For those of you who have ever taken home a particularly rambunctious kitten, you know all too well what it means to get suckerpunched by a tiny fur ball who’s gotten just a little too zealous with his rough-housing. Especially when it’s 4 a.m. and you have to get up for work in three hours. Isn’t kitty parenthood FUN? Aren’t you having FUN? This is FUN! Tiny baby kitten nails in your eyelids! Waking you up from that wild dream you were having about paying off all your student debt! KITTENS! They’re the gift that keeps on giving.
Play Aggression
Image: Tnarik Innael via flickr
You may be unsurprised to learn that this behavior is known as “play aggression”. Put simply, “play aggression” is the term used to gauge when a cat or kitten gets a little too worked up during playtime. When cats play with each other and their human caretakers, they… how should I say, “draw inspiration” from their natural hunting instincts. Just like wildcats, cat parents encourage their offspring to fine-tune their hunting techniques by playing with them and challenging them for the benefit of their survival.
However, this aggression can be curbed with the right amount of dedication, as your ramshackle apartment is a far cry from the jungles of, you know, wherever. “THIS AIN’T JUMANJI!” you may find yourself yelling to the ceiling, peeling your new family member off your face while she takes a gratuitous amount of forehead skin with her. And you’re right! But Honeycakes over there with her needle-like claws and voracious appetite for pouncing on things doesn’t seem to know the difference, so it’s your job to teach her.
How To Deal
Now that you know the reason for your bumble bean’s behavior, you’ve taken the first step in fixing the problem. Step two is as follows: DON’T ENCOURAGE IT. Man, you would not believe how often a simple approach like this goes unaddressed. Don’t engage with your cat when she’s getting rough with you. Show disinterest. Walk away from her. DON’T egg her on and rile her up even more. For instance, when you go to pet your kitty baby and she starts to chomp down on your hand, pull your hand away, and keep it away from her. Don’t engage with her during playtime using your hands. Instead, give her a toy to play with. Wrestling with her using your hands and arms will only reinforce the idea that they are play things, and the next time you go in to pet her, she will mistakenly assume it’s playtime, every time.
Remember, she’s not just going to “grow out of it” if you encourage her to keep doing it. The kitten years are the most formative, and the behavior she learns as a kitten will be taken with her well into adulthood. It is much easier to put an end to undesired behavior during these years than it is trying to get a full-grown cat to readjust (though it is still possible).
Kitten V. Kitten
So, that sounds easy enough. But what if you’ve got two kittens, and they’re going at it with each other? First step: establish who the instigator is. When my boys Danger and Pushkin were tiny little tater tots, Danger ADORED his little brother, and wanted to show it every chance he got by hurling himself across the room and sneak-attacking Pushkin at every given opportunity. Pushkin, a mellow young chap by nature, had no choice but to bear the brunt of his brother’s insistent invitations to go full-frontal smackdown. Identifying the instigator is key to solving the problem. In this case, a simple time-out will do. Shoo the instigator away, and remove his perilous victim from the scene for about a minute or so. While they’re separated, this is an excellent time to execute the next step.
Redirect The Aggression
As I’ve said before, cats LOVE to redirect their aggression. When a cat or kitten is getting too rough, redirect that energy into something he’s actually supposed to tear apart, like a cat toy. Over time, this will teach him that when he’s in the mood to play, he has something at his disposal to release that energy on to. And, more importantly, that that thing is not his brother or, say, your hand/face/leg, etc.
So, what did we learn today? First, address the problem of play aggression. Do not engage with a kitten who’s playing too rough. If he’s attacking another animal, identify the instigator and break it up. Shoo the aggressor away and remove the other animal from the scene. Lastly, redirect that aggression onto something he’s allowed to play with.
Playtime is essential in raising a healthy cat, and spending quality time with her, engaging with her and allowing her to release her primal energy is integral to keeping her behavior in check. Without enough playtime, cats can become stressed, depressed, or even hostile. Make sure your cat gets enough opportunities to play with you and/or her siblings, but in a healthy way that doesn’t leave any permanent scars or damage. She’ll thank you for it. Heck, even 4 a. m. you will thank you! Go back to dreaming of that debt-free life, you stellar cat parent, you!
