Vicious cat

Question
My cat is a spayed female house cat of about a year of age. I found her at a shelter when she was 16 weeks old. She had been found wandering. She used to attack me but this is getting better. She also used to bite my toes at night but has thankfully stopped that too, though she will sit and look at them so I know she wants to.....

She is still a little tricky to pat. I scratch her head and she will immediately wrap her arms around my arm and start to bite and lick my fingers. These she almost consumes and I am very familiar with her soft pallet as a result. Makes her an easy cat to give pills to. There is also a lot of saliva involved in this licking and biting. Her grip gets increasingly intense and her nails come out. Then she starts paddling my arm with her rear feet, sometimes also with her claws out.

I always stop her at this point and ignore her, but it is only getting better very slowly.

Will she grow out of this or will it continue and why does she do this? Don't mind the nibbling, but the nails are no fun. I would also like to pat my cat without it turning into a saliva fest. She will only let my dog pat her and clean her head. My dog raised her so any emotional issues she has are probably his fault :-) Btw, she is better at a lot of dog stuff than my dog.

Thanks in advance.

Answer
Margot,

This kitten has never really been socialized to humans.  Cats and kittens have very, very tough skin and exhibit much biting/scratching behavior in play.  They need to learn that such behaviors are not appropriate for us softer skinned humans. We socialize our kittens by picking them up, stroking them, and talking softly to them. Kittens love this "game". If the kitten begins the biting/scratching behavior, we scruff the kitten, put it down and walk away. It usually does not take long for kittens to figure out they must be gentler with humans.

Given the age of your cat, I am not sure this will work or how long it might take.  You are doing some of what needs to be done when you stop and ignore her.  If you consistently apply this process whenever she begins the biting/scratching behavior, she may grow out of it.

The good news is that she is exhibiting very affectionate behavior that you need to channel to  a less painful display!

Good luck and best regards... Norm.