Why Do Kittens Bite? Reasons Why Do Kittens Bite And Ways To Stop Your Kitten Biting You

Written by

Written by:

Seb is a professional SEO writer with a degree in Journalism, he has five years of experience in writing and editing. Seb specializes in topics like dog and cat breeds, aquarium guides, and pet care. He is passionate about educating and entertaining animal owners worldwide. In his spare time, Seb enjoys writing fiction novels.

View all 83 articles

Learn about our editorial process and veterinary review board.

Viewed: 136

Updated on: 06/08/2023

Why do kittens bite? Kittens are among the most adorable creatures on Earth, but cat owners can occasionally become rather overfamiliar with their teeth. While kittens biting people is nothing new and certainly not out of the ordinary, owners should familiarise themselves with what the biting means and how they can prevent it. Fortunately, we have created a guide to teach you just that!

Photo by @detry from Freepik

Why is my kitten biting me?

When it comes to kittens biting their owners, there is no one reason to explain their actions. In reality, it could be one of any number of reasons. However, by familiarizing yourself with the most common reasons behind kitten biting, you should be able to make some contextual assumptions. Trust us, it is better to change their biting behavior when they still have baby teeth, while cats respond better to young training.

Love bites

While this is still painful, the intentions behind love bites are sweet. Cats love to show their affection by rubbing their pheromones all over their favorite humans, essentially marking their territory. They also use facial marking to achieve the same goal, which includes biting. Therefore, when your kitten is sitting on your lap, loving your attention and purring at every stroke, do not be surprised if they give you a little nip. This is actually an indication of love, although it is still not the way you necessarily want them to show it.

READ MORE: Signs Your Cat Loves You

Attention seeking

Cats love attention. A sweet kitten loves attention even more. While having your kitten follow you around and meow at you can be cute, biting is where you should draw the line. A kitten cannot grow up thinking they can always get your attention by biting you. That is not a healthy relationship or training method. If they nibble, bite or scratch you to get your attention and you do nothing about it, or even respond positively, they will keep doing it.

Socializing

Kittens often nip each other among their litters when socializing. They learn what is okay behavior and what is not by the responses they receive from their littermates. Essentially, if they bite another kitten and let out a scream of pain, they know not to do it anymore. That sinks in even more if they get bitten themselves. However, if a young kitten is removed from the litter before learning this lesson, they may still bite regularly.

Threatened

As you would imagine, some bites come in the act of aggression or defense. This can happen when a kitten is dealing with new people or strange new animals. If a kitten feels as if they are under threat, they may go on the attack and bite to defend themselves. You should be able to spot this kind of bite relatively easily.

Photo by Alberto Bigoni on Unsplash

Pain

When a kitten is in pain, they likely do not want to be touched. Think of it like this, if you have a bad leg, the last thing you want is someone to come along and poke it. If your kitten is in pain and you try to touch them, they may respond with a bit of nip to indicate they do not want to be touched.

READ MORE: Is My Cat In Pain?

How to stop kitten from biting?

Fortunately, while there are many reasons behind kitten bites, there are also multiple ways to train them out of them. As with any kind of behavior in a young cat or dog, you can train them and teach them right from wrong as they grow. It is far easier to teach a kitten something than teaching a cat, so it’s always best to start training young.

Toys

It would be wrong to discourage the instincts of a kitten altogether. They are very curious and playful creatures, which is one of the things we love about them. We want to celebrate those qualities but channel the energy into suitable activities, not biting. One of the best ways to do this is to invest in various cat toys, essentially giving them something else to nip at instead of your fingers. Toys that dangle especially teach your kitten to keep the biting away from your hands.

READ MORE: Best Cat Toys

Sensitive spots

There are certain spots your kitten does not want to be touched, just as I’m sure there are places you would not like to be touched. People often make the mistake of treating their cats the same as they treat their dogs. For example, belly rubs are often welcomed by the latter but not the former. Cats are very protective over the soft and vulnerable spots on their body, like the belly, and will often respond defensively if you touch them.

Know when to stop

If your cat bites or nips you while you are playing, stop playing immediately and leave the room. The kitten needs to be taught that biting or nipping you calls an end to play session time. They should associate biting with you walking away and giving them no more attention. After a while, they will stop biting because they want to carry on playing.

Never be aggressive

No matter what your kitten does, you should never respond aggressively. Even if they have just bitten you, do not shout at them, do not hit them, and do not spray them with water. This will teach your cat that biting is followed by violence, while it will also make them scared of you. As a result, they may become defensive and act aggressively back to you. Teach them through positive reinforcement rather than negative.

Photo by @deandyy from Freepik

Never pull your hand away quickly

It is the natural human response to pull your hand away quickly when something hurts you. However, you need to try and avoid that after a kitten bite. Cats are very visual predators and, as such, respond to movement, especially sudden movement. If you pull your hand away quickly, it may only tempt them into attacking again. If you keep your hand in the exact same spot, the lack of movement may prevent them from biting in the future.

Treats at the ready

As we explained before, positive reinforcement is the way forward. As such, you need to have treats at ready for when your kitten does something good. If they act properly, give them a treat so they associate that behavior with something positive. Naturally, they will repeat the behavior if they think it will get them another treat and, after a while, the behavior will just become second nature.

Second kitten

One of the best ways to teach a kitten is to get another kitten. When a kitten is raised alone with no other cats or other animals in the house, they do not have their natural outlet for play. As we explained before, kitten litters will often engage in quite rough play, which can include biting and wrestling, etc. Having another kitten by their side allows the cat to get rough and tumble play out their system while teaching each other right from wrong. In short, they won’t do anything that hurts the other kitten because they don’t want it to happen to themselves in return. Rather than taking the place of another cat and engaging in this kind of play yourself, the ideal scenario would be to introduce a second kitten around the same age. That way they can learn and grow together.

FAQ

Do kittens grow out of biting?

There is no guarantee that your kitten will just grow out of their biting. In all likelihood, you will need to teach and train it out of them. You can do this by using positive reinforcements, giving them another kitten playmate, purchasing toys and walking away when they do bite. All of this should make for a well-behaved kitten.

How do I teach my kitten not to bite?

There are a number of waves you can teach a kitten not to bite. You can purchase them toys as an outlet for their nibbling. You can give them another kitten to play with. You can treat them when they behave. You can end playtime when they bite. Just never, ever be aggressive to them.

How do you discipline a cat for biting?

You should never discipline your cat physically or emotionally. If your cat bites you, it does not mean you should hit them, shout at them, spray them with water or anything else. Otherwise, they will be taught that aggression calls for more aggression. Instead, just end playtime and walk away. Let them associate biting with no more play.

Why does my kitten keep biting me for no reason?

There are many possible reasons behind kitten biting. Your cat may be giving you a love bite to show you that they care. They may be protecting themselves if they feel in danger. They may be trying to socialize. They may be attention-seeking. Or you may be trying to touch them somewhere they are feeling pain.