Hi there,
Ive had some great advice on here about food etc., for my cat, now I need some advice on scratching and biting. We have only recently had tipsy come to live with us he is a 10 month old kitten/cat. He has a lovely temperament, but has lived outside most of his life as his old owner was away working alot. He now lives with me and my family and has alot of attention, play, strokes but he does sometimes bite when we are stroking him, once he held so tightly onto my arm and started to bite hard on me it frightened me a bit. Ive never had a cat before so am trying to learn about them. He is also very headstrong if he doesnt want to move out of a room and you try to pick him up he will bite you, once i pushed him with my foot and he grabbed hold of my leg ouch..Also the other night for no reason my husband was standing next to him and stroked him and all of a sudden the cat jumped up at his arm, my husband shouted at him no but the cat did it again and than ran off....We all love tipsy, he isnt always like this he can be incredibly loving and affectionate. Is it because he is still young and he plays rough, or is it because he has never lived in a family environment before and trys to bully us. Im just wondering if anyone can enlighten me a wee bit about our new family member. Thanks Kyria x

I also have a cat of about 14 months and she is ex feral and has only in the last couple of weeks stayed inside my house overnight. Apart from jumping up, she bites and sticks her claws in my hand. It doesn`t hurt but itches afterwards. I think the reason our cats do this is a lack of socialising when they were kittens. You dont say if yours draws blood but with my Puss Puss it is her playing and she doesn`t know any better. I am teaching her not to be so rough but it takes time. What I think you must not do is shout at him as this will scare him but talk in a stern voice and say "NO" and tap her paws. Mine is slowly getting there but you will need some patience. Good luck.

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Black with white around his private area



Black Tortoiseshell




R.I.P Patch my well behaved boy dog
R.I.P. Abby and Rebel my beautifull litter sister cats

Thankyou very much for your reply. It does make sense what you said as my cat has always been an outdoor cat and from a tiny kitten he was always outside so the socialising bit does make alot of sense. I get scared of him when he does this so dont know if I can tap the paw I usually end up screaming in shock and it does frighten him. My friend, who has had cats all her life came to see him last night, picked him up and straight away Tipsy started with the old biting and grip of death business I was horrified but she just let him carry on and told me he is very young and playing...well if that is playing what is aggression like. Again ill try my best with him, havent seen him today been out since early morning Thankyou again for your help. Kyria x By the way he hasnt caused any of us to bleed with his biting but sometimes the scratches are very deep and bleed.

Amber did that quite often when I first got her. I have a spray water bottle to hand, don't have to spray her any more, showing her it is enough to put off these days.

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I have always had exactly the same with our ex-feral who is now 9. It's been a very long time since he's bitten or scratched either my son or myself as we have learnt what triggers it. We love him very much we have just learned that he is "different" to a lot of other cats and can't tolerate over handling/stroking etc. He still comes to lay next to us or on our laps but it has to be on his terms.

My dad has always been the same as your friend with him - if he gets bitten or scratched he just carries on gently and stays calm - Harry immediately stops doing it then so that works too (unfortunately I don't like being scratched and never managed to stop reacting with shock). If we ever have to go to the vets I'm lucky I can call my dad to put Harry in the carrier - I can't do it!

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Harry: Ginger & White b. September 2002
Oscar: Black b. 7th May 2011
Kitty: Grey Tabby b. 7th May 2011

Our lovely cat family

Given what you've described there's also something called petting and biting syndrome. As he becomes more settled there's every chance he will grow out of it and this will cease!

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Thankyou all very much for your advice. really appreciate it. kyria x