Most people who have been around cats will know that they might bite you if they’re scared or aggressive, which can be dangerous for humans. But most don’t realise that biting might also have a more gentle meaning, depending on what mood your cat is in.
A pet behaviourist named Dr Annie answered a viewers question about why their cat keeps biting them, where she explained the four different reasons your cat might bite you that aren’t aggressive.
“Believe it or not, but some cat bites are actually a friendly or affiliative behaviour known as allogrooming,” Annie explained. “These bites are usually very gentle and are likely to happen when your cat is super relaxed, likely getting pets from you and might be accompanied by some licks.
She explained that thse bite won’t be aggressive, skin breaking bites, but instead more gentle bites or nibbles.
Your cat will most likely have a calm body language when it happens, which might include forward facing ears, eyes partially closed, and purring.
The second reason she brought up for why cats might bite you could be ‘play aggression.’
“These bites are usually harder than the allogrooming bites and the body language is very different,” Annie said. “Whereas allogrooming occurs when the cat is relaxed, play aggression as the name suggests occurs when the cat is physiologically aroused and is looking for an outlet. Cats bite during play because they have been taught to play with hands or feet.”
If you think your cat is experiencing play aggression, some signs you can look out for include dilated pupils, more tension in the body with more activity and movement, forward facing ears, as well as bunny kicks and other playful behaviours.
If you want to stop or prevent play aggression, Dr Annie recommends giving your cats lots of scheduled play sessions to give them an appropriate outlet for that energy, as well as stop allowing play with your hands and feet.
“You may have to carry toys and treats around with you in order to successfully redirect them and break the habit,” she said. “If they latch on, make yourself as uninteresting as possible. No squealing, no moving your foot around, no running away from them – be boring.”
Dr Annie then once again explained the importance of scheduled play sessions which will give cats the opportunity to use their toys and realise that there are even more fun things to play with other than your fingers or feet.
The third type of gentle bite is petting induced aggression, which is a result of physical overstimulation, Annie explained. To prevent this kind of biting and aggression, she suggest keeping petting sessions short to about three to five seconds at a time before withdrawing contact and look at the cat’s body language.
“If you see signs of increasing arousal like vocalisations, those ears moving towards the side, that swishing tail, piloerection, skin twitching, any of those, do not continue to pet,” Annie said.
The final reason your cat might bite is as a last resort to ask for more space from you. Annie explained that these bites are usually only occur if you have ignored your cat’s attempts to warn you of its discomfort or fear with other subtle signs.
“There are a few cats that have a more quirky biting behaviour, and in these cases, the biting is almost always something that has been unintentionally reinforced or trained by the human,” Annie explained.
