biting cat !!!

I recently adopted a 1 year old male cat from a local vet clinic. He is neutered and has had all his shots. The problem is he seems to want to bite everybody all the time. I have a 2 and a 3 year old at home and when he sneaks up on them and bites them it hurts. Sometimes he draws blood. He also bites me and my wife. Sometimes he acts like he's stalking you and bites your feet or legs as you walk away. Other times you could be sleeping and he bites your hair or your feet.
Is there any suggestions on how to eliminate his biting? I am pretty frustrated at this point. I cannot tolerate him biting the kids. Is this just a kitty stage that he will outgrow, or am I in for a long problem with this cat? Any help is greatly aprreciated. Thanks, Matt

 

Some cats don't realize that it hurts when they bite. Usually this happens when they were seperated from their litter too young. Kittens play and learn how to fight and interact. They learn that biting and scratching hurts through playing with their littermates. You have to teach your cat that it hurts when he bites. Try screaming like it really hurts. Sometimes the loud overreaction will make the cat realize that it hurts. As a last resort you can try pinching his ear or biting his ear just enough to be uncomfortable. That is finally how I had to break my nose biting cat.

 

My Oliver was a biter when we first brought him home. I agree with Fleafly on the yelling "ouch", it worked for us. If he bites during play, we just stop playing with him and make sure not to involve hands in the play but use toys instead.

 

hello there i have a 12 week kitten his name is ben and we love him very much but he bites...hard, we have been telling him no in a loud voice and putting him in his carrier when it gets bad. I have thought about buying a spray bottle and using that. we are totally dealing with the same thing and right now when he goes in to crazy mode we put him in a bed room to calm down. good luck hopefully mine doesnt keep doing this for a year.

P.s. ben was taken from his litter at 4 weeks and that was because they wanted to get rid of them and i could see how is bitting could have been prevented by keeping him with his litter longer.

 

Sounds like its mostly play/predatory aggression. In addition to the good suggestions you have already gotten I would try to interact more with him with toys....this will redirect his aggression away from you and tire him out as well.

 

Toys. Lots of toys. Of various sizes.

I'm still working on this problem, but I found the greatest change in his behavior when I bought him a stuffed animal. Get a stuffed animal that is about the same size or a little smaller than the cat (but big enough to wrestly with). Make sure it has thin areas that the cat can get his mouth around. When he starts to bite, taunt him with the toy until he attacks it instead of you.

 

Thanks for all the helpful tips. I will try them out and post his progress at a later date. Thanks everyone. Matt and Max the cat.

 

I like nern and mommas suggetions best, the thing we used to do is try to give him alot of attention and when he bite, or clawed anyone we'd put him in a room for 5 minutes alone and then let him out, took a little while but now adays whenever he bites he runs away right afterwards.