Female cat, 2.5 years, spayed, domestic shorthair. Adopted her in April (2 months ago).
I'm her primary caregiver (I feed her, scoop the box, clip her nails, etc). She follows me around pretty much everywhere. She sleeps in my bed, if I'm outside she will meow at the window, she meows at the bathroom door while I shower.
Anyway, she has developed a bit of a biting problem. She only bites me, not either of my parents. She will sometimes bite when I pet her, which I think is pretty normal. I just stop petting her. However, in the last month or so she has started biting when I haven't been interacting with her. I'll just be laying in my bed, she will sprint up the stairs, jump onto my bed, and bite the life out of my ankles. Hard. She will bite my ankle and then pull left to right and kind of shake her head. It leaves a mark but doesn't bleed. She will do this several times in a row, biting down harder each time. I think I also kind of messed up - when she first started doing this, I would give her a stern, loud "NO!" and boop her nose. This would just make her bite harder in like 5 seconds. Now I just get up and leave the room if she bites. She never hisses at me or any one else, only our dog if she gets too close.
I called her old foster mom and told her this, and she said that my cat didn't do that at the foster home. The foster mom said it might be the right thing to give her up and send her back to the no-kill shelter I got her from, but obviously I don't want to do that. The foster mentioned she may be biting me to get attention to play, but I play with her probably 30-60 mins a day plus she plays with some toys on her own. I'm starting a full time job soon and I don't think I can play with her much more than I already do. Lots of online sources say getting another cat will keep her more occupied, but the foster made it clear that she cannot stand other cats and is very mean/aggressive towards them. Does it seem like the right thing to give her up? Have I trained my cat to hate me by yelling at her when she bites? Can I ever untrain that? How long will it take? Why does she only bite me? Any advice/anecdotes would be super helpful, I'm a first time cat owner and have no idea what to do.
TLDR; Newly adopted cat bites my ankles randomly, but not my family members. Foster suggested giving her back to the shelter. Can I train out this behavior or is it a lost cause?