Cat biting and scratching

[MummytoCSJH]

Some of you may remember my post about 6 months ago about rescuing a cat which was neglected. Well, we're doing well, all cats are friends now and she's happy. I just have trouble with her biting. She comes to me for petting (nuzzles into my hand and sits right on me) and all of a sudden, out of nowhere she will just bite and scratch me. There are no warning signs, no noises she makes, no ear or tail movements - one second she can be absolutely fine then the next she just lashes out. I've been to the vets and they can't tell anything is wrong to make her act like this - are some cats just like this? She has never once tried to bite my 5yo son or my 4yo brother, it just seems to be adults. I want her to stop, it's not really a big deal if I can't as I just don't stroke her but then I feel so bad as she looks at me longingly and goes in between my phone and my hands, she really wants to be stroked but then one second later she just attacks me! I have scars all over my hands and arms from this. Any ideas?

Oh dear. Some cats do certainly do this. It's normally overstimulation, but it doesn't sound as though that's the case here. What if you stroke for just a few seconds and stop?

Sometimes the signs are very subtle. If my girl goes wide eyed I leave her alone. She’s very very easily overstimulated.

Stop immediately, gently tap her nose whilst firmly saying no. Don’t raise your voice. Also, are you playing with her? She should be having some good interactive play a couple of times a day. If she’s indoor/outdoor you might open the backdoor when she bites so she can run around. But if you’re able to play with her it will really strengthen your bond.

Sometimes I stroke her for a short while and it's fine, sometimes I stroke her for 1 second and she bites. I don't really go to her to see if she wants strokes as I got the impression she didn't like it and didn't want to bother her, now she's constantly coming to me but acting like this.. Yes we play, the cats have lots of toys, we play together with some of them like chase the ribbon type toys and those wrinkly tunnels and they have the robotic ones they can play by themselves, 2 cat trees in the house and she goes outside too and plays with the other 2 cats. So I can't imagine how she would be bored. I read that it's likely overstimulation but I really can't tell at all when its happening or going to happen, at least if I could look for the signs I'd know when to stop but I'm constantly on edge when she's near me that she might just bite or scratch me, and its not when a particular area is stroked or when its been a certain amount of time, it's so random!

We have a biter - much much better than he was, but occasionally he still misbehaves. We decreased the behaviour over months by keeping the reaction to biting as calm as possible - a firm no and removing attention but no anger, shouting or banishment - and by providing several kicker-type toys. Now if he gets that wild-eyed crazy look i chuck a kicker toy down and he beats that up instead of my arm. And if he gets even the slightest bit of a twitch when I touch him, I leave well alone. The good news is he bites far less often and with much less intention than he did, but the bad news is he is still a bit unpredictable at times and I think he always will be. I don't know if that is typical, or just him, but worth a try?