Expert: Norman Auspitz - 3/22/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have a 10 month old Maine Coon who is extremely playful, curious, intelligent and sociable with people. He has something of an alpha personality. He has always like to chew on things; his toys, newspaper, his scratching post, the corners of tables. I have trained him out of most of this except for the newspapers (and of course his toys). Lately though he has started a new thing, that is to bite on me, not hard, but I want to discourage this. I yell no and he stops for a minute but then comes back again very quickly. I have used a squirt gun which works at the moment but it hasn't gotten him to stop initiating this behavior. Lately I have started to yell no and take him for a time out in the bathroom for about 10 minutes to calm down. I realize this might be his attempt to get me to play with him as he would another cat. I do think he gets bored and sometimes bites on these occasions if I'm not paying him enough attention. I am thinking about getting a second cat for him to play with, but fear he will bite or be too aggressive with the new cat. Any advise on this situation would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Bethany,

The first question is, has he been fixed?  If not, his more aggressive behavior may be chalked up to hormones.

Is he teething?  This may cause biting and chewing behavior.  In extreme cases he might have some gingivitis and a treatment using clindamycin and prednisone may help.

Assuming neither of these is the case, cats naturally play, very, very roughly since their skin is so tough. Sometimes they need to learn that us soft skinned humans cannot accept the biting/scratching behavior.  So, rather than try all these negative reinforcement techniques to modify the behavior (which tend notr to work on cats anyway), take a more positive approach:

You can hold him, talk softly to him, and stroke him.  Cats love this "game". As soon as the biting behavior starts on you, put him down and walk away.  Usually, after some time they figure out they should not be biting you so as to continue the "game".  You must be very patient and persistent and consistent with this technique. Every one in the family should apply it and NEVER rough house with the Maine Coon!

If this gets you nowhere, you might investigate another behavior modification technique called clicker training (see Karen Pryor"s web page at www.clickertraining.com).

It is not clear to me that the second cat would make any difference.  Also, the Maine Coon would not really hurt the new arrival since its skin, too, would have very tough.

Best regards... Norm.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your thoughtful response Norm. I would just like to clarify, he is neutered and not teething or currently having any gum trouble. I would never roughhouse with any cat, so he is not responding to that type of play. I currently do hold him and coo to him and he has never bitten me on these occasions. Usually the biting occurs when I am sitting at the table with him and he suddenly comes over and bites my hand, then my arm and keeps doing it until I gently extricate myself. It is always a bit surprising when he does this as it happens out of the blue. What would be the best response to him here.

Answer
Bethany,

I suspect it is a sign of affection, and he needs to be socialized so that he does not carry out that behavior.

When he starts it.  I would abruptly get up and walk away.  If he is next to you and does not do the biting behavior, lavish all kinds of attention on him, but once it starts, the attention is over and you are gone.  It may take a while, but he should figure it out.  You have to do this consistently and persistently.

Also, investigate the clicker training alternative I suggested in my answer to the original question.

Best regards... Norm.