The Truth Behind Your Cats Biting Problems

You are sitting on the couch watching television. You suddenly notice that your cat is sitting by your feet, staring at you. You invite them to jump up on your lap. Gently you start to pet their head and your cat starts purring, telling you how much they like it.

As you continue petting your cat, you get lost in your favorite television program. Everything is perfect in the world of you and your cat.

Suddenly your cat bites you!

Why did your cat bite you? Why did they bite the hand that was petting them?

Experts have never decided as to why cats love to be petted, but end up biting the hand that pets them. One thing that all experts agree on is when cats bite you, it’s a sign that they have decided they have had enough petting.

It varies from cat to cat exactly how much petting they will take and not every cat responds by biting when they have reached their limit. There are some cats that simply jump down from your lap and wander off to investigate other things in the house. Other cats will bite you.

If there anyway you could have known that a bite was in your future? Yes, there are signs that cats give just before they bite. And if you would not have been so engrossed in that television program, you would have heeded the warning signals.

When you are petting your cat and you notice their tail starting to twitch, a bite is on its way. If you see your cats ears starting to turn facing the back of their head, or they flatten against their head, that’s another sign they are getting ready to bite.

If your cat becomes restless, or their body stiffens, and they start staring at your hand, they may be about to bite you.

If you ever see any of these signs, stop petting your cat. Your cat will either continue to stay on your lap or jump down and wander away. Either way you have avoided being bitten.

Never punish your cat for biting you. It just doesn’t work. Your cat will associate the punishment with you, instead of their bad behavior. If you happen to miss one of the warning signs and your cat bites you, do not pull your hand away, or push your cat away. Just freeze, don’t do anything. When you do this, your cat won’t sink their teeth into your hand, because they have conveyed their message.

If you push your cat away, they will fight with your hand resulting in punctures marks for you.

Why do some cats bite and others don’t? The level of tolerance to being petted may be a genetic trait or a learned behavior. When your cat was a kitten, you allowed them to chew your hand while playing. Because of that, they learned that biting was okay. So as an adult, when your cat has had enough petting, they will bite your hand to tell you enough is enough. That is, of course, if you ignore their warning signs.

Most experts recommend using tidbits of food as a reward to increase the amount of time your cat will tolerate being petted. When you see the first warning sign, give you cat a treat and continue petting your cat. Keep petting them until you notice another warning sign, then give them another treat. In time your cat will begin to associate being petted with getting tidbits and will let you pet them for longer periods of time.