At what age cats should stop biting and scratching games?

Question

I have a Maine Coon kitten who is 1.5 months old. When he's playful, he starts biting and scratching whenever he sees your arm next to him, and any hand movement is like an invitation to bite. Trying to put a hand on his back causes him to roll over and fight it with claws and teeth. Same is with feet. He even purrs when biting. He never purrs when playing with toys.

When he's sleepy, he's nice and sweet, purring and allowing to be petted. He sleeps next to us, so he doesn't hate us.

Different internet resources divide into two groups: some say 'He's just a kitten, it's totally fine, he'll stop', and others say 'If I don't teach him not to bite, he'll bite all his life'.

We've tried playing with him with toys, tried screaming when it's painful, tried spraying with water once, nothing seems to be working really. At most, he switches to something else, and next time he wants to bite again, he bites.

So, maybe he's really too young to stop just yet? At what age they stop biting on their own?

Answer 1

Kittens need to stay in with their mother for 12 weeks. That's three months and your kitten is already with you when only 1,5 months old. Being with the mother is not all about the mother cat nursing her babies, it is also an important period of time when they learn to play safely with their littermates and with their mother as well. Little kittens have the sharpest teeth and claws there is, at least that's how it feels to us humans.

I got firsthand observations of this learning process when we got two male kittens at the same time. They were both 12 weeks old but from different homes and different mix of breeds. The other one came from a fluffy thick fur litter while the other one is from a slick short hair litter. They both naturally learned to adjust their play so as to not hurt their own littermates, but the one with thicker fur had learned to play rougher. It did not start well when these two started playing together here at us. A lot of meowing and hissing from the thin coat fellow went into educating his thick furred mate on safe play rules. After all it worked, they still play together but there's almost no hissing or such sounds nowadays.

When does a kitten learn to play safe? At its first months of life, and that with the best playing pals; its own littermates. When a kitten in question has been taken away from his littermates at so very young age it means the play training is a job for his owner(s). How to do this is something for another Q&A.

Play training by the kitten's owners is possible, I'm sure of that, it only takes time and effort. My best advice, given your kitten's young age, is to quickly get another kitten to play with this one. Just be sure to find one who is well past 12 weeks old already, one who has spent all that time with other kittens and thus knows the rules. In your place this is without a doubt what I would do.

Answer 2

Explanation:

It is like asking "When will human-children stop watching cartoons?" (I'm a 22 year old male and I still watch cartoons.)

It will happen when they think they are too good for scratching/biting (you) and/or lose interest in that. (Same way humans lose interest in cartoons.)

I hope he will stop biting before he is this big (not all of them get this big):

Things I suggest you shouldn't do:

1. Screaming.
2. Spraying water.

Thing you should know:

1. "Love bites" can hurt.

Answer 3

I have always had at least one cat. I have never had a problem with them biting.The first time they bite me ,I bite them gently on the yip of their ear.if the first time does not work, I bite them on the tip of their ear again gently but making sure they feel it . It works every time.

Answer 4

This behavior isn't grown out of as much as trained out of. First, you need to play with your cat a lot more, with things where your hands are far away, so it can't bite or scratch, like feather lures or laser pointers. If your cat is played out, it'll be much less likely to bite or scratch.

Watch for body posture or behavior that indicates your cat has excess energy before trying to pet it. If your cat's acting restless, like it's twitching and keeps shifting positions, seems particularly alert, very reactive to movement, or its body seems tense, with its ears slightly back, all of these can be indicators of excess energy. So play with it if you notice these sorts of signs. It's probably a good idea to always try to play it out before you try to pet it as well.

The other step is to immediately stop any sort of interaction if the cat does bite or scratch. After about five minutes, try playing with the lure or laser pointer again, and make sure it's tired out. Not getting to play anymore for a while when it does bite or scratch, plus giving it a different outlet, should be a good enough to hopefully redirect your cat to playing more appropriately.