Expert: Brandy - 1/9/2007

Question
My 6 month old kitten will get in my face while I am sleeping and bite my nose,
and it doesn't give up when I toss him away.  It's beginning to get pretty
exhausting and I would like to sleep through the night.  What can I do to get him
to stop biting my nose.

Answer
He thinks it's a game. That, plus hormones might be kicking in and he's getting bossy. Yelling at cats is pretty much useless, but most can be trained to 'No' - YES, it can be done. You must need to be patient, and even if at this point you're sleep-deprived, you can do it. Take him by the scruff whenever he gets near your face, and softly shake him, then (gently) toss him off the bed. He needs to learn that the Face is off-limits.

An offbeat thing you can do is dab a teeny bit of bitter apple to your nose (remembering that it is there so you don't rub your nose, then your own eyes), so that the next time he gets a bite, it will bite back.

Another option is banning him from the bedroom, but if you could do that, you wouldn't write for help (or you tried and he's now yelling under the door trying to squeeze in).