Kitten biting and scratching me when playing

Question

My kitten is very much into bunting he will run full steam ahead when he see's me to come say hello which is often accompanied by bunting licking and biting my nose.

I sometimes need to grap him by the scruff of the neck to get him to let go and then I put him on the floor and ignore him for a little while until he can return and cuddle nicely- sometimes needs to be repeated multiple times.

He also has a tendency to play rough and will Bite and scratch my arms and legs as though they are his prey saying no or yelping in pain doesn't seem to deter him and if I take him off he treats it like a game and comes back even harder. I know he's a kitten and mostly just wants to play and he does have toys to play with.

Overall he is extremely social and outgoing and loves attention I love him to bits but could do without the teeth marks.

Answer 1

Your kitten is just wanting to play. He has not understood that rough playing after a level should not be done. This is usually taught my mother and siblings. Perhaps she has been separated from them too early.

To prevent this rough playing I can come up with following points:

• Cats are by nature predators and they react o movement. Don't take away your nose, hand, feet, etc. quickly. The movement will encourage the cat to play even rougher. Just freeze and try moving slowly.
• Don't force the cat away. It is similar to litter mate giving a kick to force her sibling away. The cat will like it and again come at you harder.
• Whenever the cat plays rough stop the play and make her understand that fun is over. But if she resumes playing without the roughness part, again start playing and don't forget to give her a treat.
• Never yell at the cat. She will not understand the reason of punishment and will get confused. Slowly she will learn to fear you.
• Whenever the cat bites and you feel pain, giving a painful sound, try to sound like cat in pain. This is how litter mates express pain and asks sibling to stop the rough play.
• Buy the cat plentiful toys so that she can self entertain herself when you are not there to play with her.

Also note that this playful tendency in cats is prominent only when they are kitten. It weans away as she reaches adulthood.

Answer 2

In the past I have squeezed their scruff and massaged it in my fingers so it feels good but they are prevented from biting and scratching (never shaking or angrily restraining them.) Then I say no in a calm, firm voice, while looking into their eyes, then set them down and pet them again with slow movements, showing them what I want from them (calm cuddling, or at least still tolerance of my touch.) All it took was going through this once or twice and they didn't attack my hand again. This also goes for those surprise scratches that come out of the blue, just because they're tired of your affection.

Before this, many times, I tried putting them away from me instead of forcing them to calm down while I pet them again. It never worked. I also tried squirting, yelling and tapping their noses. Gently and firmly showing them what I want, without scaring them, seemed to work best.

Note: this does not work for needs that aren't being met such as scratching on furniture or peeing outside the box, nor does it work when they're behavior is pure fear or anxiety. It works well on learned misbehavior and general orneriness that is not fear-based.