Why Do Cats Bite Playfully

Cats showing signs of sickness losing weight thirstier vomiting or pain short tempered yowling scratching biting should be checked out by a vet.

Why do cats bite playfully. Watching for escalating aggressive signals from your cat can thwart real cat bites. After all kittens and young cats are famously known for their adoration of rough play essentially a type of interactive rough and tumble with their litter mates that involves everything from biting and pouncing to surprise attacks. Kittens usually bite simply because it is a form of play for them but in an adult cat it clearly means they want you to stop what you are doing. Although more attention is often given to dog bites and the danger of rabies statistics show that there are 300 more rabid cats in the us than rabid dogs.

Biting owners during petting is one of the most common behavioral problems of cats says dr. It could be their bad behavior will improve once the underlying health issue is corrected. It is normal behaviour for kittens to bite and scratch this should stop when your kitten is around four months old. A cat who is cornered and agitated could lash out and attack the perceived threat.

Most often because they are overstimulated and have simply had enough fear or redirected aggression or they don t feel well. Kelly ballantyne a board certified veterinary behaviorist at the college of veterinary medicine at the university of illinois chicago. This is the time when each kitten learns how to use an inhibited bite so as not to. Real cat bites that result in.

Biting serves a number of functions for cats. If an infected cat bite is left untreated it can develop into cat scratch fever which is a bacterial infection that causes flu like symptoms and can cause serious complications such as encephalopathy or vision loss. It turns out that kitten biting is part of the play behavior kittens learn when they are with their littermates. Biting and mouthing is a normal behavior in kittens.

Because cats mouth and paw objects to explore their world it s natural for them to bite. In the home it means that your cat may be biting because they are trying to show who is in charge. A cat bite is not always an act of aggression or hostility. But kitties can learn to inhibit the force of their bites and to use soft paws without claws.

Age kittens playfully biting a young kitten is likely to bite more often than older cats as kittens are still learning how to play.