I know this question has been asked before many times but each story behind the problem is different. My cat has been biting me since day 1. I have fibromyalgia so the pain is very intense. I want rid of her all together but my mother won't part with her, so I am stuck with this cat from hell. how can I control her biting so i can live with her ? Water bottle doesn't work she hasn't learned from that in over a year.
Answers:
If you only listen to the advice given by two of the people answering your question - then please make it Movietalk and Tomeinstein. Both of whom have given you excellent advice and suggestions which you would be very wise to follow.
Like both of them, I find that telling my cat "no" is enough and I use positive reinforcement when they do something right as cats really do respond better to that treatment. As for the water bottle method, I know a lot of people use it, but personally I don't agree with it as once the cat realises that the source of this punishment is coming from you, it may learn to fear and resent you. Maybe this is one of the reasons that she bites you.
I tap my cat on the nose and she stops
My cat won't bite me because she knows she will get a swat across the nose.
try bitter apple on your hands or feet or where ever she bites. Or cayanne pepper
So cover your hand in something really rerally hot like chillie powder - also when does she bite, when you play or pet her? When she does it put her on the floor and ignore her totally. And a good tap on the nose should do it too.
Please take a look at "cat aggression" on the web, there are a few possible causes, and some really good advice there.
There are several ways. First when the cats bites remove your hand and stop playing with her immediately then in a firm voice say no. The key is to stop giving all attention when the bad behavior starts. Then resume again and when cat bites stop again. It may take a while but the cat should get it. If that doesn't work get a soda can and empty it put either marbles or coins in it. Shake it loudly when she bites. CAts hate that noise. The last option is to pick her up and blow in her face and firmly say "NO!" I hope one of these methods helps!
sorry, but she may have to go... animals are just that, they are animals. man cannot make ALL animals be the perfect pet.
this happened to me as well my cat was a right devil, i also asked how to stop her from doing it, like you the water spray didn't work but i thought that making a really loud noise like clapping or making a "stchhh!" noise really worked as she got scared, you have to keep up with it if she is to learn that if she bites then she has to hear the loud noise.
hope this helped.
I think the next time if she come to you, try have some food in your hands, so next time when she come to you she will know "that person is very nice, she feed me some food", or unless you did some damage to her when she little kitten, cat they are very smart!!!, so try this method to see if it will work :)
Good luck!
I'm distressed that you refer to your cat as "the cat from hell." That hints to me that you and your mother don't really like this cat and probably should not keep it.
Never hit your cat, swipe its nose or yell at it. And DO NOT blow in its face. Those are abusive methods that will not change your cat's behavior. Anyone who says they do is wrong b/c cats deserve to be treated with respect and with understanding.
There are better alternatives that do not shame, physically or emotionally harm your cat, that you can use to misdirect your cat's biting behavior. But before you do that, you need to do some investigative work.
Try to understand the behavior before you label it so negatively. Water bottle spraying will not stop a cat from biting if the cat is reacting negatively to the environment, or if the cat is ill, injured or unhappy.
Biting is a Defense Mechanism
Biting is a part of a cat's defense mechanism since cats are predatory animals by nature. Biting is how they protect themselves from perceived or real threats.
Cat Owner Behavior
As the cat's owner, you need to be careful that you are not threatening your cat in any way when you either play with it or feed it. For instance, do you yell at your cat alot? Do you swipe at it or hit it on a regular basis? Do you ignore your cat a lot? Your cat's biting you based on behavior that you are exhibiting; whether it's through body language or vocally.
Cat's Health and Biting Display
Sometimes when a cat is anxious, fearful, sad, angry, depressed, injured, ill (bacterial or viral infection) they will bite. Do you take good care of your cat's health on a regular basis? This is one possibility for the biting.
Environment Can Cause Stress To Cat
The other possibility is that there might be something stressful going on in your environment that is affecting your cat. Do you and your mother live together? And if so, do you have a good/bad relationship with her; the cat could be picking up on your own mood at home and that could be stressing it out. If you both neglect and ignore the cat often, of course it will bite you -- it's angry at you for ingoring it. And that is the only way it can express its anger, in addition to growling or hissing at you. It's not biting you because it wants to play rough.
Your cat is upset; either for health or environmental reasons that is affecting how it feels about where it lives and who it lives with (you and your mother).
At this point, I think it doesn't sound like you should keep the cat. I think you should find the cat a new home as soon as possible. I'm sad to hear you call your cat "the cat from hell." Cats take their cues from their owners most of the time b/c the owner is the one in charge of their environment, their feeding schedule and who keeps their toilet (litterbox clean).
If you don't care about this cat at all please be responsible and find it a new home. If you do care about this cat, be patient and try to find out why it's biting you all the time by looking at how you treat it, or take it to the vet and see if it's suffering from an injury or illness first. The vet will be able to give you more information after the cat's health is examined and you own up to any negative behavior of how you treat your cat, to the vet. The more information the vet has, the easier it will be to solve the biting problem.
Good luck.
Adjusting behavior in cats is MUCH different than training dogs. With cats you pick your battles and compromise with everything else. Cats respond vert well to peer/peer negotiations.
I've never known a cat who bites in anger. They tend to scratch if hey are scared and feel the need to be aggessive. So I'm guessing thatyour cat is playing and doesn't realize that is not acceptable play.
I ONLY use positive re-enforcement. I don't hit or punish. If your cat startsbiting when you're petting or playing with her say no firmly then walk away and ignore her completely for 5-20 mins. Cats HATE to be ignored
When she plays nicely, shower her with praise and attention. Perhaps she s acting out because she wants your attention and negative attention is better than none. She'll soon learn that the correct behavior will get her positive attention
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