Probably, every owner of cats faced with such a situation when the animal does not accept affection, and when trying to play with it, it scratches and bites. Sick, not in the mood or run wild? In fact, there can be many reasons for this behavior. Remember yourself when you come home after a hard day. Do you want to respond to your spouse's arms? Of course, you will not bite, but cats are more direct and express their feelings directly. Of course, it’s very unpleasant when the pet responds with aggression to the manifestation of love, but you need to understand the reasons for this behavior, which we will deal with now.
Norm or pathology
It is impossible to exclude anything, in animals, as in humans, there are cases of mental disorders. However, speaking about why the cat bites when you stroke it, it must be noted that the diagnosis should be made only by a professional on the basis of an examination, as well as an anamnesis. However, most often the explanation lies in simpler things.
Indeed, cats are naturally affectionate enough, but at the same time independent. Moreover, each of them has their own character. Some are ready for hours to take caresses in their most diverse manifestations. Others, even after many years of living in the family, continue to keep their distance. And here, too, everything is ambiguous. Some kittens are ready to allow themselves to be stroked for several minutes without manifesting aggression, others are immediately dissatisfied. Therefore, you can’t generally consider why the cat bites when you stroke it. In any case, everything is very individual.
Are attacks sudden
If you do not consider cases when a cat bites a child because it unknowingly hurts her, this situation can be prevented or at least smoothed out. To do this, you don’t even need to find out for a long time why the cat bites when you pet it. It’s enough just to keep track of how the purrs' behavior changes. Animals demonstrate everything very clearly, they do not know how to hide emotions under masks.
Turn your attention to the cat and see how it changes when you run your hand along the back or tummy. When the animal enjoys, it stretches and basks under your arms, purrs, becomes relaxed, as if flowing. Otherwise, all the muscles of the body are grouped, as at the time of danger. Ears are pressed, the pupils are dilated, the skin twitches at the places of stroking, tail swings are observed. Further affection in this case is inappropriate, you need to urgently leave the purr alone.
Complex nature
This is the first reason why the cat bites when you pet it. We emphasize once again that it is males who are more often prone to fighting behavior. This is due to physiology. Males are always more independent and freedom-loving, this must be taken into account when you choose a pet for yourself. In addition, there are separate breeds that are famous for independence. These are Persians and Siamese cats, British. However, in every breed there may be "savages" who simply need to be accepted as they are. In this case, you just need to give the pet the opportunity to choose the right time for petting. When he is clearly in the mood, you can be nice to them, and the rest of the time just pay attention through your voice and delicious dinner.
We teach from childhood
Since weaning a cat or cat to bite and scratch in adulthood can be very difficult, you need to start training from a very young age. Toddlers often exhibit this behavior. It seems to be normal, because he is learning to interact. But now it is only necessary to encourage desirable behavior and cut off excess. Therefore, if during the game the baby wraps his arms around your paws and begins to gnaw violently, you need to loudly “kick” and immediately stop the interaction. If the kitten requires the continuation of the game and again clings to the finger, then you can pat it on the collar, indicating that this will not work.
If bites occur periodically
However, we did not answer the question of why the cat bites when you pet it. This behavior can be triggered by a number of factors. Cats are very sensitive to odors. The aroma of a neighbor's dog that you stroked, spices, perfume or cream may not be acceptable for its delicate sense of smell.
From time to time, a cat may bite if you take her by surprise, when she is not inclined to interact with you, when she is too excited (spring) or something hurts her. In addition, the purr may simply not like prolonged stroking in one place. In this case, you should not adjust its behavior, just watch it and determine the line when it’s enough from it.
As you can see, it’s quite difficult to unequivocally answer why a cat bites when you pet it. But in any case, we can talk about aggression only in the case when any extension of the hand towards the animal immediately leads to a bite. In other situations, you, as the owner, should think carefully about what was done wrong and how to fix it.
In addition, the animal can bite if it is ironed in certain places. This is a ponytail or head, tummy or chin. In this case, it clearly demonstrates that he does not like these actions.
Non-verbal communication
This is another answer why a cat bites its stroking hand. When you just touch the pet, he may like these petting things. However, at some point, monotonous movements begin to annoy. The animal cannot tell you “Enough”, “Do not press so hard”, but its discontent begins to grow. Therefore, she uses the channels available to her. If the owner is not able to understand that the purr is uncomfortable, then the bite will be the culmination. The best solution would be to stop after a few minutes of caressing. If the animal is configured for further contact, it will certainly require continuation. In another case, he will calmly engage in smoothing out his fur coat.
Electric field
Even we, without possessing a coat, sometimes can perceptibly strike each other with a discharge. With prolonged stroking of the back of the cat, a static electric field occurs. Most often this is due to low humidity. In addition, the reason may be that the coat is overdried due to drying. Discharges of static electricity can cause discomfort and even pain, so it is not surprising that the pet will try to avoid continuation. And again, we say that an attentive owner can notice his displeasure in time.
Biting on pleasure
This is another common behavior. In this case, the cat purrs and bites when you stroke it. That is, he answers you to caresses in such a way, and at the same time gives himself additional pleasure, as we get it from chewing gum. In this case, it is necessary to correct his behavior from a very early age. Every attempt to bite you during the game should be blocked. The game stops, the host demonstrates dissatisfaction. If when resuming stroking the cat no longer attempts to bite, stroking is performed as a reward.
How to avoid conflicts
First of all, trace in which situations a surge of aggression occurs, as well as what precedes this. We already talked a bit about why the British cat bites when you pet it. These are independent animals who themselves seek affection only at those moments when they need it. In other cases, do not bore them with your obsession.
At the first sign (pinned ears, tail twitching), remove your hand. This will allow you to quickly exhaust the conflict. If a calmly dormant cat suddenly suddenly clings to your hand, it is best to scream sharply, make a hissing sound and stop contact with the pet until his "apology".