Aggressive Biter Need Help Please!!!!

[sanncastle]

3 weeks ago my boyfriend's room mate found a very friendly stray on the street who wanted to be petted. After being petted and played with the kitty followed him home. A couple of hours later the guys noticed the kitty on their back porch. They let him in, fed him , and played with him. The kitty was very social and rambunctious. Knowing that I was looking to adopt a cat they called me the next day when the kitty was still hanging out at their house. My boyfriend and I brought him home to my apartment and things were great. He wasn't scared, was calm and curious, and a complete joy. He slept at the foot of my bed and even let me sleep in and wake up in my time.

I took him to the vet to have him checked out. She said he looked great, estimated he was between 8-10 months, put him on anti parasite meds just in case, neutered him, and he's scheduled for his shots this week. Always energetic I knew I'd have to make up for the fact that I live alone in a high rise apartment and work all day. I've bought the kitty every different kind of toy I can think of and make an effort to get home early from work and spend time playing with him. No matter what he just gets more and more aggressive.

He's not a scratcher but he bites a lot. What started out as playful nips telling me he wants to play, have progressed into full out runs for legs with a quick bite to my calf, and bites to my wrist where he uses both paws to grab on. He bites to get attention and worse bites to retaliate if he feels he wasn't played with enough. If I leave my bedroom door open at night (which I no longer do) he will jump on the bed and bite my hand or head in what I imagine is another bid for attention.

I have tried the squirt bottles, the tap to the nose, the tap to the rump, saying "no" and "bad" sternly and even time outs in the kitchen. I'm quickly reaching my wit's end. He's no longer affectionate unless I've just walked through the door at which point he's happy to see me wants to be petted and sometimes rolls over on his belly to show his playfulness.

I'm taking him back to the vet on Friday because he's been gassy lately with a little diarrhea. I'm guessing based on what I've read online that I'm over feeding him. I was gone over the weekend and left out 2 big bowls of food which may explain what's going on in the digestive area though the last 2 days he has pooped either outside or on the edge of his litter box. I'm very good about cleaning his litter box and scoop it at least once if not twice a day. Previously he had done this a couple of times before (maybe once a week in the first two weeks I had him) (pooping on the edge of his box) but I assumed it was because the level of litter was too low and based on the change of his behavior I thought I had been right.

I just don't know what to do anymore. My boyfriend thinks I'm being inconsistent with the kitty but I've never let him bite me without some chastising. I even don't even pull away because I've read they think it's a game but as a type this it's with a throbbing wrist from his most recent bite. It didn't break the skin this time because I happened to be wearing a long sleeve shirt.

Can anyone help? He's unlike any cat I've ever had. Very curious, not afraid of people and very social. He has to be in whatever room I'm in. If there are several people in the house he wants to be in the room with the most people.

[KOPsarah]

hi sanncastle and thanks for your post,
I was just wondering whether you could tell me what sort of breed your new cat is? Do you think it may be a siamese, burmese or similar or is it a general short haired domestic cat?

[sanncastle]

Hi kopSarah,

As far as I can tell he's a general short hair domestic cat. His body doesn't seem long and sleek enough for a Siamese and he doesn't have that head shape either. He's got some personality traits in common with Burmese, especially the social aspect and the vocalization, but he just doesn't look the part. He's a black and white cat (mostly white on the bottom -- face, neck, belly and legs, and black from the forehead, ears, back and tail) but he seems more reminiscent of a Jersey cow than a tuxedo to me. There's some slight mixing of the white on his back which reminds me of dairy cows. He's a beautiful cat with an adorable pink nose and ears that go from black to white to pink as you go from head out to the edges. Really I'd say other than his ears and nose the only other physical characteristic of his eyes that seems exotic are his rounded eyes (versus more almond shaped eyes).

I also want to clarify that my incredibly long post last night was mostly due to the fact that I was pretty frustrated at that moment. I know I feel guilty about the fact that he's obviously an active and social cat and that I keep him locked up all day, and maybe I'm just trying too hard. I'm wondering if the biting is possibly a dominance problem. That by giving him so many toys and catering to him when I get home he may have come to think he's the dominant one. I really do want to figure out how to keep a happy and healthy cat as I have a feeling his acting out is probably due to his frustration and pent up energy. And advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[KOPsarah]

Hi again,
I agree that this is probably a dominance issue. You should be able to resolve this problem fairly quickly by asserting your self as in charge and being a calm but strong and consistent leader.

Using food
Do not allow him continual access to food instead feed it several small meals a day and only at times when your cat is not being aggressive. If it displays aggressive behavior as you start to prepare the food stop immediately and put it away again and try again in another 5 minutes. This is a way of rewarding your cat for good calm behavior with food, without making him overweight.

Time out
If your cat bites you or is otherwise dominant while you are interacting immediately pick up the cat and move it to another room for a short time out, about 2 minutes is fine. By doing this you are saying that your attention is a privilege and if he is aggressive he will not get it. If you think he will be difficult to handle pick him up from behind with a firm grip on the loose skin at the back of his neck and supporting all of his weight in your arm. Hold him close to your body while carrying him. As your cat is very social he should quickly learn that biting is not in his best interest.

Access to favored items such as toys
Giving your cat plenty of toys will give him an outlet for his aggressive behavior. Encourage any play with toys and try using catnip to get him interested in them. However if you go to touch his toys and he acts aggressively directly towards you (rather than at the toy while just playing) end the game removing them and your attention from him temporarily.

Try not to feel guilty
It is important that you do not feel guilty about leaving your cat alone at home during the day. Domestic cats are fairly solitary creatures by nature and often are more comfortable sleeping and roaming round the house on their own little missions than socializing with other cats. Your guilt at leaving your cat alone is also transmitted to your cat via how you interact with it and your cat interprets these behaviors, such as letting it get away with bad behaviors, as a sign that the cat itself is in charge. Make sure your cat has lots of toys (try sharing ideas for toys in the cat lovers corner) and lots of elevated sleeping areas where it can see out the window. You can even try cat treat balls, cat kongs or hiding cat treats around the house to help keep you cat busy and help you feel better about leaving him all day.

Other things to try
You can also try getting a Feliway diffuser or spray. These let out pheromones which cats find calming and can assist in reducing dominant behaviors.

I hope this helps and I am sure if you stick with it you will soon be able to enjoy your cat a lot more. Let us know how you get on and if you have any further questions please don't hesitate to ask.