We adopted a 6 month old kitten nearly two weeks ago. He is delightful - really affectionate, playful, and has been great with our older (and quite grumpy!) cat. However he is a biter - not playful biting, properly painful biting.
The charity we adopted him from said that his previous owner (who had him from 8 weeks) worked long shifts, so he was shut in a flat for hours on end himself, then often shut away when she got home. I know this is probably why he does it - and he’s never been taught not to before either.
We are experienced cat owners, and whilst previous cats have had the odd nibble, we’ve never had anything like this before (broken skin and bleeding). I have been giving him a brief ‘time-out’ in another room when he does it, using a firm voice to reprimand him, distracting with toys, and rewarding him for good behaviour. Any other suggestions?
He was not previously vaccinated, so we started them last week. He will eventually go outside so hopefully that will help.
So far he hasn’t bitten my 5 year old but I’m concerned that might happen.