beahavioral mysteries of my cat

Question
Hello Norman, I hope you can help me with some questions. My cat, who is usually very sociable and friendly (he is warm and cuddly to almost everyone who comes over), sometimes bites me for no reason - for example, he is sitting there, not doing anything, and when I pass by, he bites my leg - he knows it's wrong, because he gets scared right after he does it. Or one time, I was petting him and he was purring, and all of a sudden, he jumps one me and bites my nose pretty hard, and doesnt let go (same thing happened with my throat another time, which was a little scarier) Also, sometimes, after I give him food, he acts like he's hungry right after, and begs for food like he's never eaten in his life, although I feed him well. Also, he sometimes, when he knows there are people at home, goes to another part of the house and starts sadly meowing, like he's lonely or something. What do you think are the possible causes of these 3 strange behaviors (unreasonable biting, unsatiable apetite, and meowing)? Are these common among other cats?

Thank you for your help:)

Katerina

Answer
Katerina,

Let's deal with the easy behaviors first.  

(1)  Begging just after eating.  This may be a holdover when cats were never sure when and where they would be able to catch their next meal.  So, a cat may behave like it is hungry, even after a hearty meal.  The best thing to do is to ignore this behavior.  

(2)  Cats seem to have figured out how to make their meows push our buttons!!!!!  The cat knows there is something on the other side of the door and just wants to be there, so, what in the past has worked, meowing "sadly" until one or another human relents and lets him into another room where there are people, is what he will continue to try.  The best thing to do with htis behavior is to ignore it.

(3) Now for the difficult behavior.  First, is he neutered?  Also, how old is this cat, and when did the biting behavior begin?

Biting behavior is a hold over from when he was a kitten and played with his siblings and mama.  Kittens play incredibly roughly and must be taught (part of their soicalization) that human skin is not nearly as tough as kitten skin.  We do this with our litttle kittens by handling them quite a bit and petting, stroking and carrying them around.  If the kitten begins a biting or scratching behavior, the game stops, the kitten is put down, and we walk away. Soon, the kitten learns that rough housing with humans is not permissable, or the stroking, petting, carrying around game (which most little kittens love) ceases!

The biting behavior is aggressive and should not be tolerated.  The older the cat or kitten, the more difficult it will be to stop.  If the behavior occurs, it is time for you to leave the scene!!!!!  Sooner or later he will figure out that the biting behavior stops all affections.  Yelling no and hitting will have no affect on the cat.  Cessation of affections for a while may have a much better effect.

If the cat is not neutered, neutering will help a great deal in diminshing some aggressive behavior.

Another approach might be to try clicker training.  There is a book on the subject by Karen Pryor (see www.clickertraining.com) and an email group dedicated to clicker training. (Send an email to:

Cat-Clicker-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

to join.)

Good luck and seasonal regards... Norm.