Cat Nipping

Question
I just adopted a 6-year-old Chocolate Point Siamese cat with the most beautiful big, blue eyes. She's 15 pounds and extremely lovable, absolutely loves being groomed and constantly begs me to pet her. She loves cuddling up to me to sleep. But over the past few days she's developed this behavior where when I'm on the floor petting her she'll nip my hand after a couple of minutes. I'll let out this high-pitched scream to get her attention and I fold my arms and ignore her, letting her know my displeasure. She'll look into my eyes with a shocked look and walk away, but she continues to nip, even more frequently now. What should I do? (Some information that may be important is that for the first 2 weeks I had her, I had to give her ear drops every day because she had an ear infection. She absolutely hated this.)

Answer
It sounds like your cat likes to be stroked for a little while and then decides
that she's had enough stroking.

Cats differ in the amount of petting they will accept, and not all cats respond by biting when they have had enough. Some cats simply jump from your lap and saunter off to investigate interests anew. But many cats will nip you, and your animal is one of them.

There are often signs that cats give before biting:

If kitty's tail begins to twitch, in a rolling flick, watch out! She's getting ready to chomp at your hand.
If your cats ears start turning towards the back of her head, or flatten against her head, that's a warning a bite is coming.
If your cat suddenly becomes restless, or stiffens and stares at your hand, she could be about to nip you.

If you noticed any of these signals, simply stop stroking your cat. Your pet will either stay on your lap or jump down and walk off, whichever happens you don't get bitten.

What you should not do is punish your cat for biting your hand. That simply does not work. Cats are more likely to identify the punishment with you rather than with their bad cat behavior. If you miss a warning sign and kitty manages to get her jaws around your hand, try to resist the temptation to pull your hand away or push your cat away. Simply freeze. Chances are that your cat will not sink her teeth in, she has got her message across, and you have stopped petting her.

If you try and push your cat away it is likely that she will fight with your hand resulting in skin punctures for you. (An animal bite can become infected quite easily, if your cat does draw blood clean up the wound scrupulously and seek the advice of your vet

Why do some cats behave in this aggressive way? The degree of tolerance to petting may be genetic, or it may be learned behavior. If when your cat was a kitten you allowed her to chew on your hand in play, she learned that biting human hands was an OK thing to do. So, when she feels that she has had enough stroking (she's the boss remember,) she will bite at your hand to let you know - if you ignore her warning signals.

Some experts recommend the use of healthy tidbits, as a reward, in order to increase the time your cat will tolerate stroking. At the first warning signal offer kitty a treat, continue to stroke your cat gently for a time and offer her another reward. It is said that your cat will learn to connect petting with the tidbits and may, with patience, allow you to pet her for longer periods.