Cat Biting

by gadgetgirl

Cat Biting is bad, so said a cat breeder who was asking for advice on one of the Yahoo Groups for cat breeders. But for who is it bad?

The advice given by other breeders (and these are experienced cat breeders) was to punish the cat. One would tap the cat on the nose with the finger and thumb. Another said to put the cat in a cage for 5 minutes having said "No".

Apparently these work. But I am sure the cat hasn't a clue what he or she has done wrong, because from his standpoint he has not done wrong. He has behaved normally. Biting or chewing things whatever it is, is normal for a kitten particularly.

My cat still gently nibbles my hand as a sign of affection. Their mouths are useful for many tasks. The point that I am making is this, do we want a cat as a companion or do we want a companion who does what we want (a kind of modified cat that behaves like a submissive human)?

All cat behavior by a normally socialized and healthy cat should be accepted and we should live with it and around it. We shouldn't modify it to meet out personal preferences. If a cat bites aggressively and unnaturally (for a cat) it will be because of our behavior towards him or her or because she is ill or both. Any one of these reasons is not one that demands that the cat be given remedial training to the cat as described above. It is the people who need training in good cat caretaking.

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