How To Stop Cat From Biting?

Cats can bite for various reasons, but such behavior is never acceptable for a house cat and should be discouraged.

To determine how to stop a cat from biting and scratching, the owner must first identify the root of the issue and act accordingly.

Correct and consistent responses and patience will help you eliminate this unpleasant tendency and raise a well-behaved, gentle cat.

Identify The Cause of Biting

The first step in determining how to get your cat to stop biting is identifying the cause of such behavior. The reasons cats bite are numerous and require different strategies.

Kittens about three months old often bite hands and any inanimate objects they can reach because they have itchy teeth. Most cats lose all their baby teeth by six to nine months old, so the biting phase can last for a while.

Once all cat’s teeth have changed, your four-legged friend should stop biting you and crewing your laces and cables on its own.

One of the most common reasons a cat bites an owner is general poor well-being. If your cat has never shown signs of aggression before but suddenly began to bite and scratch you, it may try to show you it’s in pain.

Pay attention to when the cat bites you. If it bites you when you touch specific body parts but used to allow you to touch them before, consider bringing your little one to a vet for examination.

For example, if your cat bites when you touch its cheek, it may have a dental issue, and if it attacks when you rub the stomach, it may have constipation.

Don’t ignore sudden changes in behavior because cats hide pain very well, and if your cat can’t ignore it, the problem may be severe.

Cats also bite when they’re overwhelmed during petting. A sudden change from friendly and relaxed to aggressive confuses many cat owners, but the reaction is natural. Each cat has a different attention limit.

However, sometimes, a cat may bite the owner gently after they’ve stopped petting it. Such nips serve as a communication tool. The cat likely tries to show that it wants more petting.

Cat biting when playing is also natural – this way, it expresses its hunting instinct. The cat doesn’t attack you intentionally. Still, the owner should discourage such behavior.

Cats in families with other pets or children may bite due to redirected aggression. Just like people may yell at their loved ones after having a bad day at work, cats may bite owners because they had an upsetting confrontation with someone else.

For instance, some cats never bite children, despite them handling the cat roughly. However, aggression still builds up, and the cat may attack the child’s parents instead.

Lastly, a cat may bite you because you didn’t yet establish contact but have already tried to invade its personal space. Cats are territorial animals, and the primary purpose of their teeth and claws, apart from hunting, is protection.

Give Them a Substitute

If your kitten is biting everything, including your hands, cables, clothes, and shoes, the chances are that its teeth are changing. Perhaps, you’ve even found tiny cat milk teeth around the house. In this case, provide your cat with a substitute.

You may get your cat a chewy toy, special dental sticks, or anything else you don’t mind the little one ruining. Make sure that the kitten can’t swallow small details while biting.

Many kittens find human toes and fingers way more attractive than any toys because they’re soft, warm, and move. You may have to invest time and effort to teach your kitten to chew only the toy or dental stick.

Never ignore biting during the teeth changing phase because the cat can get used to attacking hands. You should make it clear that biting hands is discouraged and encourage playing with toys.

Leave the Cat Alone & Let It Calm Down

Cat petting aggression caused by overstimulation is unpleasant but natural. Some cats aren’t particularly tolerant of petting. Once the cat’s sensitivity threshold is reached, stomach rubbing turns pleasant to painful.

So, how to deal with cat petting aggression? The only solution is to leave the cat alone as soon as you notice any signs of sensory overload. Pay attention to your pet’s body language.

If your cat flattens its ears, twitches the tail, has expanded pupils, or starts growling, stop petting it right away. However, some cats attach without warning, so pet your cat with short strokes and only in its favorite scratching spots.

Don’t shout at the cat or use physical punishment if it bites you. Simply let the cat walk away and calm down.

Sometimes, a cat that has previously allowed the owner to pet it for hours suddenly develops petting aggression. In this case, the attack can be caused by pain related to a medical condition.

Overstimulation aggression in cats is prevalent in families with children. Kids tend to miss aggression signs. Ensure that your children don’t chase the cat, handle it roughly, or touch it in prohibited spots for everyone’s safety.

Don’t Play With a Cat Using Bare Hands

Some owners play with their kittens using bare hands. Kitten bites and scratches may not be painful and can even seem cute. However, encouraging the kitten to bite hands is one of the most common cat owner mistakes.

Like kids, kittens learn and memorize quickly. Habits developed in childhood can be highly persistent in adulthood. A cat may be confused if you’ve used to let it play with hands before but prohibit it once it grows up.

To avoid raising an aggressive cat, buy your kitten a wand toy, ball, or laser pointer. You can even tie a piece of paper to a thread – any substitute to hand will do the job.

If teaching a cat not to play with hands is too late, trim the cat’s claws. It won’t resolve the issue entirely, and you’ll still have to invest effort in changing the cat’s habits, but trimmed claws will at least mitigate damage.

Consistent Responses

The key to success in training a cat is maintaining consistent responses to specific actions. Your cat will eventually draw connections between biting and your reaction and understand that you don’t accept such behavior.

Coordinate your response to cat biting with other family members, including kids. A child’s natural reaction to a cat’s aggression is shouting or beating the cat, but don’t allow your kid to punish the cat physically.

Respond to your cat’s biting calmly, even if you feel intense pain. When the cat bites you, stand up, hide your hands behind your back, and don’t move. Ignore the cat for some time to show it biting is discouraged.

You should show the cat that as soon as it bites you, playtime ends. If the cat bites you to draw attention, show it that the method doesn’t work.

You can pick a phrase to say each time the cat bites you – “Ouch!” is the first that comes to mind. Don’t yell but say it loudly to distract the cat and make it stop biting.

Don’t Punish The Cat

Punishing a cat for biting seems an obvious way to teach it to behave. However, punishment never works and can only harm your relationship with your little friend.

A cat bites instinctively; it doesn’t evaluate biting from a moral standpoint and therefore can’t understand what caused the punishment.

Suppose you’ve been playing with the cat, and it bit you. From your cat’s point of view, it did nothing wrong because biting is an element of play.

If you hit the cat, it will associate the punishment with playing rather than with a specific act of biting. Incorrectly administered punishment may lead to your cat becoming afraid of you.

Instead of punishing the cat for bad behavior, reward it for good behavior. Encourage gentle play by petting the cat or giving it treats.

If your cat bites feet to draw attention when it’s hungry, ignore it, but reward the cat when it draws attention by meowing or gently touching your leg with a paw.

What If a Cat Doesn’t Release Your Skin

Cats can’t adequately evaluate their biting strength, so every owner should know how to withdraw a hand from a cat. If a cat doesn’t let your hand go, don’t pull it, even if this seems counterintuitive.

From the cat’s standpoint, your hand’s movement resembles a prey trying to get away, which triggers the cat’s hunting instinct. Consequently, the cat may run after the hand and attack even stronger.

Instead, push the cat away gently. Prey never moves toward the cat, which will confuse it, causing it to release the teeth and claws.

Another trick to make a cat release your hand is distracting it with a loud noise. However, you shouldn’t make the noise yourself, so don’t yell. It should come from the background – for instance, drop something on the floor.

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