sudden change in behavior

Question
I adopted a 2 year old shorthair male about 3 months ago. He lived in a shelter, was adopted by a family, given away to my boss, who then gave him to me. After adjusting to the cat we previously had, he settled in fine. He would sleep with us in our bed with no problems, and he's very lovable. However, for the past 3 weeks he has started waking me up in the night by biting my face! He's not aggressive any other time unless he's playing. What is this behavior, and why did it just start all of a sudden? I've had to put him out of our room every night because he won't stop.

Answer
Cammeo,

I am assuming he is neutered.  If not, this may help a great deal.

It is possible something changed 3 weeks ago.  For example, there may be a new cat hanging around the house who has sprayed (peeed) somewhere around the house.  

If his play tends to be aggressive, so will his affection tend to be aggressive.  You will want him to stop any biting or scratching behavior towards humans.  Cats naturally use these behaviors when inter-relating to each other, but they must learn this is not acceptable for us softer skinned humans (cat skin is incredibly tough stuff).

So, you can try petting, stroking, and speaking with him softly.  If he begins the biting and scratching behavior, it is time to walk away.  Do not, under any circumstances, encourage rough play between the cat and people.

If this does not seem to help after a couple of weeks, then you can try "clicker" training.  This is a behavior modification technique many people have had success with.  You can go to Karen Pryors' web site:

http://www.clickertraining.com

and see what you think.

Good luck and best regards... Norm.