Toe Biting Cats
Does your cat like to chase after your feet when you are walking, or try to bite or nip your feet and heels when you are relaxing in the evening or perhaps enjoying the garden or sitting in the sun? In support of a lot of cat owners, this is happens many times a day and is part of the fun of playing. Sometimes however, you need to change this behavior before it becomes aggressive instead of play. This shouldn’t be hard and with some perseverance, you can change your cat’s biting behavior.
Cat biting is one of the most widespread cat behavior problems, along with scratching the furniture and urinating in the wrong place. A cat biting at you can be seen as an irritation by many cat owners, but for others, especially small children, it can be a frightening experience, particularly if you have a particularly persistent cat.
One of things you can do to put an end to this biting before it becomes a problem is to start watching your cat’s behavior more closely. More than one person has said that their cats are behaving in a friendly and normal way and then they just all of a sudden bite them. The reality is that your cat is most likely giving you subtle clues that you are not picking up on. For example, does your cat directly approach your foot or circle around and come in from the side or back, is your cat’s head up or down, (be careful if the head is down), does your cat’s behavior change and he becomes more energetic all of a sudden before pouncing in to bite you?
If this behavior is fairly new, ask yourself if there is a reason for it. A new baby in the house, visitors staying, new furnishings or anything else you can think of that might have upset your cat’s routine. The biting could well be attention seeking so giving her a little more attention might be all that is needed.
If it is not attention seeking, you do need to start watching her so you can pick up clues about what she is planning. Once you can to do this and understand that an attack is imminent, you need to change her attention by doing something different such as a spraying her (gently) with a water bottle, rattling a tin with some rocks in it or clapping your hands to make some noise. Or if you prefer, you can just remove yourself. By studying your cat you can start to anticipate when she might bite, and if you stop her often enough, you will change that toe and foot biting habit.
If your cat is no longer being rewarded for her behavior, she will soon stop it. Just like kids!
You can learn more about ways to prevent your cat attacking your toes and feet in Kingdom of Pets: Complete Cat Training
