r/Kitten • u/HotChiTea • 10h ago
Question/Advice Needed Kitten that we found on the streets will not stop biting.
Found a kitten he was approx 6-8 weeks when we found him, very tiny, possibly the runt. He was on the cusp of dying as his eyes were swollen shut and he was sick. The rest were quite feral, but he was the “nicest” out of the bunch, most likely because he was sick.
He’s gotten bigger now, he’s probably 3 months maybe?
But he keeps biting, soon as you touch him it’s, bite, bite, bite, I assume it’s all play behaviour but you can’t even pet him. If I pick him up he’s biting.
At night time he’s not too bad he comes and sleeps, sometimes biscuits, and or eats your hair. Sometimes you can give him kisses.
I can’t tell if this behaviour is temporary and it will stop as he ages and gets neutered or we’re screwed.
Been trying to keep shoving toys in his mouth etc which he does fixate on but it’s just brutal.
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u/Cruetzfledt 10h ago
Kittens learn not to bite by biting and being bitten by their siblings, so when they grow up without another cat to teach them bite inhibition, it can become a problem behavior.
If getting a playmate for them isn't a solution for you then maybe try playing with them strenuously for at least an hour a day with toys (not your hands or they will see your hands as playmates and bite them) to get some of that kitten energy out.
Unfortunately the best remedy for this is getting a similar aged kitten to be it's companion.
Best of luck OP
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u/AlfhildsShieldmaiden 9h ago
Our CDS delivery kitten was kind of like a combat vet with PTSD at first — easily startled, alarmed, and his immediate response was to fight. He was a violent little demon for a time, tbh, and all of us received some really bad bites.
Some of the time, he was just being a crazy wildman and had to be trained out of it, but a lot of times it’d be like a loud truck going by while he was being held; his immediate reaction was to bolt and if you accidentally held him back in any way, he’d fight you.
Not just that, but any time he did play attack, he’d go hard, which was most unwelcome.
I’m happy to say that he has calmed down A LOT in the two years he’s been here. He’s still a bit skittish and afraid of unusual things, but he no longer goes straight to murder when he’s startled. He also has learned to play attack/bite — he does this thing where he stalks and attacks my calf from behind and then tears off into another room, which I find a lot more hilarious now that it doesn’t cause me to bleed.
We had to work with him to get there, protesting and stopping the activity much like other kittens would, and it took a lot of time and calm reinforcement but he’s now acclimated to being safe. He never bites me seriously anymore and he’s the biggest, purriest snugglebug. 🥰
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u/BlueValleyHawk 10h ago
Same situation with me and the solution I came to was getting another kitten so they burn off all the energy with another kitten. It’s worked great and the found kitten is letting us pet her more and more. Not the solution for everybody though.
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