Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with biting

Why is my Russian Dwarf Hamster so irritable lately?

Jimmie — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:52:30 -0800

Why is my Russian Dwarf Hamster so irritable lately? I own a male, Russian Dwarf Hamster. He is nearly 2 1/2 years old. He has been a happy, healthy hamster for most of his life. Recently (the past few months), he has been noticeably more irritable. He constantly nips at human skin. It does not seem like he is just looking for food - he's nipping and not letting go. He will grab onto my skin and hang there as I attempt to pull him off. It doesn't seem like he's trying to pierce my skin though (as he's done when I've frightened or annoyed him in the past).

He does not use his exercise wheel much anymore, and he doesn't show much energy when I put him in his hamster ball.

I have not changed his diet in a while. He has always been happy with the brand/mix I buy him.

--

Possible reasons might be:

We recently moved across country, by car, with him in it. Could this have traumatized him?

Winter is coming and in San Francisco it is getting cold. Perhaps he is eating more and exercising less to prepare for hibernation? Maybe this makes him cranky?

Maybe he's just getting old?

--

Additionally:

He's got a bit of brown fluid in his left eye. I was told that this is common for hamsters, particularly older ones, and nothing to worry about. What do you think?

His stool, eating, and drinking habits all appear fine. He is not exhibiting any signs of wet tail. His weight seems fine. His hair seems like it might be thinning, but it could just be my imagination. His ears have been down more than usual, they are not as perky.

I haven't heard him crying, in fact, I have heard him softly 'clicking' for the first time in his life. Perhaps I just wasn't listening close enough before. I read that this means he is happy/content.

--

So why is he so angry?

Oh wow, another cat question

oh really — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:02:51 -0800

[CatFilter]: My one-year-old, neutered, fully-clawed male cat is very bitey & doesn't respond to anything that one might think would deter him. Please help! This is especially important as I'm having a baby in January & am concerned about his biting the baby.

The thing about this cat is that he is a very, very good boy. His aggression is all play aggression -- he's not biting out of anger or fear or pain. He does, however, bite me completely unprovoked -- like, maybe I've walked past him & he's decided it's time to launch an attack! Also, he bites much harder than any other cat I've ever had -- even though he's clearly playing, it doesn't feel like it. His bites don't often break the skin, but they hurt like hell. For the record, he rarely uses his claws when playing.

My guess is that he was poorly socialized -- I was told that he was orphaned, & our vet thinks he was probably four or five weeks old when we got him, which is obviously way too young. I don't think he understands that play-biting isn't supposed be so mean! We have two other cats & were hoping they could teach him how to play nicer, but he is aggressively playful with them as well (even though they don't really like it).

Things we've tried:
- squeaking as if we're in pain
- hissing
- clapping/stomping the floor/shouting "no"
- shaking a can with some coins in it
- spritzing him with water
- tapping him on the nose
- blowing in his face
- scruffing him
- ignoring him

These have all had zero effect on him. He didn't like the water, but it didn't actually stop him from biting. At all.

Our vet is stumped & has acknowledged that he's unusually "feisty." Although he's mellowed over the course of the year that we've had him (which gives me hope!), I'm really tired of having my feet & ankles bitten when I walk past him & he's in one of his moods, &, like I said, I'm worried that he could hurt the baby after it's born.

One thing of note is that he tends to bite me way more than my husband -- but he also dry nurses me in the middle of the night & curls up next to me or in my lap a fair amount. I know it's not that he just doesn't like me!

Anyway, any alternative suggestions for getting him to chill the hell out would be much appreciated!

How to stop puppy from biting older dog?

HPag — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:59:25 -0800

Hey hive mind! So a friend of mine has an old dog with hip dysplasia and bad back legs. My friend needed a running partner and a new friend for said older dog, so she went out an got herself a pup (about a year old I think) Now younger dog is nipping back legs of older dog, basically tormenting her. What should my (very upset about this) friend do?

He can't be a vampire. He doesn't sparkle in the sunlight.

MsMolly — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:07:38 -0800

Can I get a second cat without wrecking my first one's life? About eight months ago I became the fourth (and hopefully final) home for a "troubled" cat. Chewy is probably about 5 years old, front declawed by whoever owned him first, used to be indoor-outdoor, but is now completely indoor, and is a bit of a biter (understatement). He came to me from his most recent home because he couldn't seem to settle in with the four other cats in the house. Apparently, despite his size and his ability to fight quite effectively, he got agitated and uncomfortable when, as his former owner put it, "the other cats would come up to him and just look at him." We thought maybe his being the only cat in a household would calm him down and stop his "misplaced aggression" (jerkiness).

