Quite a lot of you cat owners will be able to relate to the following situation: Your cat mews after you, strokes around your legs purring and seeks your eyes with that expectant look in its face.
Touched by that love your cat shows you, you take her up on your lap and start stroking her. She rubs her head against you, purring passionately and then, all of a sudden, she bites your hand and beats you up with her claws.
You are now totally confused, after all you were just stroking the cat and not maltreating it. "Why", you are asking yourself, "is she biting me?"
This kind of scene most of all happens to owners of young cats. A cat biting while being petted can have different reasons for that. And you as a cat-owner have different possibilities to react to your cats moods.
Reason No. 1: Young Cats don't know their Limits
The swift shift between cuddling and playing is something kittens do quite frequently among themselves. Cats, even the younger ones, don't feel the playful bites because of their thick fur.
Therefore your cat doesn't even know she is hurting you.
Cats who bite your hand just for the devilment do it with cocked ears, eyes wide open and a pugnacious posture. Cats who are like that also won't bite just once if you let them but "hug" your hand with their forepaws and kick it with their hind paws.
Just shaking the cat down will neither make it feel dismissed but, much more, make it want to play even more.
Your possible solution: You have to show your cat its limits: Be consistent don't allow her ever to bite your hand again.
It's important, when your cat start biting your hand while you were petting it, that you just let your hand rest limply and motionless on your lap. This will lower your cat's fighting spirit while pushing it back raises it.
Further information might be found here: How to Engage your Cat.
Cats are reasonable... Sometimes
In our opinion the easiest way to make your cat understand that you are hurt by its attacks is to tell it so in cat language. That can be done by hitting directly into her face. We know, it takes a little guts at first but it's totally worth it!
Just get face to face with your cat as soon as it bites again. The distance between you and your cat should be around 10 to 50 cm. Hiss directly into her face and make her feel gust. Usually a cat is very confused after such an attack and ceases her own attacks. If it goes on, though, hiss again - in a louder and more aggressive manner.
If your hissing doesn't work (after 5 hisses) poker it softly (!) into her ribs while hissing and make her leave your lap (by standing up).
Ignore your cat after it bit you
Another, time consuming, approach is the method of ignoring your cat. Every time your cat bites your hand while you pet it you just get up and ignore it for the next 20 minutes. But just to warn you: Cat, especially those with a high self-esteem, are not as uptight about a human-being ignoring them as a dog would be. It takes at least a month to teach the cat that you ignoring it has something to do with its biting.
Cats are definitely brighter than dogs but also much more stubborn when someone else whats to teach them something. Therefore you will need at least a week to teach your cat not to use your hand as a toy.
Reason No. 2: Your Cat is moody
Every cat has its own character. Some get angry pretty fast and some seem to be cheerful all the time - we human beings are not that different...
Cats like that don't bite your hand because they want to play but because they don't feel like being petted from one second to the other. A moody cat just bites once usually - with a sour face and a tensed (sometimes regretting) posture. Cats like that don't want to hurt you, they just want to tell you that you petted them too long or too hard.
Solution: Become more acquainted with your cat and its behavior. This kind of biting can't be reasoned with because the cat won't see its fault but only yours.
You can learn, though, to prevent bites in the future by studying your cat's body language. That way you will soon know when she's even slightly testy and can stop petting her before the cat stops it for you.
Tipp: As soon as the you cat's tail tip starts twitching, the ears are shifted nervously or the whole body is tense it's time for you to leave your cat alone.
Reason No. 3: Your cat has an Injury (e.g. a bruise)
Sometimes cats come home with a bruise or two that we can openers, of course, won't see below that thick fur.
Signs for a cat that bite because of their pain are, for example, those:
- Your cat usually never bites you.
- It just bites when you touch a certain area.
- The change of mind is very sudden and without warning.
A cat that mews very aggressively or seems to be very exhausted and shredded should probably see the vet.
Picture: CC 2.0 by kniemla