Ragdoll Cat Forums

Kevin is amazing -- there is just one little bad behavior he has that I can't seem to shake.

He bites extremely hard late at night when we're in bed. He'll get under the covers and bite and keep biting. Even when we cry out in pain or try and pull him out. He will randomly attack my boyfriends legs and his little teeth are very sharp. He never has broken the skin so he isn't biting his hardest but we'll cry out in pain or scold him and he'll stop for a moment but then just keep at it. The strangest part is that it mostly takes place right before bed or first thing in the morning. Only when we're in bed! It's insane. A few nights ago we sprayed him with a water bottle, but all it did was make him not want to sleep on the bed. Which, I guess, is fine. But my point is to teach him that biting is bad. No one really plays with their hands with him, so I'm not sure why he is continuing this bad behavior. Oh and I also try and stick my finger in his mouth when he is biting and rub the roof of his mouth to make him stop...not really working!

Any advice? I love him, but he really has to grow out of this habit!

I know he is only 5.5 months old, but I'm not sure what to do!

To him this is play - kitten to kitten play. Since what you have tried does not work, then you have to move to ignoring him and giving him time outs when he does it. The former will be very difficult, but you may be able to keep him separated from you with bedding and manage. I fear you will be best served by putting him out of the room when he does it and his growing up. The other possible alternative is another cat.

(08-11-2010 12:23 PM)JanH Wrote: [ -> ]To him this is play - kitten to kitten play. Since what you have tried does not work, then you have to move to ignoring him and giving him time outs when he does it. The former will be very difficult, but you may be able to keep him separated from you with bedding and manage. I fear you will be best served by putting him out of the room when he does it and his growing up. The other possible alternative is another cat.

Thanks Jan! I am definitely going to try the "Time-outs" and ignoring him. I just love him when he finally gets tired and snuggles with me, it's so hard to punish him!

I believe that this may also be my fault he thinks he can play with us like that. I like to play hided and seek with him and run away from him and let him chase me. Should I stop doing this? He loves it and he never bites or scratches me during this type of play.

I would get him another kitty companion, but I promised my boyfriend the next pet will be a dog and we're waiting a 1-2 years for that because of space/money. Hopefully he'll grown out of it by then, but if not, I hope a puppy can help with his biting issues in the future.

I'm smiling as I read your post since Sophie has doing the exact same thing! She is the sweetest little thing for 95% of the time, however, something happens at bedtime when she gets this urge to "burrow" under the covers, literally, and precedes to start nipping at whatever body part she can get her teeth on! Basically I've been pulling her out of the covers and I pull the covers up around my neck and hold on until she gets tired or jumps off the bed. Actually when I think about it, the last 4 or 5 nights she's been alot better and has been settling down almost as soon as she hits the bed. I guess it takes time and maybe when they figure out this is not a good "game" for you, they will stop.

Good Luck!
Carol C.

The games that do not stimulate biting are fine. (Do not think of it as punishing him. It is not. You are showing him you are hurt or are just giving him a chance to calm down.)

I hear this is kitten behavior and he'll outgrow it.

I have the same situation, but it's not every night. I have to put my feet up under the covers and scream, so he'll stop. I find it hysterical!

Tiki sometimes bites a lot too, i notice she lost some teeth o.o i guess the excessive biting could be because of that, he's prolly losing teeth. U wont really notice when they lose them because the new teeth pushes the old 1 away.
I think the excessive biting could be because of that. What u can do besides saying "NO!" or "Ouch!" is give him a toy for him to bite, also i noticed, since i'm teaching Tiki some tricks, that if u use threats they will forget the bites for a little XD