A cat that bites

I am new to the group. Let me introduce Sherwood, a large 2-year-old
cream colored neutered male who I suspect is about l/8 Siamese. His
original owner, an old gentleman, became ill and the family gave away
Sherwood's three young siblings. Sherwood hid under the bed and missed
that adoption. My friend Bill agreed to take Sherwood, age 4 months,
who at the time was being boarded at the vet's and just
neutered.Sherwood took Bill's hand in his paws, purred and licked.

Two hours later, at Bill's home, the licks morphed into bites, and
Sherwood has been biting ever since! The bites stem from play and
Sherwood loves to play. I have never picked up a feeling of anger from
Sherwood, (an indoor cat), even when an outdoors neighbor cat hisses on
the outside windowsill. But the biting is serious, never fewer than 3
bites a week. Bill hated to do it but he had to declaw his cat for
easier extraction of his hand from Sherwood's mouth. Any petting will
lead to Sherwood's reaching for Bill's hand unless the cat is half
asleep. Things that have been tried: shaking a noise maker (cola can
half-filled with coins); squirting with water (Sherwood loves water),
slapping a newspaper nearby (Sherwood sees this as playing) ; getting
out a hot mustard jar and even dabbing a spot of mustard on the cat's
paw. Please, please give suggestions to stop this handsome boy from
biting. Bill is not young and these bites often break the skin. Thanks,
Dorian

Suddenly, without warning, exclaimed (30-Oct-06 12:51
PM):

Please, please give suggestions to stop this handsome boy from
biting. Bill is not young and these bites often break the skin. Thanks,
Dorian


All I ever did was say OW! really loud, and/or tap her firmly on the
nose with two fingers, like a paw swipe. Also, every bite earned a
'time out' - she'd get put down, and completely ignored for a while.

Worked very well. Oddly, somewhere along the way she learned "bite =
Bad but lick = Not Bad"... and would snake her head to bite, then lick
me furiously. Now she just licks me furiously when I pick her up when
she doesn't want me to

I can't remember the last time she even offered to bite me. Has to be 8
years or so, I think...

If he isn't biting immediately, then I think your friend is probably
missing his earlier, subtle clues that he doesn't want to be petted any
more. Meep would allow me to pet her 24/7 if I could (and she's quite
put out that I won't), so I'm not really sure exactly what the subtle
clues would be. Stiffening and ears going back, tail lashing, at a guess.

jmc