Conference misery::feline_v1

    You might want to train your cats not to nip in order to protect
    yourself against any unpleasantness involved in a possible lawsuit
    by the "nip-ee".  A similar story was in a recent issue of Cats
    magazine's "cats in court" column.
    
    My husband and I have found a very effective way to stop nipping.
    When the cat nips you, put your finger in its mouth and press down
    firmly on its tongue.  This will cause the cat to open its mouth
    real wide to get your finger out.  You have to be consistent in
    this.  The cat will not like having his tongue pushed on and will
    eventually get the message.  
    
    Be careful not to be too aggresive in doing this.  Remember to do
    it calmly and firmly.  It has worked very well for us.
    
    Also- if your cats are unaltered males, they have a tendency to
    become frustrated and nip when overly excited.  Altering will help
    with this problem somewhat, but one of our males still attempts
    to nip our hands occasionally.
    Jo

Actually, one is an spayed 2 yr old female, the other is a 5 month old female 
kitten.  Neither one of them ever gets out of control when doing this, i.e., 
they are always very gentle, no matter what.  It only happens when they are 
relaxed.  The older female, as a matter of fact, has never even bared her 
claws at a human, even during some roughhousing (except once, when a visitor 
decided the best way to get the "pesky" cat off his lap was to stand...
unfortunately, he was wearing shorts at the time, and ended up with a nice set 
of pin stripes... talk about training the human!)

						     
							- JP

    I have an altered male cat that nips when he's happy!  He jumps
    on my lap, I stroke his back, his motor is running really loud,
    he licks my hand - and then he nips me.  He does it while I'm
    petting him, not when I stop.
    
    Is he confused about affection?  I've heard of "love bites" -
    is this what he's trying to do?  I'd hate to discourage his
    show of affection (if that's what it is).   Maybe his mother
    never taught him the right way?

    Nebula nips the end of my thumb if I stop petting her before she
    wants me to (which is pretty often - she's a spoiled kitty!), but
    she doesn't do it hard.  Sometimes she will wash my elbow instead,
    or try to remove a button from my sweater.
    
    The Fickle is too dignified for these things, though!

    All three of my little darlins give "love bites" when they are
    in a loving mood. These "bites" are very gentle and I feel it's
    just their way of showing affection.
    
    I have one extremely lovable cat "Acorn". She is always looking
    to sit near me or on me, and wants to be petted constantly. When
    I'm rubbing her head, she reaches around and licks my fingers then
    moves her face so that I'm actually washing her face for her. She
    will keep doing this until she feels her face is clean (at least
    that's my impression of what's going on). 
    
    I've never had one them actually bite hard or hurt me when they
    are being petted. 
    
    kathie
          

    Onyx is a kisser so far.  He will be sitting on my lap and will
    start licking my hand.  I'm not sure if it is while petting him
    or because he wants more petting.  He's usually purring away and
    wants his nose rubbed.  He has bitten me a couple of times but I
    think nipped is really the word.  I was giving him some of those
    shrimp Pounce treats and he got a little agressive.  I know he didn't
    mean it.
    
    the monster's mom.

    That idea of putting you finger in the mouth and pressing lightly
    works really well - quite painless to both and usually fairly fast,
    but my 10 year old female prefers 'love nips' to the nose!  She
    doesn't hurt, but somehow I can't feature pushing my nose in her
    mouth.  She only does this to family members - ignores other people.
    She has done this since she was about 6 months old and although
    it isn't something she does every day, it is annoying.  Again, like
    the others, this is only when she is really mellowed out and kicks
    the motor into overdrive.
    
    Ellen
    

    I can just picture you trying to push your nose down your cats throat!
    :^)  The other day I startled myself and my cat.  Winston was picking
    on Joui again and had her by the tail and wouldn't let go!!  I grabbed
    his tail and bit on it  (!) :^) and said "there, how do you like it!"
    He was so suprised that he immediately let go of Joui's tail and
    stared at me like "what has gotten into you!!!"
    
    He has been very careful not to pick on Joui when I am around. 
    I walk into the room and he starts grooming her face instead of
    biting her tail. And I have also noticed that he now lays with his
    tail hidden under him.  I guess I made quite an impression!
    Jo
                  
    
    

    We have an occassional problem with little "nippers". Sometimes
    fingers, sometimes a nose, and sometimes hair. I think it might have
    something to do with the shampoo or cream rinse I use (since I use
    different brands occassionally), but haven't been able to figure it
    out. But, whatever it is, sometimes when one of the cats is sitting on
    my lap, I'll lower my head to bump noses and the cat will start
    sniffing my hair and then just start chewing and tugging at it!
  
    I have found that scolding the cat in the same methods that "mama" cat
    would is very effective. Biting back on the ear, growling, OR holding
    my hands on my head so they resemble "flattened cat ears" (as silly as
    it sounds) really seems to work.  Our vet also suggested to grab them
    by the scruff of the neck, make eye contact and say no, with a slight
    shake, with the eye contact being the emphasis here. I have also used
    the finger in the mouth technique on previous cats - pushing the
    finger back (like a bit in a horse's mouth) so that it almost forces
    the cat's mouth open. It does seem to discourage them from biting
    (or at least for a while).
    
    good luck!
    
    janet b.