On Apr 30, 12:22*am, lorraine wrote:
My 3 month old kitten loves to bite. Sometimes it hurts! I'm worried
he'll carry on this behavior till he's an adult! Any advice?

You have not mentioned at what age you got your kitten, or whether he
had littermates. You have not mentioned what sort of play brings on
the biting behavior, but a couple of things that may help:

a) If the kitten is grabbing you with his front paws, kicking with his
back paws and then biting, this is how kittens play with each other.
Littermates rapidly learn when they have gone too far, but your kitten
is learning with you - his latest littermate. You have a couple of
choices given that this is 100% normal. You can pull away (gently) as
others suggest and say NO. Or, you can wear an oven mitt or play
through a blanket or some such until the kitten is tired. Although the
first option is valid, generally, I suggest the latter as although
most cats will outgrow this stage all-too-soon, it is excellent
bonding play as long as it lasts. See b).

b) The kitten is teething as well - so biting and chewing is fairly
normal. Spontaneous biting is not - kitten leans over and just bites -
without the grasping and kicking *OR* without encouragement from you.
Kittens that have spent too much time isolated in cages without
sufficient space to play and/or mixed in with non-littermates often
develop displacement behavior that shows as biting. Depending on the
previous conditions, this behavior may never entirely go away. Our
Maine Coon (unhappily) spent his first 8 weeks in the 3 x 5 cage he
was born in, and kept with non-littermates. Now over 12 years later,
his primary defense under stress is to bite. He has learned not to
bite hard, but the behavior remains despite his saucer-sized, well-
equipped paw & claws. On the other hand, he is absolutely wonderful
with the grandkids (and any children in general) allowing all sorts of
abuses that would earn stitches or worse if from an adult. He also
uses his claws to discipline and discourage the puppy and his
companion-cat - so his biting is specific to people, and amongst
people to adults.

We have observed such displacement behavior in other cats with such a
background, and our vet describes it as quite common. It can be
tempered over time but will typically come back if the cat is under
stress.

I hope it is just normal play - and if so, the more you play with your
cat, the more it can let it all out around you, the stronger the bond
will be. And it will get over it. Note that male cats are generally
much rougher at play than females, and generally are more playful
longer. Generally, not always.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA