Kitten Biting
Healthy Playtime With Your Kitten: Biting Remedies
The most common play is quite rough for your kitten, biting and pouncing and leaping tall couches in a single bound. They are so vital and lively when healthy and happy, but there are a few habits which should never be developed when it comes to playing with your kitten. Biting is a natural and healthy action, as he will need to perfect his kill grip for later in adulthood (or so he thinks), and he should not be discouraged from his instinctual practices. He should never, however, be permitted to bite a human, and you will find a couple of useful tips below that will help you to train him properly, without hurting his famous feline pride.
As a kitten, your little friend will learn everything that he needs to know about life in your home before he is eight months of age, and it is your duty to ensure that he learns the right way of going about things. Kitten biting should always be redirected, though you will never need to use corporal punishment or violence in order to teach him right from wrong. When you notice your kitten biting, or even preparing to do so, you should have at your ready an acceptable toy for attack. Cats, like people, have individual preferences about what they like and aren’t so interested in. Your kitten may shy away from thin, long objects and only prowl after fluffy, round things. Whatever he likes, use it to your advantage.
When you encourage your kitten to come to you by wiggling your fingers or dashing your hand around on the sofa or floor, you are inadvertently inviting him to see you as a big chew toy. For your kitten, biting is a natural way of getting acquainted with an object, of tasting, smelling, and sizing it up. Offering your hands or feet as an interesting and agile opponent is not a good idea, and you will want to redirect your behavior so that your voice is a more tantalizing call to action than the movement of your extremities. Each time your kitten comes when called, offer him a small tidbit or morsel, something that says he did well to listen for your voice. If you wish to rouse him for play, grab his favorite toy and wiggle it, not your hands. You are now nipping kitten biting in the bud.
The same rules that you use to prevent kitten biting will work wonders where scratching and clawing are concerned also. If you don’t want him to scratch the couch, never use it as a place where toys are staged for his amusement. Dangle his toys off of a door knob by a string, somewhere far away from your furniture. Redirection will work wonders in your home, and a bit of positive reinforcement for a job well done is never a bad thing.