinner, and drinks out of the
toilet . (I know, I know he's just being a cat!) Yet no matter how much
we firmly tell him No!, he continues his behaviour. He is very active
and playful. I believe his biting is playfulness and not ment to be
vicious. He is very smart and is facinated with the bathtub water and
loves to play bed mice and likes to go for car rides(weird!).
Yet with his biting it appears that if we pet him too much he
will bite we wonder if he is sensitive to this. We do everything I
have read on here, we howl in pain, we tap him on the nose pretending
to be a momma cat, we try to not let him bite I've been told if you
don't let him bite he will eventually get the hint, we also tried the
vinegar on the hand. He literally jumps to hug your hand and nip it.
He isn't alone all day, I work out of home so we are together a lot.
Does anyone know will this stop with age (because his big kitty
canine teeth are arriving and this scares me)? Will getting him
neutered help the issue. I know there is a sweetheart lurking
underneath all those teeth. He loves to play, always play play play
all day busy busy busy he's always busy. He is very active. I've
never had just a cat, I've always adopted two kittens at a time and I
have never run into this. We would get him a buddy but, we feel our
space is limited. I just feel like I'm living with a teenager who
rebels and questions everything we say, I don't think he gets the word
no very well. Yet we love him to pieces anyway, and I think he knows
it, lol....

Anyway thank you to all who respond in advance
MyBelle

On 7 Jan 2006 02:29:52 -0800, "My Belle"
wrote:

My husband and I adopted a young 10 week old kitten in October. So now
he is about five months old. His name is Norman, I think he is
partially siamese, I can tell by some of his markings. He is a
sweetheart and a bit of a big baby. Thing is, is he tends to misbehave
he just doesn't listen. He goes on the counters, scoots into open
cupboards or an open washer dryer, bites and scratches, jumps on the
computer keyboard, helps himself to our dinner, and drinks out of the
toilet . (I know, I know he's just being a cat!) Yet no matter how much
we firmly tell him No!, he continues his behaviour. He is very active
and playful. I believe his biting is playfulness and not ment to be
vicious. He is very smart and is facinated with the bathtub water and
loves to play bed mice and likes to go for car rides(weird!).
Yet with his biting it appears that if we pet him too much he
will bite we wonder if he is sensitive to this. We do everything I
have read on here, we howl in pain, we tap him on the nose pretending
to be a momma cat, we try to not let him bite I've been told if you
don't let him bite he will eventually get the hint, we also tried the
vinegar on the hand. He literally jumps to hug your hand and nip it.
He isn't alone all day, I work out of home so we are together a lot.
Does anyone know will this stop with age (because his big kitty
canine teeth are arriving and this scares me)? Will getting him
neutered help the issue. I know there is a sweetheart lurking
underneath all those teeth. He loves to play, always play play play
all day busy busy busy he's always busy. He is very active. I've
never had just a cat, I've always adopted two kittens at a time and I
have never run into this. We would get him a buddy but, we feel our
space is limited. I just feel like I'm living with a teenager who
rebels and questions everything we say, I don't think he gets the word
no very well. Yet we love him to pieces anyway, and I think he knows
it, lol....

Anyway thank you to all who respond in advance
MyBelle

He's just playing. Why not wear leather gloves for play sessions.

My cat plays with me like that... I reach out and grab his belly and
roll him over on his back. He flattens his ears back, he twitches his
tail, and he bites my wrist while rabbit-kicking with his hind claws.
But, he has a gentle bite, and some cats don't. Even so, he gets
rough enough so I have to pull back. Then he will suddenly leap to
his feet and run away from me, about 5 paces. Then he turns and
glares at me, tail a-twitchin'. Then he comes over and jumps in my
lap. This is how cats amuse themselves.

As far as the rest of it, you'll just have to put up with it. It's a
young, healthy animal interacting with the world he lives in. Protect
him from danger and indulge his mischievious streak.

Charlie

All in all, he sounds like a really nice cat. I like those spirited kitties.

As for biting while being petted -- we have a cat like that too. Some
cats get over-stimulated when being petted. They get so excited they
don't know what to do, so they reach back and grab you. We've had
limited success in getting him to stop, sometimes if he reaches back for
me I hold up my index finger and he stops. Mostly, I've tried to watch
for the signs that he's ready to bite, and then not pet him as much.

You might think about getting another young cat as a companion for him.
That might discharge some energy. You can sit back in a chair and watch
them run through the house! (always a good past-time)

Rhonda

My Belle wrote:

Yet with his biting it appears that if we pet him too much he
will bite we wonder if he is sensitive to this.

