Expert: Norman Auspitz - 3/21/2010

Question
I have a three year old Siamese cat that was rescued from a dumpster at 6 months old. He bites when he's annoyed by ANYTHING.If I'm in the kitchen cooking he bites me for attention. If my three year old grandaughter tries to pet him, he bites. He bites my dog when the dog comes in from outside. He'll sit on my lap and purr as I pet him and then suddenly bite me. Is there any way I can change this behavior or am I stuck with a mean crabby cat?

Answer
Janice,

Unfortunately, this cat was never socialized to humans.  Cats have very, very tough skin so, from tiny kittens on, they tend to play very roughly with each other with lots of biting/scratching behaviors.  Because their skin is so tough, this is no problem for the cats.  BTW, dogs also have tough skin and engage in similar activities as puppies and when greeting their "friends".

Cats have to learn to be more gentle with us softer skinned humans.  We socialize our kittens by holding them and stroking them and talking softly to them.  If the biting/scratching behavior begins, we scruff the kitten and put it down and walk away. Now kittens love the holding, stroking, soft talking game, so they learn pretty quickly to be more gentle with humans. In actuality, your cat is being more playful than mean!!!!!!!!!! It just does not know any better.

In the case of your 3 year old, I am not certain this approach will work.  Keep in mind, cats respond much better to positive reinforcement rather than punishment and discipline.  So, one key is to know what treats your cat loves to eat. (Often a good strained meat baby food, with strained meat and broth or gravy as the only ingredients, will do the trick.)

One behavior modification technique that has had good results across many species, including cats, is called clicker training.  You can visit Karen Pryor's clicker training website

  www.clickertraining.com

and see what you think.

One last point: I am assuming the cat is not declawed, but declawed cats often do become biters, as the cat realizes one of its primary means of defense, its front claws, are now gone.

Best regards... Norm.