Kitten Teething: 5 Tips to Stop Kitten Biting
Do kittens teethe?
Kittens start losing their baby teeth around 9 weeks of age, and from that time until their adult teeth are fully grown in at 5 to 6 months, you can count on lots of chewing action. In fact, like teething babies, teething kittens will bite and chew on anything — including human toes and fingers — to ease the discomfort they feel. This is why kitten teething is a perfect time to teach your kitten to stop chewing on things she shouldn’t. Here are a few tips to help kitten teething and stop misdirected kitten biting.
1. Ease That Kitten Teething With a Binkie
Chew toys aren’t just for dogs anymore. A number of manufacturers make toys designed to provide an appropriate target for all that kitten teething. These include cloth toys that can be chilled to ease tender gums, firmer chews that will exercise the jaw muscles and nylon-based toys for kitten teething.
2. Let Your Kitten Bite a Toy/Stuffed Animal Instead
The more your kitten plays with appropriate toys, the less likely she’ll be to chew on you. Your teething kitten needs interactive play because it helps her to work off excess energy and develop her balance and strength. At least two 10-to-15-minute play sessions per day using a teaser toy will give a teething kitten an appropriate target for her chewing and strengthen the bond between you.
3. Don’t Let Your Kitten Play With Your Hands
When you’re petting your kitten, be sure to keep your hands away from her mouth. The same thing goes for playtime: Never use your fingers as play objects.
4. Practice “Ow!” and Down When Your Kitten Bites Inappropriately
If that kitten teething does lead to a bite, say “Ow!” in a high-pitched but not overly loud voice and put her on the floor. When cats play together and the play gets too rough, the victim will utter a high-pitched cry and this will cause the aggressor to back off. Consistent use of the “Ow” and Down technique will teach your kitten that biting leads to an absence of play or petting.
5. Be Prepared with Chew Toys for Your Kitten
Make sure you keep appropriate chew toys on hand wherever you are. If you’re sitting with your teething kitten and you see her getting in the mood to bite or chew, you can give her the toy and say, “Here, chew this.”
It’s crucial that you consistently and lovingly reinforce the message that only certain things are appropriate for kitten teething, chewing and biting, and people are not among them. The behavior training you do now will set the stage for the rest of your lives together. It’s entirely up to you whether that life includes being a human pincushion.
How to stop kitten biting
It turns out that kitten biting is part of the play behavior kittens learn when they are with their littermates. “This is the time when each kitten learns how to use an inhibited bite so as not to cause injury,” explains Pam Johnson-Bennett, certified cat behaviorist and owner of Cat Behavior Associates. “A kitten who bites too hard is either reprimanded by the queen or gets a very negative reaction from a littermate. This social play is important, and each kitten soon learns the rules.”
Laughing and smiling at Leroy’s kitten biting behavior when he was little encouraged him to continue it. We soon learned to give Leroy appropriate toys and to stop playing with him immediately if he bit us during playtime — but as we later learned, we should have employed these training methods from the very beginning.
“The first and foremost rule when training a kitten to play gently is to not use your fingers as toys,” Johnson-Bennett says. “No matter how young your kitten is and whether it hurts when she bites or not, this isn’t the message you want to send to her. Biting flesh is never to be allowed.
What toys should you use to discourage kitten biting?
A variety of toys are available to help correct bad kitten biting behaviors. “From the very beginning, have appropriate toys for your kitten to bite during play,” Johnson-Bennett says. “For interactive playtime, use toys based on a fishing pole design. That will put a safe distance between your hands and your kitten’s teeth.”
The Kitten Lady is another amazing resource for all things kitten, including tips for handling/redirecting kitten teething/biting. She also has amazing video resources on her YouTube Channel.
