# New kitten biting?



## Tinkerbelll (Jun 4, 2011)

Hello

We brought our Siamese kitten home at the weekend. He started to nip a little but today he really is trying to constantly bite, even our feet and my children are starting to feel a little apprehensive. He was from a large litter and he's now 13 weeks old.

He's adorable but any advice would be much appreciated. 

Thanks


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

Congrats on your new addition  what's his name?

We got Maisie a few weeks ago and I think we've been pretty lucky (our first kitten as a family, me, hubby, 2 boys 2yrs & 5yrs) she knew not to bite or scratch hard from day one, she paws us all but with her claws in, she can sometimes get a bit over mouthy but if we give a load ouch, or say 'ah ah' she stops right away! My eldest can happily play with her, pick her up etc, the little one is a little more wary as she use to nip his toes but she soon stopped.

At the start we would go grap a toy (one of those feathery wands) and have a good play, great for the kids to use! I'd try and distract him when he starts wanting to run up your leg or play fight with your hands 

I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice, good luck 

Ps) any piccys?


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## raggs (Aug 3, 2008)

Hi Tinkerbell, please dont think you have a nasty cat on your hands as thats not the case im sure, he is very young and has recently been seperated from his siblings and the behaviour he is showing is how he would be if he were still in his litter, they bite eachother and fight and roll around playing but now he has no siblings there with him then its the family that will get the treatment lol, Lots and lots of toys always help and one of the very best things to use is silver foil, just tear some off the roll and roll it loosley into a ball and let him play and carry it around, when we had our kittens here there were siver foil balls everywhere and they were turning up for weeks after the kittens had gone. Does he have a scratching post? if not then i think they are a must and rub some good cat-nip onto the scratching part, im sure he will soon settle and realise toys are more fun, plz keep us informed, best wishes...........Chris.


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## Tinkerbelll (Jun 4, 2011)

Thanks very much for the replies.

Yes he has lots of toys, we have a feather wand, scratching post etc but when he jumps onto us he is just biting. He literally two minutes ago started biting my sons feet then his ankles and we are saying No and Aargh.

Even walking from one room to another he is biting us.

Tinkerbelle.


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

Have you had a go at clapping? at the same time as saying no! Something load to distract him!
I also read about hissing at kittens like mum / litter mates would, don't know if that works though!


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Kittens bite its in the job description.Firstly dont use any physical/verbal punishment.This is going to be more difficult with children around but dont use hand/fingers as toys and try not to over excite the kitten ,because when they get a bit hyper that is going to trigger rough play from him.Play with dangle pole toys and ping pong balls/furry mice anything that avoids any physical contact.If he nips/bites dont react,stay quiet and as soon as he lets go stop play and walk away ignoring him.After a few minutes go back and start playing again.If he bites again do the same,he wants your attention so will soon learn that if he bites the fun stops.The reason it is best that you do not react in any way when he bites(no noise no movement)is that if you do he will see that as you "joining in"his game.It is unfortunately a part of kitten behaviour and should pass soon.Good luck and I hope he settles soon.


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## Guest (Jun 16, 2011)

I don't fancy standing still saying & doing nothing while I'm waiting on claws getting retracted out my calf :yikes: 

It's all worth a try, what works for one may not work for the other, Maisie has learnt her name, No / Ah Ah which means stop what ever your doing, be it biting, scratching speakers in the living room, jumping on the dog when she's had enough  she kind of knows 'dinner' but I think that's more associated with her tummy rumbling lol

We preferred to teach her a word, you could give a verbal command then do as buffie says, it's all worth a try! 

Not much fun when you can see the kids are starting to get worried I'm sure!


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

holly2009 said:


> *I don't fancy standing still saying & doing nothing while I'm waiting on claws getting retracted out my calf *:yikes:
> 
> It's all worth a try, what works for one may not work for the other, Maisie has learnt her name, No / Ah Ah which means stop what ever your doing, be it biting, scratching speakers in the living room, jumping on the dog when she's had enough  she kind of knows 'dinner' but I think that's more associated with her tummy rumbling lol
> 
> ...


Maybe,but this was more for the biting not leg climbing which _every_ kitten will do until it can jump up high enough.


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## Sadie SU (May 15, 2011)

Our kitten, Popeye, joined us at a very young age because he had been abandoned. On the 'books' his age was put at eight weeks, but it would never surprise me to learn that he was closer to six weeks, having been abandoned at five weeks. The day we went to pick him up, his foster mother said "Oh, by the way, just be aware that he's a bit bitey......" So I think the sub text to him being 'abandoned' was having been weaned too young, then he got a bit handy with his teeth and got turfed out as a result. :closedeyes:

So, we brought home a tiny, super-confident bundle of fluff that wasn't afraid to use his teeth if he didn't get his own way. We needed a united front, and a consistent policy to educate Popeye that using teeth on the humans wasn't acceptable. We decided to follow the lead of our other cat, Sophie, so every time Popeye used his teeth we would HISS at him as loudly as we could, and gently but firmly put him AWAY from us, removing the human fuss and attention that he was craving. He was a quick learner. Most of the biting stopped within a couple of days, and after a week he'd stopped completely. 

We tried to help the situation by only using dangly toys for interactive play, so there is no suggestion of his teeth making contact with us...... only the fishy and the green feather get mauled to oblivion. But I have to say the very best aid we had was being able to give Popey a Sophie to gnaw on, rather than us.  He chews her, and she chews him right back..... and if he oversteps the mark he gets a full on bite that makes him squeal and back off. They're having the usual late evening bat around the house as I type - it is without any doubt whatsoever a play session, with no aggression, but if my hands got in the middle of their playing I'd be ripped to pieces!


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## Tinkerbelll (Jun 4, 2011)

Thanks everyone for your stories and advice.

We're doing all the right things eg toys, feathers, time out, saying aaarh and ouch etc....

BUT

The kitten is just wild this morning. We are being very calm, playful, giving it time out just to run around, use his scratching post etc but he's really biting our hands and feet 

The children were watching tv not moving and he jumped on them clawing and biting. Gave him time out for 20 minutes calmed two scared children down fed him, cuddled him, started nipping me, let him down and he went straight for mine and the children's feet! Phew. Didn't think we'd have any problems at all but it's not a very nice situation.


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## K337 (May 20, 2011)

When I was little we had a kitten that my parents were teaching not to bite or scratch. We all wore thick socks around the house while the kitty was learning and would growl if she got too playful.

When I was older a friend also got a kitten but they weren't bothering to teach her on the basis that it would 'just grow out of it'. The kitten was about 6 months when she sunk her teeth into my toes. I growled at it and used one hand to pin it on its back and tapped its belly with my other hand. It kept going for a bit and then stopped and started gently licking my hand. From then on that kitty only ever mouthed me a little and I never had bad scratches, while my friend was covered.

I've been lucky with kittens but I am still foolish enough to sometimes let a foot or an arm get in the way of my two boys rough-housing. Ouch, they certainly use a lot more of claws and teeth with each other than they do with me!


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## NIKKID (Jun 5, 2011)

I always used the 'hissing' technique with my other cats and it worked really well. They soon learned it was not okay to bite/claw with barely a cross word exchanged. My latest is a little white boy who is deaf so this method isn't going to work unfortunately. Someone recommended the 'withdrawal' technique, and it is slower but it does seem to be dawning on him that if the claws go in, Mum goes away although right now my hands and arms look like I've fought a tiger rather than a a young maine coon. It's embarrassing having to explain. LOL


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