So eight months on, he's pretty happily settled in, except his thing for biting bruisingly hard even when completely unprovoked hasn't gone away. (Video NSFW because of some cussin'.) He's really smart, and I wonder if part of his aggression comes from being bored, even though I play with him every day (string, laser pointer, etc.)

I'd love to give him another cat to keep him busy, but would only want to do it if it would actually improve the quality of life for both animals. If it's going to just stress him out I don't want to do it. I already need to use Feliway just to keep his biting to a minimum.

So my question, finally, is -- has anyone ever had a similarly "problem" cat who didn't get along with large groups of cats but enjoyed a single buddy? And if so, is there a good age/gender/temperament match for a 5 year old neutered male?

Chronic nail biter seeks help!

Unsomnambulist — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:33:52 -0800

Help me quit biting my nails! I've never been a drinker or smoker - never tried drugs. But since I can ever remember I've been a chronic nailbiter.

I've tried the nail glaze that tastes like crap, and it didn't make a difference. Chewing gum doesn't either.

Even when I make extended efforts to conciously not bite my nails, I still catch myself gnawing.

Its a horrible habit, makes my fingers look like crap, and can sometimes be quite painful.

Any suggestions or ideas for an extreme case like mine?

Excuse me, ladies, how long is your kissing window?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:57:21 -0800

So there's this beautiful woman that I'm finding myself overwhelmingly attracted to. We have a great time, seem to have some chemistry, some central common interests. There's been a couple of moments when I thought that she wanted me to kiss her. But they don't last long. Oh yeah, she's a biter. So there's this woman that I know. I like her a lot. A lot a lot. I think I might like her a lot a lot a lot a lot.

I know her from a class. She was (I think) dating someone from the class. I believe she is not dating him any longer. He seemed sort of lame. But it made me very sad, as I was trying to take things pretty slow with her.

Recently she came over my house for dinner. To talk about a mutual interest/hobby/passion we have. It was pretty awesome.

So here's the meat of the question. I was really unsure of where I stood at the time, because of the other dude. Not sure if this was a date or what. I think it was not a date. I believe we've yet to have been on a real date. So I was showing her something on my computer, and she was sitting in my chair and I reached across her to grab the mouse, and she leans over and bites me. On my arm. Really, really hard. I thought it was going to be black and blue, but was dissapointed when it wasn't.

It took me a second to figure out what just happened, and then, not so smoothly, I was like "why did you bite me?" and she said "I couldn't resist".

And she looked at me for like a millisecond, and I was thinking, ok, I kiss her now? And then, just as quickly, she turned her head and said she had to go...put on her coat and said goodnite, gave me a hug and left.

Saw her again this weekend, spent a couple of hours with her. Had an equally nice time. Lots of joking. That could be flirting? It was flirtateous. But I believe she's the type of person who is generally charming and flirtateous and maybe really hard to read. So when I was leaving, I looked at her and she was looking at me, and there was this second where I thought I could kiss her and then just as fast as the last time, she turns her head and gives me a big hug, and then I leave.

Ok so I'm confused. Am I expected to jump in, real quick, when I have the chance? I'm used to kissing where there is a sort of long look. I'm generally more comfortable with women letting me know they want to be kissed, where it's pretty clear what's going on. But after both these occassions, I felt like kissing might have been appropriate...maybe even wanted by the other side. And if she'd kept my gaze like 2 more beats, I would have gone for it.

I'm wondering if I'm a) being a panzy for not going in quickly when the moment presents itself or b) being smart and taking some time and sucking up the way this makes me totally bonkers and how I just want to kiss her the whole time I'm around her. Additionally there's c) wondering if she's wanting me to make a move and may get bored if I don't and d) wondering if she wants this all to take a really long time and I need to plan on being cool and waiting till it really feels comfortable. Oh yeah and there's e) that in the end she's just going to want to be friends and I'm going to have wasted all this high end worrying for nothing. I've had E happen a few times and it's my backup anxiety.

So, ladies of Askmefi, if you are letting a guy know that you want to be kissed, how long do you let him know for, and how fast do you turn away?

If it matters, she's an early 30s, super hot geeky type, a touch of sexy librarian, with an excellent sense of humor.

My cat bites too hard and has a stinky butt.

stewiethegreat — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:09:33 -0800

Our (formerly feral) cat bites all the time- sometimes gently and affectionately, and other times hard enough to draw blood through thick jeans. Also, he poops every time I take a shower. I'm puzzled. We adopted a feral cat two months ago, who is one of the coolest cats ever. Seriously. He's an enormous Maine Coon, who is still gaining weight at ~20lbs (and needs the weight, the vet says). He doesn't act like a cat at all, leading my girlfriend to posit that he's actually *not* a cat, but rather a transmogrified human (or dragon, when she's nursing seeping wounds delivered by said cat).

