Biting cat

[IToldYouThisBefore]

Hi, just wondered if anyone had any advice on cat that sometimes bites or scratch?

We have a 2 year old cat, we got her from cats protection as a kitten. She was neutered by them before she came to us.

She is lovely when she wants to be, but she sometimes bites or scratches the DC. I'd understand if they were annoying her but they are really good at leaving her alone until she comes to them and rubs her head on them and they know to only stroke her head as she doesn't like anywhere else touched.

Last week DD walked past her and she grabbed her leg and scratched her. This morning she sat on DS bed and he moved to get a book and she bit him. I really don't know what to do, but if I'm honest, if she was a dog we would probably have to re-home her. I really don't want to do this as we all love her but equally don't know how you train a cat?!

She has been to the vets and all is fine medically.

If it’s the kids she focuses on it’s probably their unpredictable high energy movements that set her off, adults are easy to read by comparison.

If she thinks they might hurt her she might be getting one in first even when she’s no history of being hurt.

Grabbing legs is classic play, you see lion cubs doing it to adult lions on tv too, it’s just that other cats are covered in fur and we’re not so we get scratched.

Our Bengal boy did the same to me walking up stairs. Bloody frightening & he got told for it. Then he had an apology as he looked scared & I felt guilty.

My most recent rescue cat (aged 6 at the time) tried to bite me twice, unprovoked, not long after I got her. I accepted that she was probably stressed by the move and trying to assert her dominance, but I wasn’t prepared to tolerate it.
Each time I looked her firmly in the eyes, lightly cuffed her head (no harder than a mother cat would with a misbehaving kitten) and shouted “No! Bad cat!”
She never did it again and I’ve had her for nearly 4 years now. She is well settled, affectionate, and seems to enjoy life, hunting in the garden and sleeping on my bed. I think she was just testing boundaries.

She will nip my ankles if she wants feeding in the morning but it's mainly the kids. The problem is even if they avoid her she seeks them out and sits next to them! I wondered if it was a dominance thing but not sure if cats do that?

We've told her no loads of times but she doesn't care

Our ragdoll used to bite loads when she was younger, I feel your pain! Can you try redirecting her onto something else? For example we got a couple of Kong kickers from amazon and kept them nearby. When we noticed her eyes looking huge or anything to signal she was about to bite, we gave her the kicker and she would take out her frustration on that.

Maybe that might work, will order some, thank you

Is she a tortoiseshell?. Nipping ankles is very assertive behaviour for a girl.

Distraction sounds a good idea.

No she's all black. I'm hoping she grows out of it but I've just found out I'm pregnant and it would be awful if she did it to a baby