F2 male - 3.5mo - biting problem

[Per Lausund]

Just a word of caution: teething is not usually the cause of biting. Biting is learning how to apply one of the forcible coercive means a cat has. The other 18 are claws...
When a kitten attacks me and it's not playing, i e it tries very seriously to hurt me, I pacify it by holding it by the scruff of its neck and blowing in its face. That is dominant and unpleasant, and tends to make them think again. I also smetimes hold them around the head so they can't reach any part of me with their teeth, this gives them a chance to calm down and strangely enough (unless they are plain scared) they rarely use claws when I do that. Biting comes in two forms:aggressive and frightened, they should be easy to differentiate, and need to be handled differently, but never let teething be an excuse.
just my 0,02 Euros worth of biased, opinionated stuff!
Luckily, aggressiveness is rarely a problem with SVs, but certain other breeds...

 

[admin]

Thanks Per...great advice!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[l.i.t]

Thanks to everyone for all the tips. Well, Lotto was 'fixed' last Friday......unfortunately, it has not made much of a difference. Regardless, we are happy because we would have hated to find out what would have happened if the hormones really WERE the problem!

My only thoughts now are that he is a HIGH HIGH energy cat. He doesn't want to just play in the morning or evening - it's all day long that he wants interaction. When he is awake, there is no 'calm' or 'down' time for him. If he's not running, chasing, biting, climbing, throwing himself in a sommersault over our ankles and leaping from behind doors, then he is under the bed sleeping. He usually sleeps twice a day for an hour or so, and then usually sleeps all through the night.

I know he is not trying to be aggressive with his biting...and he certainly is not frightened. I am positive he is playing because he purrs half the time he does it. Even with the constant scruffing, firm voice, etc, he doesn't really seem to be getting better. But he does have his good days and his bad days. I do feel sorry for my other two cats, though - he tends to pounce and bite them while they are asleep. Poor girls, they get no peace ;-)

As I type, he is throwing himself upside down over and on top of a string toy, then propelling himself like a bullet from one side of the room to the other. Sigh.

We did finally finish our cat enclosure....about 250ft of space with 8ft ceilings. Of course, it took him about 30 seconds to climb the chickenwire to the top and search for a way out! LOL! He does seem to enjoy being able to finally go outside like the other cats.

Thanks for all the advice! It's always welcome!

Liz

 

[l.i.t]

One thought....

My husband and I are home every day (since we work remotely via internet).....is it possible we pay TOO much attention to him? We haven't had any other behavioral problems with him, such as tearing anything up, knocking much down, etc. I'm wondering if we play so much with him, that when we are NOT playing with him, it's his way of trying to get us to interact....

OK, I'm reaching here.......but just thinkin'......

 

[Patti]

Hopefully you will find that the outdoor enclosure will give them the space and stimulation he needs to burn off some of his energy. You might also want to consider purchasing a cat wheel - i have found it to be a godsend for some of my higher energy cats - they just jump on and run to their hearts content. The only other option I can think of at the moment (which may sound like a horrible idea for you at this time) is to find another cat with just as much energy that can keep up with him and help him expend all that pent up energy he needs to burn off.

 

[l.i.t]

We loooooove the idea of a cat wheel. My husband was hoping to make one. Our only problem right now is that we are renting an 1100 sq ft house while we are building a larger home, and we don't have the room for one right now. Unless we put it in the cat enclosure, which might be an option. Personally, I'd prefer to just buy one and be done with it, but I may be overruled in that department. Maybe I can work on that one.

I'm hoping he learns to spend time in the enclosure. Right now, he doesn't seem to care to go out there unless a human is outside, too. He seems awfully attached to bipeds right now......

Thanks for the suggestion. I may work on the cat wheel ;-)

 

[Patti]

I think he's so attached to the bipeds right now because they are the ones providing him with all the stimulation. If you can find a variety of ways for him to entertain himself (e.g., the above mentioned cat wheel) he may just give you a bit of a break

 

[l.i.t]

Patti,

I just watched a youtube video of Lotto's serval grandfather....OMG, now I understand where he gets the 'biped' attachment. His grandfather was quite the human lover, too. Between that, the way he sits, and his desire to be under the covers, I think he is turning out to be a carbon copy of his grandad!

 

[Patti]

I wouldn't doubt it for a moment!!

 

[blaejm01]

we have an f2 male savannah too!!! He is terrible with biting on furniture. we have tried everything under the sun and eventually had to keep him in cat room unless we were home. Anything with fabric....destroyed! Last option was to get the scat mat-but just tried one more thing-this bitter apple spray. we sprayed it all over furniture and towers so he wouldnt destroy them. He has not chewed on a thing at all!!!! And it has been too weeks. I dont know how to get yours to stop biting you, but for furniture, try that spray!! It's in dog section at pet stores.