Why Do Cats Bite When Playing

Play aggression is the most common reason for cat bites to humans.

Why do cats bite when playing. This is especially true if you have more than one unneutered male cat in your home. They re giving you a warning. The cats teach each other how hard biting can be before it grows painful. When a cat s hair follicle receptors become over stimulated petting or stroking actually starts to hurt slightly.

As american zoologist explains cats play together most between the ages of 4 weeks and 4 months. You can discourage the behaviour by praising them for gentle play during bonding sessions. Cat biting when playing cats often bite during play because they are expressing their natural hunting instinct. When the biting is accompanied by howling hissing or scratching it s likely aggression instead of play.

If their eyes are dilated back away slowly. These bites are typically gentler bites that do not break human skin. Thus you may want to learn further how to control this behavior so they would not be too rough. Many pet owners call this common behavior love biting but feline behaviorists have given it a more formal name.

Your cat may also bite you lightly when you are playing rough or when you stroke it for a long period of time and this is typically a way of communicating that he or she is over stimulated or over excited. Biting is a big part of this play. It s easy to get distracted while playing together but you ll want to pay careful attention to your cat s stance ear and tail positions and eyes. You can also direct them to a scratching post or another outlet for their behavior.

At this stage a cat will play with its siblings from a litter. For example when you petted them in their favorite spot. Whenever your cat engages in play that uses their paws but not their claws or teeth reward them with plenty of affection and a reward or treat. Typically a friendly cat seeks out human attention only to turn on his lavisher of attention once the affection seems to have gone on for too long.

Some cats bite to stop unwanted action or behaviors by humans or other animals especially if this was effective in the. So called love bites are actually a form of cat communication and typically occur when a cat is feeling overstimulated or when the cat feels a strong bond with you. It could be to assert dominance or respond to a threat. And why do cats nip.

Playful biting of hands or feet often occurs simply because your cat is bored and is looking for a play object. Not all biting between cats is in the spirit of play. For adult cats there may be a few reasons for biting. Remember that the reason cats play bite is that they are acting like you re prey.

Give it 15 minutes of active play with an interactive toy. Another type of bites that your cat might do is called as love bites. Petting induced aggression and it s a poorly understood topic.