What Can I Do to Stop My Kitty from Biting?
You got a kitty, and you prepared well for her or him: you got a lovely bed, toys, delicious food, youâve looked up litter robot 3 open air reviews and got one. Now youâre all set to hang out with her or him, but you noticed something: while they spend most of their time cuddling and playing, every now and then, theyâll resort to a much-less desirable behavior: biting. Now, this is quite normal behavior, so you shouldnât be worried that theyâre trying to attack you. Itâs all part of their world exploration. However, youâre likely going to want to discourage them from doing so, and this article is here to help with that.
Start as Early as Possible
Like it is the case with many other baby pets, biting doesnât worry some owners at this stage. They see it as quite cute, which means that theyâre quite prepared to ignore it. The problem is that the kitten will, at one point, grow up, and will continue biting at a time when it wonât be all that cute anymore. In addition to keeping your skin safe, training early has another great benefit: it will bring you and the kitten closer together.
Toys
As soon as your little cat starts to bite, itâs a good idea to go out and get a few different toys that can help her or him play-hunt. Afterall, itâs in their instinct to do so, and itâs a much better idea to have a few toys to âhuntâ, rather than have to use your hand as prey. Itâs important to have more than one, because otherwise, the kitty will soon get bored with the toy and go back to your hand. As such, paying close attention to his or her input, and removing the boring toy and replacing it with another one are great ways of achieving success.
Puzzles
Cats are used to working hard for their food; thing that doesnât really happen when they live in a house or apartment. However, there are ways in which you can help her or him put some effort into the act of feeding, and that comes in the form of food puzzles. These mimic foraging quite well, which means that your kitty will be able to satisfy at least a little bit her hunting instincts.
Praise Them When Theyâre Good
Positive reinforcement can be an incredibly great tool for training. This way, youâre going to encourage the kitty to continue exhibiting behaviors you want from them whether that is playing with their favorite toy, or cuddling up next to you.
Hiss at Them
Animals have their ways of speaking to each other, particularly when another is doing something they donât like. For cats, communicating this comes in the form of a hiss. Since this is what they are naturally more used to, it can be a great idea to use it to let them know that what theyâre doing is hurting you.
Adopt Two at a Time
When you adopt two, rather than just one, youâre going to inevitably notice that there will be less biting. Thatâs because another cat is the best âteacherâ when it comes to letting one of their own species know that biting hurts. Plus, they will spend loads of time playing together, which means that you wonât have a lonely kitty who has nothing to do all day while youâre at work, or are simply out. Stopping your cat from biting is the type of work that should be started as early as possible. Ideally, you should adopt two kittens, but this may not be an option for some individuals. If this is the case, make sure that youâve got plenty of toys on hand, and that you change them up on a regular basis, to keep the cat interested in them. Food puzzles are also a great idea, since they mimic the foraging behavior a cat would have to engage in when in the wild. Ensuring that you âspeakâ in their own tongue is an incredible aid, as hissing is what they naturally perceive to mean âI donât like thatâ. Finally, you shouldnât stop at scolding them when theyâre bad, since positive reinforcement can also be a very valuable tool in helping them exhibit certain types of behaviors and eliminate others. All in all, training your kitty will take time and effort, but the reward is going to be incredibly satisfying, as youâll end up with a cat thatâs well-mannered. Read the full article
