Thread: kittens & hand biting

I have one that used to play bite but she has no sense of how much she hurt & nothing would stop her so she is the one that got banned to her room for time out & in the end took herself off if she knew she had overstepped the mark,she now sometimes just gently teethes you & looks at the same time to see if you are going to say anything,which of course we don't as she has now learnt not to draw blood,only one other does occasionally play bite but doesn't hurt.They all love playing tootsies so have to make sure that no more than two are on the bed at the same time,I find the bedding suffers more than anything when they pounce although if you are unlucky enough to be having a drink at the same time as 18kg plus descends then it can become difficult trying to keep fluid in mug !
As for water spray,yes,in the past I have used it reguarly,with six & one of them who does not know what the word "No" means I have found it a lot better detterant than the voice only command, especially if things are getting a bit out of hand they now respect it & I only have to lift it & you get the "oops better stop"look but also as others have found it hasn't put them off of the love of water,splashing & playing around in it is a lot different to a quick spurt from behind & a no...Did find with only two cats a no & take their minds off of it with something else worked well but as the family grew......Fishwife screaming comes to mind until the spray returned some sanity. Luv em all though & wouldn't be without em.life would be sooo boring !

She does play bite, mainly me as I am the main play thing and I use my hands to instigate play as well, but her bites are very restrained like she knows it's my hand and not a mouse to kill, if she hurts I just either say ouch and ignore her or put my fingers further into her mouth which she doesn't like
No probs with either method
We did try a water gun but although she didnt like it - ran off and grumped, it has made no difference to her coming back to play or as a deterrent

The bed thing, Lily is quite evil to the duvet cover, she picks it up and shakes it hard to kill it, not something we try to encourage :(

Hands under the duvet game? That's the best game ever! And you squirted the poor creature with water?? No wonder the poor little chap didn't get back on the bed...

When they do need a deterrent, I don't have a water pistol or similar, but what I find works really well is the hairdryer. Yes I need to have it to hand and plugged in, but if prepared, it does the trick. Now I only have to show it to them, not even turn it on.

At other times, a loud 'Oi!' or 'No!' will suffice. Like with dogs, you have to have the intent behind the word/gesture. For example, Monty is a bugger with the wet washing. When I'm pulling it out of the machine he likes to grab hold of it and run off with it. He caught me with all his claws yesterday and I shouted 'NOOOO! THAT HURTS!!!' Boy did he look contrite. I showed him the scratches and said again 'That HURT Monty!' He took himself off, tail between legs....