Will my kitten EVER stop biting

[knuckysmom]

His biting is not always aggressive. Sometimes, he bites and purrs at the same time. Is that normal? When does the biting stage end?

Thanks

[Chessmind]

Hi. Yes it's perfectly normal. It's just something cats do. If he gets too rough you can always just stop playing/petting with him and ignore for a bit. He'll soon realize that you don't like the rough play. Another suggestion is when he bits too hard to let out a loud "ouch." He will understand that he bit too hard. That's what cats do when playing with each other. If they get too rough the other cat will let out a loud 'meow' to show their displeasure. It just lets the other cat understand the limits of how hard he can play

[knuckysmom]

Thanks. He is my 1st cat and I know nothing about cats and what is normal. I grew up with dogs and I am learning they are absolutely NOTHING alike.

[Chessmind]

You are welcome. Also declawed cats have a tendency to bite more, to make up for the loss of claws.

[knuckysmom]

Actually, he has benn a biter since the day I rescued him and he bites less since his de-clawing. Just for the record, I was opposed to it at first but he was destroying my walls out of spite. He has scratching items in 4 locations in my house and he uses them. He would attack the walls at nite if I was sleeping, or if I was in the shower or brushing my teeth. It was his way of "acting out" if mommy was not giving him the constant attention he wanted. I tried soft paws for 3 months but he kept chewing them off because he wanted to attack the walls and get my attention. MY landlord was not amused. I love knucky and did what I had to do to keep him. My only other option was to crate him the 13 hours a day I was at work and I felt that was more cruel than de-clawing. He was pathetic and I cried because he was hurting, but losing him would have hurt more and he recovered beautifully. He jumps and climbs and still uses his scratching posts and the walls. I know most if not all people here are against it and I am sorry, but I do love my baby.

[Chessmind]

Hi. Cats are very social animals. A cat will often want to be close to you. Our cats sleep on the bed with us a lot of the times. We keep all the doors open, except for our children's rooms. If a cat doesn't have another buddy in the home he will want to be with you. He's just lonely. You are the only social being he can interact with on a daily basis. Plus your cat is very young so he will want even more attention. It's my opinion that indoor only cats require a lot more attention. From my experience, it seems that indoor/outdoor cats don't need our attention quite as much.

[knuckysmom]

I have pictures, I just need to get them put on a CD so I can upload them. LOL, speaking of cats in bed, when he does his middle of the night house prowling, he will bring his toys to bed. If I roll over on a noisy toy, I have to be careful removing it from bed. If he hears, it he thinks mommy wants to play at 4am. He has brought me 2 of his baby teeth during the nite (guess he was trying to get them under the pillow for the tooth fairy) I am very THANKFUL I dont have mice, I would hate to wake up to one of those in bed with me. Every day he does something cuter than the day before.

[brads]

MY landlord was not amused. I love knucky and did what I had to do to keep him. My only other option was to crate him the 13 hours a day I was at work and I felt that was more cruel than declawing. He was pathetic and I cried because he was hurting, but losing him would have hurt more and he recovered beautifully. He jumps and climbs and still uses his scratching posts and the walls. I know most if not all people here are against it and I am sorry, but I do love my baby.[/quote]

I don't think anyone doubts you love your kitty. What's her name again... Knucky. As far as declawing goes, I think there are right reasons and wrong ones. IMO you've done it for the right one and as long as he's going to be a strictly indoor kitty, there should be no problems. Outdoor cats may need to defend themselves or escape at some point and no claws means... My 2 cents.

PS I'm not trying to start a declawing war.

[knuckysmom]

Thanks Brads,

His name is Knucklehead. He acted so silly when I got him, I kept calling him a knuclehead and he started answering to it. I call him Knucky unless he is in trouble, then he hears his full name.

He is strictly indoors unless I am taking him out for a walk in his harness and leash.

LOL I wasn't trying to start a de-claw war either. I tried everything all my cat owning friends suggested to break him of declaring war on my walls. Knucky earned his name with each and every thing I tried.

[brads]

Chuckles: I knew you weren't trying to start a war. I just didn't want somebody to whack me. Knucklehead. That's a good name.