Is It Normal For Kittens To Bite When Playing
In kittens most aggression is caused by fear or curiosity.
Is it normal for kittens to bite when playing. Now they are 3 weeks old and started exploring outside the closet. For cats playing consist of biting scratching punching and many other action that seems aggressive for human but actually normal in feline world. The other big reason kitties use their teeth so much is because they re playing says molloy. My cat bites the kittens by.
Here s how to stop kitten biting the right way. Additionally observe the nature of the fight. A kitten that s protecting its territory from a perceived threat or interloper such as a small child or another animal also may become aggressive. To determine if they are playing or fighting observe their body language closely.
The play mimics how cats will later pounce on grab and bite prey. And playtime with littermates helps to teach a kitten bite inhibition which means if you bite your sibling too hard you ll be avoided at best. Sometimes when she s feeding them they start playing with their. When littermates are playing they teach each other how to use their teeth gently reigning in their bite.
Nicholas dodman professor and clinical behaviorist at tufts university college of veterinary medicine says. Cats that are playing usually take turns. Kittens can be all teeth and claws. Kittens bite because they re teething which happens when they re 2 weeks old and then again around 4 months she says.
Kittens love to play but when they become overexcited they often scratch and bite. Fortunately in most cases it s fairly easy to train kittens and avert this behavior. If your cats are fighting break up the fight by making a loud noise or by. This is a type of social play that the cat usually does to other cat as well as people that owned them.
You have to remember that kittens have an instinct to play rough. This is how they play with their littermates and their mother. It is part of a normal kitten s development to play aggressively because they are learning the predatory skills that a cat in the wild would need to know for survival. On a reassuring note most kittens grow out of the aggressive stage and grow.
In older cats there may be other reasons for cat aggression and attacks such as redirected aggression or when a cat lashes out at its owner because it senses something is wrong. Why do kittens bite when they play. This behavior is natural to kittens and is not a sign of hostility or fear most of the time but if left unchecked it can become a serious problem. Biting and bunny kicking are normal play behaviors for kittens.
Kitten biting can be cute and harmless when your cat is a baby but can turn painful as cats get bigger. However it can be hard to tell at times if your cats are playing or fighting. It might seem counter intuitive for cats to want to play so rough but it s actually yet another curious feline instinct. Play aggression or mock fighting is a normal part of cat behavior.
So when they would go out and walk a little bit my cat normally goes to feed them and look after them while they are exploring. This is especially true when your kitten s playmate is a young child.