Cat biting :-(

[Sleepdeprived42long]

Hi looking for some helpful advice. Our 8 month old cat (Ragdoll) has been biting us every day since we got him :-( we absolutely love him to pieces but it’s becoming a real issue. He’s a really friendly happy cat the rest of the time. Apart from the risk of infection from biting, my two children (8 and 6) are now starting to get scared of him. I feel like we’ve tried so much-lots of playtime, feliway, no play biting of hands/feet, he’s been neutered. It seems like he wants to ‘hunt’ (rather than him being scared) and seems to go for passing legs/feet and clamp his jaws round them! When we say no and try to remove ourselves from the situation, he just goes into attack again. We’ve tried toys that give him the same chase/attack/bite outlet but he’s just not that interested! Honestly any advice would be so appreciated. We love him so much but we desperately need to find a way to try to stop him biting us!

Is he an indoor cat?

Try squealing loudly every time. He's playing but with litter mates would learn what hurts.

That and a water spray.

He has been an indoor car up until a couple of weeks ago when we’ve started letting him out for 30 mins in the garden very supervised! He’s got loads of energy so I thought that might help him burn off some of it! But the biting has continued. We are seriously contemplating letting him be an outdoor cat but Ragdolls don’t get the best reputation for being very streetwise and we do live quite near a busy road :-( But if he was happier then that’s what would need to come first even if it was ‘riskier’

@TaraR2020 yes my kids are screaming when he does it to them but he just goes back for more! I might need to try the water spray!

To me, it sounds as if he needs to be spending lots of time outside, where he can channel his hunting instincts towards something other than your hands and feet. I do understand that that's difficult with Ragdolls though - with their friendly, trusting natures and general lack of street wisdom, they can get into scrapes.

Would it be possible to put a cat-proof fence topper around your back garden, so he can play safely outside?

Also, have you tried cat laser toys? The cat "hunts" the little dot of laser light, which you direct around the room. Most cats like these (but don't let your kids use it unsupervised, as the laser beam can cause blindness if they look into it/shine it into each other's eyes/the cat's eyes)

@WaltzingToWalsingham Yep getting him outdoors would be a solution if I can deal with the worry that goes with it! I’ve been looking into the fence toppers but we’ve got a lot of fence so would cost £500-600! I’ve managed to get something similar from ebay for the most accessible bits-just so we can try it out. Also got a GPS collar for him so at least we know where he is!

Yeah we have a laser toy but he’s just not interested. It’s like he’s worked out that it’s not a real thing!

Water spray every single time. He is young enough.
I had an elderly feral and I counted 39 bites on my arm during the time I had with her.
I never water sprayed her though because she was elderly and it would have been mean but I'd get up and leave when she did bite me and of course she had to be locked in my bedroom when I had guests.
Still loved her though.

@Shehasadiamondinthesky yep it’s an issue when other people coming round too. I’m going to try the water spray. Does feel a bit mean but if it works hopefully it will be a short term thing.

Hiss at him when he does it. The cat way of saying "no, that's not on." Just copy what he does when he hisses. A friend's DBIL did it with his DD's cat and they now have an understanding that toes are not living breathing Dreamies.

Sounds like normal teen cat behaviour.

I’m physically scarred due to the bengals teen months,

@TheSecondMrsAshwell

Hiss at him when he does it. The cat way of saying "no, that's not on." Just copy what he does when he hisses. A friend's DBIL did it with his DD's cat and they now have an understanding that toes are not living breathing Dreamies.

Or blowing on them also works.

My cat is 16 and bites and scratches alot, her bites aren't hard but has drawn blood more times than I can remember. DM cat the same and bites hard and has caused infection.

Previous cat was an absolute arsehole although between us we've had a couple of perfectly well behaved cats.

I think in general cats are twats!

@4PawsGood Blowing on him seems to make him want to bite even more! Will try hissing though.

‘ I think in general cats are twats!’ @Ugzbugz

Lots more things for me to try. Thanks everyone. Was feeling so upset about it this morning but more positive now

Our 10 month old ex feral moggie is the same - very bitey on anything not just us, there's currently an empty cardboard box in the living room for both cats to play with and it's covered in little bite marks from her.

I've tried the water spray, she just runs away and then comes back biting again.

We've had her 10 weeks now so it's a good job she is cute

The box

@claireb7rg aww she’s a cutie Strangely ours isn’t bitey on anything else apart from us! I think he likes the taste of flesh!

Eye contact and hiss. If that doesn't work water spray. I've never needed to spray my bitey boy the hiss is enough.

My 1 year old has just only stopped biting, although she still hisses at my DC regularly.

We did the pretend cat noise every time she bit us.

I have a better 11 year old cat. She loves play kicking and biting me but she is so gentle and only gently takes my hand in her mouth. So sweet.

How long are you playing with him? We noticed a pattern of biting when we played for too long and he got over stimulated.

This worked for us:

2 shorter playing sessions a day of around 40 mins for the last 10 mins start winding down the games and putting toys away. Your cat might need shorter sessions than mine.

If he started biting the bitten would stand still shout ouch then call for back up. The back up person distracted the kitten while the bitten left the room. Then all humans would leave the room.

I have no idea if any of this worked or if he just grew out of it and we stood in the passage like lemons for nothing

@Shehasadiamondinthesky Gentle biting would be fine but ours clamps his jaws round a leg, foot etc and won’t let go! Leaves teeth scratches just trying to get him off us!

@DidSomebodySaySiamese we tend to do 10/15mins of 1:1 play in the morning and the evening. Any more than that and he does get overstimulated. I have noticed as he’s got older he seems less interested in playing with toys :-(

Have you tried mental stimulation if he is going off toys? Digging trays for treats etc

Our cat is 15 months and the nibbling and biting gradually went from about 10 months fingers crossed it’s just a matter of time for you.