We think he might not have grown up with a moma cat- he does the kneading/making biscuits thing that some people online think means that he wasn't properly weaned. We wonder if that's why he bits so much.

Sometimes the biting is incredibly gentle- he places his teeth around hands, legs, fingers, and just sits there. He's often purring as he does this. Other times, like when we try to trim his nails, he bits incredibly aggressively. His teeth alone have drawn blood through my jeans repeatedly.

He goes through periods mid-afternoon of preferring his own company (which we give him) and being in a very bitey mood, chasing things around the house. When he's in one of these moods, or if we stir him up too much with his toys, he will aggressively attack us- not just respond to incursions, but chase us around the house, leaping at us like a cougar and burying his teeth in our knees/thighs or whatever else he can reach. Sometimes its a little scary when he does this.

We have tried to be firm with him about the hard biting- as suggested by the vet and online, we smacked the ground beside him loudly, called or shouted "NO!" and scruffed him. This just made him more aggressive- when he is scruffed he begins acting like a demon, hissing and making really scary Exorcist-type sounds. When we continue holding him down (again, as per the vet's suggestions) he just escalates, going absolutely insane. Both of us grew up with large, aggressive animals and she showed/bred animals in 4H, and we cannot control him when he's like this.

We've resorted to giving him shoves when he is biting or chasing us- being shoved 4 feet away seems to give him something else to focus on, and he rarely comes back and attacks again, until he remembers we are there several minutes later. My girlfriend really doesn't like doing that- instead, she scruffs him very firmly and says "NO!" very firmly, then releases him, which I don't feel has an effect on him except making him pout (he goes into a corner and sits there looking moody) for an hour or two. He certainly isn't averse to coming back and biting us again later, given the opportunity.

All that said, he is an absolutely wonderful cat, and for the most part, we just ignore the biting for all of his great personality quirks. We're just not sure a) why he bites so much (it seems to be part of his personality- the biting to show affection and biting to express anger) and b) how we should lovingly stop him. Sometimes the bites are really bad and hurt for a while.

And if this post wasn't long enough, there is one more behavior that puzzles us. His cat litter box is in our bathroom, and whenever we take a shower, no matter what time of day it is, the cat comes in and poops in his litter box. Today, I showered at 4 p.m. Last night, I showered at 11 p.m. He pooped both times.

Any ideas?

Tongue Biting: Why, and How to Stop?

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:55:38 -0800

How can I stop biting my tongue? I mean literally biting my tongue until it bleeds. Why do I do this? I've done this all my life, but I remember biting my inner cheeks when I was much younger; I think I switched to biting my tongue when I was around 10-15 years old.

I'll do it absentmindedly: while driving, watching a movie, and then five minutes later I'll notice that my tongue really hurts and I know that I've been doing it again.

Sometimes I'll focus on it, trying to find that perfect spot on my tongue for my teeth to grab. I'm not really conscious of the fact that I'm biting my tongue again but it's more like I'm just intensely focused on the precision of the practice.

Sometimes I'm able to catch myself doing it, and I stop. Sometimes I catch myself doing it and I just try harder to find that spot to bite. I'll do this until my tongue bleeds, until hot coffee and spicy salsa causes great pain in my mouth.

Is it a form of OCD? Is it a form of cutting/self mutilation? What's the best way to finally stop doing this to myself?

Mexican Hairless dog aggression problems?

flyingcowofdoom — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 08:01:29 -0800

Our 3.5 year old Mexican Hairless has started becoming aggressive and I need suggestions for dealing with it. We have a 3.5 year old Mexican Hairless (named Kelsi) that we rescued from an awful woman on June 1 of this year. After we had her for two weeks, we found out she was pregnant (she's had two litters before this one). She gave birth to four puppies 6 weeks ago. In the past two weeks, she has started having some aggression problems. When we first got her 2.5 months ago, she did not have any aggression problems. I could take treats from her mouth without any resistance. My wife and I live with her parents, and she seemed to be scared of my father-in-law, but didn't show any aggression toward him. As her pregnancy progressed, she started growling and barking at my father-in-law and any strangers that would come into our "family room", where she and my wife spend 95% of our time. My wife is sick and stays home all day every day with Kelsi. After having puppies (the puppies stay in our family room all the time in a wire enclosure), the growling and barking is getting steadily worse. She won't growl at anyone if she is downstairs, away from the room with the puppies. If a stranger comes in our room, she will growl and bark as they approach the room, and stop usually 30-90 seconds after they come in. Then, she'll generally start wagging her tail and seem normal (except with my father-in-law).

