My kitten won't stop biting

She is a 13 week old tabby and it seems no matter what I do she won't stop
attacking everybody. Sometimes I'll pet her, and she'll get all crazy and
start biting hard and wrapping her arms around my hand and doing that little
bunny kick with her back feet. I try not to pull away, because that makes her
bite harder, but it hurts really really bad. When she's not hyper she's the
sweetest little thing ever. When she gets excited I try to get her to play
with her toys, but if you make the slightest gesture with any of your limbs
she'll pounce on you. I try bopping her in the nose and saying "No", and that
makes her stop for a few seconds but then she's back at it. Even if someone
walks past her she'll attack their feet. I'm also worried if she chews on
cords. Could this be fatal? What can I do to stop this behavior? I look like
I have some sort of skin disease because of all the red marks on my hands.
Please help!

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On Mon, 07 Aug 2006 03:31:11 +0000, lucy707 via CatKB.com wrote:

She is a 13 week old tabby and it seems no matter what I do she won't
stop attacking everybody. Sometimes I'll pet her, and she'll get all
crazy and start biting hard and wrapping her arms around my hand and
doing that little bunny kick with her back feet. I try not to pull away,
because that makes her bite harder, but it hurts really really bad. When
she's not hyper she's the sweetest little thing ever. When she gets
excited I try to get her to play with her toys, but if you make the
slightest gesture with any of your limbs she'll pounce on you. I try
bopping her in the nose and saying "No", and that makes her stop for a
few seconds but then she's back at it. Even if someone walks past her
she'll attack their feet. I'm also worried if she chews on cords. Could
this be fatal? What can I do to stop this behavior? I look like I have
some sort of skin disease because of all the red marks on my hands.
Please help!

I have 4 kittens about 9 weeks old and I'd forgotten how much time they
spend tussling with each other. They (and the mother cat) do seem to have
taught each other limits because I've heard few "yelps" of pain. This
instinct to be rambunctious doesn't go away when a kitten is separated
from the litter.

Fortunately, kittens do have a short attention span so it's usually easy
to deflect their attention to something else. What I've found to be their
favorite is an approx 8' long piece of cord tied to the end of a section
of old bamboo fishing pole. Admittedly "casting" the cord out and
flicking it around isn't the most interesting thing to do, but it is
effective at burning off their energy. (And it works for multiple kittens
at the same time.) Small paper balls that a kitten can carry are good.
Crumpled up paper stuffed in a sock is a surrogate for another kitten (or
a hand) to bunny kick. Then, when the kitten(s) is tired and settling
down for a nap is a better time to try to pet her. If she wants to use
claws on your hand, walk away and try again later. She'll learn.

Also, keep in mind that cats don't have the urge to please humans that
dogs do. If a cat has the urge to be racing from one end of the house to
the other, one can say "Sit!" until he/she is blue in the face ... and
it's not going to happen. (Food might work. g)

At 13 weeks, she has lots of time to grow up and out of these behaviors
- don't worry - she's a baby and she will, but you have to help her out
a bit. She overstimulates easily i.e once she gets excited and it
happens quickly, she's veering into "hunting behavior" and pouncing and
biting and nipping.

Try to give her attention with "breaks" built in to let her calm down
ie pet her a few times, stop, count to ten, and then resume. Watch for
her ears going back and her tail swishing.
Kitten antics are cute, but try to pace games with her - with breaks.
When she does something you don't like - say no sharply and stop
touching or playing with her, so she understands that if she bites -
you won't want to pet her and play with her and she will try to check
her behavior. And she might benefit from another young kitten as a
companion. Sounds like she needs"something" to wrestle with.

The shelters are full of kittens at the moment. See if there's another
little whirling dervish
around :