Cat people - help please!?

Question

I have an American Snowshoe neutered male cat and I love him dearly. However, he loves to bite and scratch both myself and my husband. This should have been 'knocked' out of him by his mum but instead of being with her for the full 3 months he was given to me by the breeder when he was only 6 weeks old. As I knew little about what size this breed would be at that age I actually thought he was 3 months old when I collected him! Consequently, I have a beautiful animal that loves being kissed and cuddled but also thinks that biting and scratching is a great game! Can anyone give me advice please on how to stop this before my husband bursts a blood vessel. I just take no notice of my lovely cat and he soon stops, but I would love him to sit on my lap and be stroked and tickled. Fat chance! He gets his teeth and claws into you, looks at you. decides if you are going to go up in a light and acts accordingly. I am heart sorry of him being removed from our living and dining room by aforementioned husband and put on his own. Actually, one is as bad as the other but one of them is supposed to be more intelligent than the other on the evolutionary scale!

Answer 1

make sure your letting him no its wrong and not right. yell at him and say no spray some water at him or something. he thinks its just a game but once you let him know its not and you dont like that he'll quit. give him a treat when hes good =]

Answer 2

i have two male norwegian forest cats ( large breed similar to maine coons) (that hunt toes) my queen is too gentle. if it is an only kitten get another one for him to run energy of with if you can afford two. plenty of toys to divert his attention away from hands and feet. my toms get into trouble and are punished by my queen as they play rough she hisses and lashes out with claws in at the boys heads so we have found that by hissing and yelling stop when the boys start their bad boy behaviour with us it normally stops but is they push their luck then a gentle but firm tap on head has the desired affect (we have tired water bottles ignoring them and all other punishments and these work best.) you can also try scruff and lifting up of the floor as a mother cat would do. i do not recommend very harsh punishment of shutting them away as it does not work cats understand simple commands and stop when when taught basic commands. also teach husband not to waggle fingers and toes and tease the cat (husbands are easier to train than the cat been there and done that)

Answer 3

Cats are predators. Even though you provide your cat with all his meals, his instinct to hunt still exists. It is normal for cats to continually practice and fine-tune their hunting skills. Therefore, it is essential that you provide an outlet for this behavior or your cat will practice on you.

Three fifteen minute play sessions a day will give your cat enough opportunity to vent his energy. Make these sessions active and fun. Tie a toy to a length of string. Drag it in front of your cat, alternating between slow pulls and sudden jerks. Let your cat stalk and play attack his toys instead of you. Read more about rambunctious behavior.

If your cat becomes overly excited, tone down the play session. Do not resume until he has calmed down. If he begins to bite or scratch you, immediately scream "OUCH," stop the play session, walk away and ignore him. Curtailing a play session is an extremely potent punishment. Your cat will soon learn that it is his own rough behavior that causes the abrupt end of an enjoyable play session.

If your cat attacks you in play, entice him to attack when your are prepared with a plant sprayer. A few repetitions of an attack-squirt sequence should convince him to attack his toys instead of you.

Answer 4

He is wanting to play and it seems like he likes to play rough huh? He needs to burn up some energy and what i would do is get or make him a toy to play with. The best toy I found was a cat nip mouse attached to a stick with a strong piece of string. Get him chasing and jumping around after it and this will tire him out so he won't be wanting to attack you and the husband. If the cat is bored and he doesn't have any other cats around who else is he going to play with besides you and your husband? So anyway spend more time playing and he will be happy and leave you alone. I would also suggest clipping his nails now mind you he won't like this and the best way to get the nails clipped is have one person holding him by the nap of the neck and pushing the pad of the toe hard enough to expose the nail while the other person clips the nail. Get the hook part of the nail cut but be careful not to get too close to the pink part "is you can see it?" If you cut into that area the cat will start to bleed and it's sometime hard to stop. If you don't feel that you can do this yourself call a pet groomer or vet to cut the nails.

Answer 5

You could try spraying him with water when he scratches and bites. Another thing you can do is yell "NO!" and smack him on the behind.

Here is an article that might be helpful.

http://peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=...

Answer 6

Yeah the bottle works good but don't spray him directly in the face. you can even spray behind him so he does not feel to scared. also don't over spray him . like when you think he is going to do it. or multiple time once is enough gradually you can just threaten with the sprayer without actually spaying him.

    

    Say NO! in a stern voice works good but really you have to add that finger the pointy one like mama said NO. lol watch out though cuz after a water sprayer to enforce bad behavior anything that sounds like the sprayer will startle him for a while. etc room spray.

  

     I'm glad you asked instead of declawing him since that is a horrible thing to do.  

Answer 7

when ever he starts to bite and scratch just flick him on the nose every time he will eventually catch on and relize hey if i bite or scratch i get a flick on the nose. he won't like the consequence.

Answer 8

First of all do u have any cat toys because I think the reason why your cat keeps biting and scratching u is because it wants to play with u.  Go out and buy some cat toys maybe even a scratching post I think in a couple of days (or weeks, depends) he'll probably calm down enough for u to pet him.  Give it a try, see what happens

Answer 9

Hiss at him when he claws you, or use a spray bottle full of water.

He's just trying to play with you, and he doesn't realize that his claws hurt you. Be the mother here and show him that you are dominant and that he can't claw you without being punished. I've found that hissing works best, since cats understand that.  

Answer 10

Please don't give up on your kitty, they are great pets and love their owners dearly. You can get a few watter bottles and put trough out the house and when the biting happens you need to squirt him. After a while this should teach your kitty that what he is doing is bad. You can also give him something else to chew on like a hair tie or a plastic straw or even a shoe string. My cats love these things better then their store bought toys. hope this helps. you can email me at [e-mail] if you need more help. My Yahoo email is down for some reason.

Answer 11

Each time the cat scratches or bites walk away and ignore him, i don't think you should put the cat in a room on its own as punishment, just ignore him.

Answer 12

whenever he's naughty give him a spray with a squirt gun or spray bottle and forcefully say no in a loud voice.  he'll learn very quickly what he can and can not do.

Answer 13

What I've always done (successfullyy) is I take 2 fingers (never more than that - too much strength) and give the cat a firm tap on the forehead and say "No!" or "No bite!" firmly or in a warning tone.  Be sure not to tap too hard - remember that you are much stronger.  My cats always pull back a bit because they don't like to be "tapped", but they quickly associate biting or the undesired behavior with being scolded in this way. Also, keep it mind that the biting and scratching is normal for a kitten.  Instead of using YOU, teach your kitten to play rough with a toy instead.

Answer 14

I await your answers as I have exactly the same problem with my cat who was also taken from her mother at 6 weeks.  We will have to learn the hard way !