My Belle wrote:
My husband and I adopted a young 10 week old kitten in October. So now
he is about five months old. His name is Norman, I think he is
partially siamese, I can tell by some of his markings. He is a
sweetheart and a bit of a big baby. Thing is, is he tends to misbehave
he just doesn't listen. He goes on the counters, scoots into open
cupboards or an open washer dryer, bites and scratches, jumps on the
computer keyboard, helps himself to our dinner, and drinks out of the
toilet . (I know, I know he's just being a cat!) Yet no matter how much
we firmly tell him No!, he continues his behaviour. He is very active
and playful. I believe his biting is playfulness and not ment to be
vicious. He is very smart and is facinated with the bathtub water and
loves to play bed mice and likes to go for car rides(weird!).
Yet with his biting it appears that if we pet him too much he
will bite we wonder if he is sensitive to this. We do everything I
have read on here, we howl in pain, we tap him on the nose pretending
to be a momma cat, we try to not let him bite I've been told if you
don't let him bite he will eventually get the hint, we also tried the
vinegar on the hand. He literally jumps to hug your hand and nip it.
He isn't alone all day, I work out of home so we are together a lot.
Does anyone know will this stop with age (because his big kitty
canine teeth are arriving and this scares me)? Will getting him
neutered help the issue. I know there is a sweetheart lurking
underneath all those teeth. He loves to play, always play play play
all day busy busy busy he's always busy. He is very active. I've
never had just a cat, I've always adopted two kittens at a time and I
have never run into this. We would get him a buddy but, we feel our
space is limited. I just feel like I'm living with a teenager who
rebels and questions everything we say, I don't think he gets the word
no very well. Yet we love him to pieces anyway, and I think he knows
it, lol....

Anyway thank you to all who respond in advance
MyBelle

My cat did that as a kitten. He actually seemed as if he was trying to
tear back my skin when he bit, What I did worked with him, but... you
know how cats are. I looked at how a mother cat would show her kitten
disapproval. I noticed this was mostly done with a low gutteral moan. I
tried it, and my kitten would stop biting immediately. To this day he
will very rarely use his teeth and he is 8 now. On the rare occasion
when he uses his teeth it is a very light "nip" to let the offender
know to back off. I personally think it's a bad idea to present your
hands to cats as toys, cats can get very rough without realizing it.
However I do agree that play is a good deterrent. Invest in some toys
Norman can "kill". But please, don't let him "kill" your hands. If he
sees hands as toys you may wind up with a problem of him biting other
people, not just you.

"My Belle" wrote in message
oups.com...
My husband and I adopted a young 10 week old kitten in October. So
now
he is about five months old. His name is Norman, I think he is
partially siamese, I can tell by some of his markings. He is a
sweetheart and a bit of a big baby. Thing is, is he tends to
misbehave
he just doesn't listen. He goes on the counters, scoots into open
cupboards or an open washer dryer, bites and scratches, jumps on the
computer keyboard, helps himself to our dinner, and drinks out of
the
toilet . (I know, I know he's just being a cat!) Yet no matter how
much
we firmly tell him No!, he continues his behaviour. He is very
active
and playful. I believe his biting is playfulness and not ment to be
vicious. He is very smart and is facinated with the bathtub water
and
loves to play bed mice and likes to go for car rides(weird!).

That sounds like a typical kitten but I expect the fact he is part
Siamese has something to do with it-
To be quiet honest, it's usually pointless saying No . They more than
likely understand what it means, its just another word and if you say
it enough , it's
just blah blah blah G
With young dogs it's easier, you can take them to the park and let
them
work off that energy but with young cats its harder. I think people
tend to
under estimate how boisterous and energetic young cats can be and how
high they can climb and jump. It seems like they can fly sometimes.
You need to channel this energy and direct it towards things he can
do rather than try to stop him from doing things you don't want him to
do.
Alison

My Belle wrote:
My husband and I adopted a young 10 week old kitten in October. So now
he is about five months old. His name is Norman, I think he is
partially siamese, I can tell by some of his markings. He is a
sweetheart and a bit of a big baby. Thing is, is he tends to misbehave
he just doesn't listen. He goes on the counters, scoots into open
cupboards or an open washer dryer, bites and scratches, jumps on the
computer keyboard, helps himself to our dinner, and drinks out of the
toilet . (I know, I know he's just being a cat!) Yet no matter how much
we firmly tell him No!, he continues his behaviour. He is very active
and playful. I believe his biting is playfulness and not ment to be
vicious. He is very smart and is facinated with the bathtub water and
loves to play bed mice and likes to go for car rides(weird!).
Yet with his biting it appears that if we pet him too much he
will bite we wonder if he is sensitive to this. We do everything I
have read on here, we howl in pain, we tap him on the nose pretending
to be a momma cat, we try to not let him bite I've been told if you
don't let him bite he will eventually get the hint, we also tried the
vinegar on the hand. He literally jumps to hug your hand and nip it.
He isn't alone all day, I work out of home so we are together a lot.
Does anyone know will this stop with age (because his big kitty
canine teeth are arriving and this scares me)? Will getting him
neutered help the issue. I know there is a sweetheart lurking
underneath all those teeth. He loves to play, always play play play
all day busy busy busy he's always busy. He is very active. I've
never had just a cat, I've always adopted two kittens at a time and I
have never run into this. We would get him a buddy but, we feel our
space is limited. I just feel like I'm living with a teenager who
rebels and questions everything we say, I don't think he gets the word
no very well. Yet we love him to pieces anyway, and I think he knows
it, lol....

