My cat play-bites my husband help?

Question

My cat plays with me sometimes but he does it to my husband all the time and its really getting annoying. My husband just sits and works on the computer and the cat starts scratching and biting him and he doesn't stop when we yell no! and as a punishment we lock him in the bathroom then as soonest we let him out he goes directly to my husbands legs and starts scratching and biting... My husband decided to start spaying him with water is that a good idea? Please help us

Answer 1

Locking him in the bathroom? Just plain cruel! =(

All he wants to do is play, so when he bites your husband, I think all he wants is to play.

If you had a child, would you punish him/her if they wanted to play?

Why treat your cat like that?

Answer 2

At first, please make sure you have some cat toys so he can be occupied and does not have to "attack" your husband.  Getting him some of the catnip toys could make him busy for a while and would not require any type of "punishment."  I have never locked the cats.  I also never spray the cat directly with water.  You can spray it somewhere when he can hear it, like inside a trash bag, on a plant, etc., but the cat should never be wet, damp, or even misted with water.  I believe getting him busy with his own toys, plus spending even a short time every day playing with him will solve your problem.

Answer 3

Yes, spraying the cat with water is what you should do.  Also pick up the cat and put him in another room, and do not pet him.  You are reinforcing bad behavior if you do....basically saying that it's ok to bite me over and over again.  Be firm, say NO!, put the cat away from the person it's biting, say NO! again.  Or, say NO! then spray and say NO! again.  My cats know that word well, and I seldom use the water anymore.

Answer 4

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.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 5

Sounds like he might be jealous of your husband, or maybe he wants some attend ion from your husband. Locking him in the bathroom is not good, he doesn't understand why he's locked up. Does your husband ever show some effect ion to him? At one time our cat came  only came to my husband, never me, now since my hubby has pasted, kitty comes to me all the times and wants to held and patted, guess she misses him too.  

Answer 6

Spraying him with the water gun is a good idea.... If a good and sparing technique is used.  if you decide that the water spraying is the way you are going to go to discipline your cat, make  sure you say "NO" or "OUCH!" before you spray him, and if he still acts in his behavior after scolding, spray him While saying "NO!"

Do not chase that cat and spray him... ONE good spritz should do the job.  Over spraying your cat will, over time, be ineffective.

If you stick with the routine, the cat should get the idea, that if he bites you and you say "no," he will get wet... and eventually make the connection that biting will result in a soaking.

IF you are playing with your cat and he bites your hands, quickly say "OUCH" in a loud voice, and take your hand away.  It should startle him.  You need to make him understand that he is hurting you, and acting in bad behavior.

Also, Make sure you are spending enough time playing with your cat and devoting attention to him.  See that he has toys to occupy his time and release some of the boredom and energy that he has.

Just remember that when disciplining a cat, you need to stick with the same way every time, and dont give up. He will not stop doing it the first day.

Answer 7

It's a very good idea! It's the only way to train cats (and even then, they're never properly trained). Just keep the water-pistol close at hand, there's nothing else to be done.

Answer 8

My cat attacks me too, and I've locked him in the bathroom for an hour at a time just to get some relief. I completely understand your dilemma, and I agree that cats are NOT kids; my cat is my possession, and if he's doing something I don't like, I deserve to get him away from me in any humane way I can. Spraying with water might work, but it might in addition make the cat afraid of your husband. Spraying is more for across the room bad behavior. Having said that, I've sprayed my cat to keep it from biting my feet, because I am running out of options.

One thing that makes it stop for me most of the time is saying "oww!" or "ouch!" in a hurt, but not loud, tone, without pulling away. When he thinks he's hurt me, my kitten usually lets up. It doesn't make him stop immediately, but if I pull away he just comes after me even more.