Last weekend, my sister-in-law and her husband were visiting, and while she usually would be fine with them, she did not seem to want the husband in our room. She kept growling at him, and when he went to hug my wife, Kelsi "bit" him. It didn't hurt or break the skin or leave any mark. He said it didn't seem like she was trying to injure him, just let him know that she meant business.

Yesterday, she started growling at my mother-in-law (whom Kelsi normally adores). She has also started growling at me if I put my hand near her when she has a rawhide bone. This morning, my mother-in-law went in to feed the puppies and noticed that Kelsi was only half under her blanket, so she went to cover her up and Kelsi snapped at her. Again, it didn't seem to have the intent to harm.

I should mention that we do not tolerate any of this behavior and we tell her NO sternly and loudly. We have also tried "nipping" at her neck with our fingers at the same time. I'm very upset about this decline in her behavior. At first, I thought it was normal for her to act a little weird about strangers in the room because of the puppies, but this recent aggression toward my mother-in-law and towards me when she has a treat is very unacceptable.

Does anyone have any recommendations, or should I really be consulting a professional at this point? I'd rather not have to spend hundreds on a dog behavior specialist, but it's not acceptable to me to have a dog with aggression issues.

TIA!

--FCOD

Dog biting

munchingzombie — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:53:50 -0800

Why has my perfectly nice dog with no history of biting suddenly doing it? Please help me save my face. I feel a little awkward asking my vet this question, so I thought I would ask all you wonderful people. Ben is a Newfie/Retreiver mix about three years old. He has always been a very loving dog who just melts if you pet him, which is his favorite activity when not sleeping. So, he has no history of biting or snapping.

We moved to a new apartment a month ago; any anxiety he felt surrounding the move dissipated within a few days of moving. But in the last week he has snapped at three different people on three different occasions.

1) The first was a six year old girl who was over with her parents for a BBQ. She was acting a little frightened around Ben and thankfully he just jumped up at her and bonked her nose.

2) Later when everyone left we just had two friends over. A friend was playing with Ben and he snapped at his face but thankfully missed. The friend had played with Ben before and the dog did not seem in an odd mood at all.

3) Then, this morning we had just returned from our morning walk. Ben had played with a few dogs, which is not uncommon. He was laying down on the floor and I bent down and was petting him in the same way I have done countless times. Then, snap. I have a puncture wound under my nose and on my chin.

Why might he be doing this? He has never bit anyone or anything (he even sniffed a live squirrel without taking a taste) and then three times in one week he does it. Before and after he does it he is perfectly placid. No bursts of aggression of playfulness. Just Ben on second, snap the next, and back to normal the third.

Any additional information you guys may need yours for the asking. Any suggestions on how to handle the situation would be very appreciated.

Thank you hivemind.

Will neutering change my male kitten's aggressive behaviour?

LeeJay — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 19:24:13 -0800

Our recently adopted, very sweet, very clingy male kitten is showing some signs of aggressive behaviour. Is this typical of intact males? Will his behaviour change for the better after he's neutered or should I be worried? My roommate and I were recently "adopted" by an incredibly sweet male cat who just showed up on our porch one day about four weeks ago. He was immediately affectionate and not at all intimidated by our dogs so I assumed he was a housepet that got himself lost. We put up flyers and asked around the neighborhood but no one ever claimed him, so we took him in. He's been in to the vet for a checkup and shots and we're planning on having him neutered after the holidays. We estimate his age at less than a year. He still has an immature look to him and a neighbor thinks he saw him around during the summer as a very small kitten.

He's very sweet and very clingy, especially with me. He wants nothing more than to sit by me, near me or, preferably, on me and is pretty demanding when it comes to being petted. Just recently, within the last few days, he has started getting a little more agressive when it comes to demanding attention. When I have to leave and he doesn't want me to, he'll take a swipe at my leg. It's a pretty light swipe but he has all of his claws and my pantlegs have taken a beating. Today I got up off of the couch (where I had been petting him) and he cried and bit my arm. Again, not hard, didn't draw blood, but it concerns me. I have tried to discourage this behavior by loudly saying OUCH and then ignoring him for a time but from time to time he will still swipe at my leg if I try to leave him. I love him to death but this unpredictability is making me a little nervous. I don't want to be bitten or scratched and neither does my roommate. (He hasn't done this with the roommate. He doesn't seem to be as attached to him as he is to me.)