I have done everything I can possibly do to stop my 3 month old Manx kitten and he won’t stop bitting my arms and hands. He’s extremely aggressive and when punished he continues to be even more aggressive.Seriously thinking of putting him up for adoption !!
Hi Dory, I’m sorry to hear about Manx. But 3 months is still very young. Did you try following our advice? Young kittens need a lot of stimulation and get bored easily so you may want to increase his play time. Also what do you do when you “punish” him? If he bites the best thing to do is to immediately stop the interaction and leave the room.
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I have a 4 month old Siamese kitten. She loves to bite me and dig into me with all 4 paws claws. It hurts so bad when I try to get her claws out of me. I am going to start right now to put your training to use.
Should I be clipping her rear nails?
My kitten is 2 months, I know he’s just playing because after he bites me he normally immediately starts licking my hands but it still really hurts and I’ve tried everything and he just won’t stop.
Should I put my four month old kitten, JJ, in her wire crate when she bites me? I have scratch marks and bloody scabs from his teeth and claws. I will take your advice to put him in another room from me. But what about putting him in time out in his wire crate?
My 14 yr old cat started playing rough. When I use dishwashing liquid she smells & licks my hand then tries biting them. When I shampoo my hair she’ll rub my head & then bite it. She never did this when she was younger.
Our cat is 1yrs old. She has started biting us while petting her. I feel she understands us when we tell her no bite. But seems aggressive. What can I do to stop her from biting us?
6 month old kitten who is too aggressive with my 9 year cat who is laid back and peaceful. . I have had the kitten since she was 10 month old and hoped that she would adjust with time.. I have not seen any changes in the kitten only when she is completely worn out.
I have been a multiple cat owner for 40 years and have not run into this problem in the past.. The kitten also has not learned to cover her feces in the litter box.. She attempts to do it but is highly ineffective. I hope that she will learn with time.
I adopted a cat from the pound and I love her but the biting is what I can’t deal with! I will not take the cat back to the pound! But the biting must stop! An you help?
I just adopted a rescue cat who is 8 weeks old last Thursday. We have loads of playtime together which she loves and she naps one or two times during the day the problem is at night when I am tired and want to go to bed that’s when she wants to bite my feet arms and legs under the covers. It hurts and it is driving me to distraction I always leave the room and go to my other bedroom and try again but then she follows me into the second bedroom I tries to play again for the first time I have shut the bedroom door and she was outside she was meowing a tiny bit but now I don’t hear anything so I think she went to sleep but I feel so mean shutting her out of the bedroom. I will try your techniques.
I adopted a 9 month old kitten. She is very aggressive and sometime when you walk a past him he will leap on your leg all 4 claws will be on your leg and he starts bitting you.When you try to pet him he bites really hard and most of the time draws blood and scratches you .How do I break him from this.?
Hi Barbara, the best thing you can do to curb the aggression from your kitty is to ignore her when she starts getting riled up or redirect her attention to a toy or scratch post so she can learn to play with the proper things. Hope this helps and best of luck!
I have a cat and she also bites for not reason she will follow you and try to bite your leg if she can she is always wagging her tail like she is angry she had a terrible flea issue which we cured and I know that this called her a lot of angst but she has been doing this from the start I have had cats all my life and never had a cat like this….she does not care if you tell her no bad girl and leave her alone she follows you so that she can get the last word if you know what I mean
my 13-year old tabby, who i’ve had since 8 weeks old, has started biting my nose when i wear breathe right strips at night. the strips help alot with my sleep, but pulling bogart’s teeth out of my nose really hurts! any thoughts?
Hello, I’ve started following these instructions. But, I have a question, does a spray bottle work? Should I use it?
Hi Cherry, spray bottles are not effective as they will just upset your cat. Try using the other methods listed here. 🙂
Young kitten will not stop biting and tearing feet and hands apart,,,what should be done to stop this