Anyway thank you to all who respond in advance
MyBelle

This is what worked with my cat. When he was a kitten he used to pounce
on my hand and bite also. He would do that "ripping" action where it
seemed he wanted to tear my fleash from my hand. We all know that
discipline does not work on kittens or cats so I watched the way a
mother cat lets her kittens know a behavior is unacceptable. They make
a low gutteral sound. I tried it, and my kitten stopped biting dead in
his tracks. He is 8 now and rarely uses his teeth. The only thing he
ever does is give a little nip (very light) when he is telling someone
to back off. I think the last thing you want to do is offer up your
hands as "toys" to your kitten. This will give him the idea that ALL
human hands are toys, and he may bite other people, which can be a
terrible behavior problem. I think play is a good deterrent to this
behavior, but use toys, not fingers.

My Belle wrote:
My husband and I adopted a young 10 week old kitten in October. So now
he is about five months old. His name is Norman, I think he is
....whackthink he gets the word
no very well. Yet we love him to pieces anyway, and I think he knows
it, lol....

Anyway thank you to all who respond in advance
MyBelle

my kitten does same...mine is younger but getting worse everyday
she fights me over my house slides...but she snuggles soo nice at night
she lays there till we get up...then RUNS to the kitchen...loves to
eat.
Will taste and try anything.

Charlie is right, a glove is ideal, she can get the play out, without
hurting you.

when im tired of playing, i rough her up, then she runs off...for a
while.
lol

It's called being a kitten. He'll outgrow this energetic frenzy in a
few months. For now, give him plenty of places to scratch and be sure
to set boundaries for the play biting (shout "ow" when he goes too far -
that's he learns to play safely). If you need to show some discipline,
never ever strike an animal - this will just cause more distrust and
anxiety. Simply spray some water on him when he's where he shouldn't be.
Also, relocation to a more acceptable area, accompanied by the "No!"
is usually effective in time. Have patience - it'll be worth it!

Best advice: get him a brother or sister kitty. I had the same
"problem" with my first and after I brought home "his pet" bother :-)
things got 99% better. Two cats are really easier than one! (PS,
spaying/neutering once they're old enough (4-6 months) also calms them
down a great deal.)

Good luck...


My Belle wrote:

My husband and I adopted a young 10 week old kitten in October. So now
he is about five months old. His name is Norman, I think he is
partially siamese, I can tell by some of his markings. He is a
sweetheart and a bit of a big baby. Thing is, is he tends to misbehave
he just doesn't listen. He goes on the counters, scoots into open
cupboards or an open washer dryer, bites and scratches, jumps on the
computer keyboard, helps himself to our dinner, and drinks out of the
toilet . (I know, I know he's just being a cat!) Yet no matter how much
we firmly tell him No!, he continues his behaviour. He is very active
and playful. I believe his biting is playfulness and not ment to be
vicious. He is very smart and is facinated with the bathtub water and
loves to play bed mice and likes to go for car rides(weird!).
Yet with his biting it appears that if we pet him too much he
will bite we wonder if he is sensitive to this. We do everything I
have read on here, we howl in pain, we tap him on the nose pretending
to be a momma cat, we try to not let him bite I've been told if you
don't let him bite he will eventually get the hint, we also tried the
vinegar on the hand. He literally jumps to hug your hand and nip it.
He isn't alone all day, I work out of home so we are together a lot.
Does anyone know will this stop with age (because his big kitty
canine teeth are arriving and this scares me)? Will getting him
neutered help the issue. I know there is a sweetheart lurking
underneath all those teeth. He loves to play, always play play play
all day busy busy busy he's always busy. He is very active. I've
never had just a cat, I've always adopted two kittens at a time and I
have never run into this. We would get him a buddy but, we feel our
space is limited. I just feel like I'm living with a teenager who
rebels and questions everything we say, I don't think he gets the word
no very well. Yet we love him to pieces anyway, and I think he knows
it, lol....

Anyway thank you to all who respond in advance
MyBelle