Is this common in intact young males? Can I expect this clingy behaviour and agression to diminish after he's neutered? Or is this a sign of a bigger problem that I should be worried about? I plan on talking to my vet about it when I see him but that probably won't be until after the holidays and I would really like to rectify the problem as soon as possible.

BitingFilter

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 08:47:53 -0800

How to bite without leaving long-lasting bruises? I like biting people. People I make out with like being bitten. I like being bitten.

I've noticed that some people who I make out with can bite my neck and not leave a bruise. Or can bite my neck and leave a bruise that only lasts for several hours.

I am jealous of this ability. How do I do it?

How do you ween a 16 month old from biting?

keep it tight — Fri, 12 May 2006 09:15:56 -0800

How do you ween a 16 month old from biting? My friends 16 month old daughter has taken to biting other todlers at daycare. Not enough to break skin, but I'm sure it hurts.

Any Metibites out there had luck changing this behavior?

Stop my kitten or my cat will have no ears

scazza — Mon, 01 May 2006 13:10:28 -0800

How do I get my cat to stop biting my other cat's ears? All the info I get from google is about cats biting people and to smack them on the ear.

As some of you might know from a past question, I have a newish cat. She just turned 1 in February, and my other cat, a male, is just turning 5 (I think), both indoor cats. They have a good if aloof relationship; he's used to being alone, he lets her take over everything. They don't sleep together, all they want to do is bite each other (they try to adorably clean each other but it just becomes furious and biting ensues).

They chase each other and play fight, but she has been drawing blood on his beautiful head, and her teeth have come dangerously close to his eyes. He's taking all the damage in these fights probably because he often doesn't let up--though doesn't ever hurt her, not a scratch. But, the thing that has me concerned are his ears.

We came back from 5 days away and his beloved petal-like soft ears are covered in scabs, 2 tiny tiny pieces of his ear are hanging off, and if you look closely the color is a bit patchy. They seem to be better since we've been back, but I can't have this. I can't have him have the ears of a stray, meaning no ears. It's both their fault: he won't let up and she's too eager to go for blood.

They enjoy chasing each other and scaring each other so I don't want to stop the play altogether. Does stopping the ear biting require stopping the playing?
I thought of putting something on his ears to discourage it (orange oil, ointment) but he'd just try to clean it and wouldn't it be torture for him too?
Is this her only weapon against a bigger foe? He's bigger in size, longer and taller, she's compact, but only 1 lb difference in weight.
Is this just because we went away for 5 days?
Will she just grow out of it?

I haven't called my vet yet. I thought I'd ask here first. Your help is always so helpful.

Biting Puppy; Why?

pettins — Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:42:59 -0800

Why does our puppy look like she is biting other dogs?

Urge to bite, rising.

lychee — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 00:18:18 -0800

Does anybody else get the urge to bite something (like say, an arm) every once in a while? Okay so last time I was home I was hanging out with my 14yr old brother when he piped up with, "I really want to bite something." He picked up my arm and contemplated it for a second before dropping it and then seeming restless. He wanted to bite something chewy but firm.

Now I wasn't freaked out as I had done the same exact thing a few times as a teenager to our other brother. (I actually did bite him, but I was just exercising my big sis rights to do so.)

I know little kids bite, and babies love to chew on stuff, so is the urge to bite just a holdover from our more primitive days? Something to do with hormones that afflicts teenagers? A nutritional defect? And does it happen to everyone but nobody ever talks about it? (Googling just turned up info on nail-biting, puppy training, and creepy cannibal stories.) Or should my family start shopping for chew toys?

Doggy

LadyBonita — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 07:07:52 -0800

Last night our adopted dog snapped her teeth at the baby. Baby is 20 months old - the dog had just curled up on the couch, wasn't asleep, the baby walked by and our dog lunged out her neck, snarled, and snapped her teeth twice (right on level with our babys face). My husband immediately yelled at the dog and put her outside for the night. He says this is grounds for taking her back to the shelter, that we shouldn't take any chances that she'll bite one of us (we have 3 children).

She had spent most of her life, 6 or 7 years, at the shelter and one reason we decided on adopting her was that she didn't seem bothered by the attention of our lively children. She's been a good girl till now, still a little skittish with us (often moves away when we reach from a standing position to pet her, but returns), but has seemed to be adjusting to family life quite well and is generally pretty loving.

Is there any hope for her? Any training that will help? Or is my husband right? We've had her for about 6 months now. The shelter people had been arguing with each other about whether to have her put to sleep or not and I really don't want that for her, but I also don't want my children attacked.

She's an unknown mixed breed, but not one of the known agressive breeds. She has seizures some times, which is why I think it took so long for her to be adopted.