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My now 13 year old cat (Fiona) had this issue when younger, and still can from time to time. Also a shelter kitty who was younger than they said when I got her...
In the beginning, I would yell at her--that just made it worse....
Here's what I've learned over the years:
1. She gets over-stimulated easily. When she's over-stimulated, she sort of goes into that "attack" mode. My job is to read the signs, and stop when she looks like she's near that point. I can be petting her, and she'll purr away, then "attack" -- she's had enough. Usually she gives me a clue.
2. My kitty does not like loud or fast-moving people. I don't know why, but she doesn't. Calm, peaceful is the way to go with her...
3. The more time I spend with her, the happier she is. A little loving affection both morning & night does wonders!
4. I find if I can interrupt my kitty's attention from her aggressive instance, this stops the behavior. For example, if she goes for my legs (rarely--but sometimes when I'm headed towards the shower) I hold up a towel between her and my legs. Interrupts her focus and she'll stop. If she's being really bad/attacking/continues, I will pick her up by the scruff of her neck, tell her firmly but calmly "no" and separate her from me by putting her in another room and closing the door. I only have to leave her in there for about a minute--when I open the door she's forgotten what she was doing and is all normal again.
5. If I'm petting her and she starts to attack, I generally hold still and use a very calm soothing voice--"no, Fiona.... no.... good girl...." Works WAY WAY better than yelling, pushing her off, or pulling my hand away quickly, which seemed to get her more riled up.
6. Miss Fiona does not like to be left alone. If I do an overnight, or a weekend, she's all mad when I come back. If I'm gone longer than 4 days, she "misses" me more than she was "mad" at me so I am forgiven. As such, I've found myself hiring a cat-sitter if I'm gone (or have a friend--whom she likes--come stay there/hangout and watch a movie there). She's happier when I do this. Separation anxiety, I think...
7. I sit with her when I introduce new people to her, and watch for her "signs" since a new person won't know how to look for them.
8. When she was younger, I found giving her something to chase on a string or a feather toy was a good way to channel some of that energy. In fact, I ended up crocheting my own cat toys!
9. On the rare instances when she scratched (with blood) it was usually because her claws were too sharp, not because she was actually splaying them. If I keep them trimmed, this isn't an issue. (Yes, she will let me do this, though sometimes only a few claws at a time...)
She has certainly calmed down from this behavior as she has gotten older, but # 2 & 7 above hold true. Some people she just LOVES and others... not so much. Oh--and don't worry about the nick-name--I once had a (fast, loud-talking) roommate who nick-named her "Fi-no-ners" (shortened to "No-ners" because she was always saying "no" to her.
I provided a lot of detail and hope there's something helpful in here for you. To sum it up... In my particular situation, remaining calm and soothing was/is very important and her bad behavior generally stem(s) from 1) being over-stimulated or 2) left alone.
Regarding the OP. I had exactly the same problem with the kitten I got last year. She was friendly overall but she would attach you and bite really hard if you tried to pet her sometimes. Other times she liked it. She was a bit out of control and hurt us sometimes. Anyway, when she was around 3 months old we brought in another kitten about the same age/size as her. They play all the time and she never bites or scratches her humans anymore at all! I think you should get another kitten if possible.
One thing I was wondering is if it has anything to do with her being taken away from her mother while very young. The shelter told me she was 3 months old (no mother in the shelter), but after talking to a vet it looks like she was closer to 1 month.
I firmly believe that taking animals away from their mothers too young does manifest itself in behavior problems later. Kittens learn about acceptable behavior from their mothers and from playing with their siblings. Those extra weeks (12 weeks is the youngest recommended for weaning) are very important for the kitten to learn limits, and wrestling with siblings can let the kitten learn that rough play hurts!
I hiss at my cats when they're bad. At first I use canned air. I do not spray it directly at the cat - canned air isn't really air; it's all sorts of nasty chemicals, so never spray it at them. But it makes a great hissy noise, and that's what I'm after. Later, I can hiss myself and they know what I mean - knock it off!
I read where we should play with our cats for 15 minutes twice a day. I have also been told the quick bites are just love bites. More attention may be in order. Sometimes they act like never get enough though.
Thanks so much for everyone's advice! I'll try to redirect her towards toys and hope that works. She's a very attention-hungry cat, so hopefully that might just be the problem.
I heard that also abuot the little bites. They don't really hurt you because you know they could bite hard and break the skin but they don't. My cat likes to do the biteing thing when I go to take a shower in the morning. Once I pick him up and give him a love and stroke his neck and back a couple times..he stops...till the next morning lol
I heard that also abuot the little bites. They don't really hurt you because you know they could bite hard and break the skin but they don't. My cat likes to do the biteing thing when I go to take a shower in the morning. Once I pick him up and give him a love and stroke his neck and back a couple times..he stops...till the next morning lol
That's true, little "love nips" I don't mind that much. It's even cute when she falls asleep mid-bite.
It's more the full-on attack that's the problem, since even when I take her off she'll often come back for more. Each time she gets more and more excited, so towards the end it's not quite as gentle anymore. I'm trying to keep a toy to throw for when she does this, as petting doesn't do the trick (she just attacks the hand).
Could be the cat is full of pent-up energy and needs play.
But about the only time our cat fights, it's actually a faux fight, where he tries not to hurt by attempting to keep his claws retracted (well, as much as possible -- and sometimes he gets a little carried away). But his faux fights are often brought on after being petted past the point where he feels comfortable, but I do think he enjoys these little "fights."
When my youngest cat was a kitten, she would get rowdy too. I know this sounds weird, but when she sunk her fangs into my hand and was sufficiently distracted, I would bite her ear. I never bit hard, but the first time I did it she backed up and gave me a look like, "Whoa...what was that?" When she learned that I would bite back when she got mean, she started being gentler. I started being gentler in turn and nowadays we play and cuddle comfortably. She still bites sometimes, but now they're the 'love nibbles' and not 'rawr I will eat your finger'.
This probably would be unpleasant with a very furry cat, though...
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