Biting Cat

Question
Hi and thanks for reading my question!  We have a pet cat (Roxy) who has lived with us for about 18 months, since she was 6 weeks old.  (I now realize that 6 weeks old is really too young to be taken from her mother, but I did not know that at the time.)  She is a healthy black domestic shorthair.  She eats well, stays inside, uses the litter box, and does not shed very much.  She does not cough up hairballs.  She is fixed.  She likes being around us, and follows us around, but does not sit in our laps or enjoy petting.  Our only problem with Roxy is that she bites.  I think this is because she left her littermates so early and had no siblings around to bite her back when she bit too hard.  She sneaks up on us and bites our arms and legs.  She especially bites neighbors who come to feed her if we are out of town, leaving bruises on their legs, through jeans.  I think she is trying to interact with us, and it seems like she is playing, but it really hurts!  I have three children who love Roxy very much, but I would like to curb the biting.  I've tried grabbing the scruff of her neck and yelling no, but it has not changed her behavior.  If you have any advice for us, please let me know!  Thank you so much

Answer
Actually 6 weeks is not a bad age, the ideal is 6-8 weeks of age to be taken from the mother. I was wondering if you or anyone has played aggressive with her, even when she was younger? That is something that stays with them because they grow up thinking it's okay to bite. One other thing is making sure she has plenty of other things to play with and occupy her time. Does she instantly go for the bite or does something seem to trigger it? I would suggest stop all playing with the cat, at least with hands and use only toys. Have a water bottle ready at all times. And you say she doesn't enjoy petting? Does she immediately go to biting when you try? If that's the case, pet her until she bites and simply remove your hands and ignore her, but do this constantly until you can pet her without her wanting to bite. Cats also do things for approval or at least for attention and when she realizes biting is getting her nowhere, she'll eventually calm down. I don't want to ask an offensive question, but do the kids know how to properly treat a cat? I've seen so many times kids will grab or poke or something and that will provoke biting.