Cat bites my girlfriend too often

Question
I have a 6 month old cheese tabby who is very playful but bites my girlfriend almost every time she attempts to pet him. He will bite her hand/arm and really dig in.

When I pet him, he's very tame, but occasionally bites me very lightly.  I punished him often enough for this that he knows not to do that now, but he continues to do so with my girlfriend.  

It's not that he doesn't like her, he really enjoys playing with her and she loves playing with him.  He often  snuggles up next to her and sleeps.  She likes playing rough with him and I told her not to do that because he thinks every time her hand comes close to him that she wants to play, and that biting is his way of playing with her.

Do you have any suggestion on how we can modify his behavior to not be so aggressive with her all the time?

Answer
Hi Steve,

You've answered your own question. The kitten thinks exactly that. Your girlfriend has trained him to bite her. And as you are finding out, as he gets bigger, his bites aren't cute anymore. You and her need to retrain him. First off she needs to stop playing rough with him. Try to find some interactive toys that she can use. There are a lot of good ones that will do the trick. Here's a few at these sites that are great and will give your kitty lots of quality play time.

http://www.cattoys.com/catfisherrod.html
http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=6543
http://www.cattoys.com/catgardenmitt.html

If your cat goes to bite, put him down and walk away. You can also give him a tap and say "no" in a loud voice then walk away. Either way you are letting him know that his behavior is not acceptable. He should be ok in a couple of weeks. Good luck.


Ciao, Karen