I live with my mom and we have a one year old cat. The cat only ever bites me and she bites me repeatedly. They're gentle unprovoked bites. I'll be laying down and she'll start biting me repeatedly, my feet, my legs, my butt, my arms, my hands, and even my head. They're not aggressive but she does this often, I raise my voice and tell her to stop but she doesn't. Why does she do this to me only?
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1Welcome to pets.SE! How much hours of the day do you both spend at home with the cat? Could be the cat has different relationship to your mum, than to you?– AllerleirauhCommented Mar 29, 2022 at 10:34
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Probably because you let her. You "raise (your) voice and tell her to stop," but without details I can only assume you're not actually doing something to discourage the behavior, which becomes more ingrained the longer it goes on.– Allison CCommented Mar 29, 2022 at 13:33
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2 Answers
Are you her favorite person? If so, she may be bored and trying to get you to play with her!
Soft bites, called nips, are one of the ways cats initiate play with each other. It’s soft enough that the other cat knows that no real harm is intended, but it’s still enough to get their play/hunt/fight instincts to kick in.
Cats often pick one specific human as “theirs”, which explains why she doesn’t do it to other family members: you’re the only one she wants to play with.
In the short term, you can try playing more with her before she nips you. But if she is just too active for you to keep up with, getting a second cat may be the best solution because they’ll have more similar daily sleep/play cycles.
This could be a sign of favor, actually.
Cats have scent glands inside their mouths, and sometimes use nipping or licking or even teeth-rubbing (my personal favorite) as a lesser-known way to get you to smell like them and therefore to belong to them. Cats rub their chins or heads on us for the same reason, but the inside of the mouth also works.
My cat nips me a bunch when I get back from a long time away. It doesn't hurt and it's not an issue. She just wants to get me smelling "right" as quickly as possible.
