Cat is a biter!!

Question
My 2 year old cat, Gypsy, loves to rough-house. She bites, kicks, etc. when she plays. I know this is play behavior because she never outwardly attempts to hurt anyone, even the biting are just fast japs with teeth that never break the skin and almost never hurt. However, she does occasionally play too rough and hurts people. She also has a very bad chewing problem - she will chew on ANYTHING!! She even has dog chew toys that she gnaws on. The thing is we have tried everything to stop the biting. We have tried water in the face, refusing to play with her when she is aggressive, giving her a different toy to keep her away from fingers, etc. Each of these different solutions weren't quick fixes either! We tried each of them for a duration of 6 months or longer. I've never had a cat this stubborn and insistent on biting!!

Why is she doing this? Is it play behavior? And if so, how can I encourage the play behavior and interact with her without encouraging the biting and other aggressive tactics she uses?

Thanks for your time and advice!
Abby

Answer
Hi Abigail!

Rough-housing is a bad habit. People do it when cats are kittens and it's cute then, but the cats grow up and it's not cute anymore.

Actually you need a cat playmate for your cat that she can rough-house, play kitty games with, and cuddle with. A person can't play with a cat like another cat does. Cats are rough with each other (at least it seems like it to us) and Gypsy is playing with you like you were another cat (or trying to).

You should only pet your cat, not rough-house with it. Leave that to another cat. They don't realize that we are tender and that it hurts.

How to deal with it:

Yelp loud when Gypsy bites you (like a cat would if it got bit too hard) so she knows she is hurting you and what pressure you can take.

To stop it completely you have to quit playing like that with her and re-program her. But you have to be consistant.

When she starts to get rough or bite when you are petting her, stop, and 'throw' her down (not hard of course but firmly) and say "don't bite!" loudly and with authority, and ignore her for a little while. Then go pick her up and start petting her again. If she starts biting or getting rough again, 'throw' her down again. Keep doing this until she realizes that biting or being rough means no petting. Cats base most things on association, not reasoning, so she needs to associate biting or being rough means getting dumped on the floor and no petting.  But like I mentioned, you need to be consistant. Don't allow  her to bite and play rough one time and dump her the next.

About the chewing:

That is not only a bad habit it is dangerous for her. She can get electrocuted or get an intestinal blockage very easily which could be fatal.

I am including some links to good articles on chewing behavior. Cut and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar:

http://cats.about.com/cs/behavior2/a/chewing.htm

http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-a-Cat-from-Chewing

http://www.vetinfo4cats.com/catchew.html

Hopefully you can get her to stop the chewing. But be careful 'training' too many things at once because then she will be afraid that anything she does is wrong and she won't know how to behave. Focus on one problem at the time.

I hope this information helps. If you have any more questions feel free to write back anytime.