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My cat uses his teeth quite a bit too. When I got him he was angry about his change in circumstance because his family and buds had moved away and he had been on his own for 6 months. When I rescued him, he was totally sweet, laying on my lap all the time...for three days. After that he was a total brat and would really attack with rages for no reason. I got him neutered, but he didn't get better right away. You could be sitting on the floor not even looking at him and he would nail you. He put a big bruise on my arm one day from a bite. He raked my face twice with his claws because I wouldn't give him breakfast off of my plate. Thought I would have to give him up. I hadn't had a cat since I was a kid, but never ran across one like him before.

One day as he sensed I was tensing up and moving away from him when he jumped in my lap, he looked puzzled and acted like he finally got it, that it was going to steal some affection from him if he continued. He got better after that, but he still will stalk a bit and leave a small mark on my knee or arm now and then. He will curl his "thumb claw" and hold it on my hand so I can't move it without that claw digging in. Kind of a control thing. He seems to like biting flesh more than clothing, so I really watch him in the summer.

Now about all he does besides the normal play nip is if he doesn't get his way about something he will jump up on my back when I am sitting on my computer chair and have all four paws wrapped around my shoulder and upper arm. He seems to know it freaks me, but he usually has the claws out very little as he sticks there for a few seconds, drops and runs off. He waits about 30 seconds after his scold or frustrations, and he doesn't do it all the time. It's like having a pesky little brother around now instead of a domestic abuser. He still does not sleep in my room though because he tends to jump at your head if you lie down to take a nap or something and I don't fully trust him yet. Thank goodness I've gotten him to where I can cut his nails with a little hood slipped over his head to stop the bites.

Until I read this I thought it was just me!!! Years ago I found a young kitten about three weeks old. My husband and I hand raised her. He was home as he had just had surgery. The kitten bonded with him. As she grew she started to pounce on me. At first it was cute. As she got older, it wasn't. When she got older she would grab me by the calves and bite while kicking me with her back legs. Well, I am just under five foot tall and she was a heavy cat. One day I was walking up the hallway and she pounced on me from the rear. I ended up getting over forty stitches in my calf, and seven stitches in my chin from falling face first into a coffee table. One of the secretaries at work adopted her, thinking she was just jealous of me. The kitty does the same thing to my friend so Yoda (after the Star Wars character) has her own half of the house with my friend's husband. Yoda just does not like females. And yes, she is spayed.

We still miss that crazy cat! :-(

This cracked me up. Not because you are getting bitten!(I promise!) but just the way you posted it.

I used to be all about the big dogs only. Anything under 100lbs was just not an option for me to have in my home. Since working with the rescue I have met so many WONDERFUL little dogs, including my own beloved Herbie the Love Bug that I've had to take back everything stupid I ever said about little dogs!

The one I have that grabs your ankles is my Aussie/Sheltie mix, Chloe. She doesn't "bite" but when poking you with her nose or shoving your leg with her chest doesn't move you where she thinks you should go, she will gently take the back of your ankle in her teeth to try to herd you. Does that count?

Okay, I admit it I'm a little slow...
What is an SS biter?

Yep! Got 3 kitty ankle biters and a Yorkie nipper! Zoeighe Sierra, Adrieanna Baylinn, and Briez Alexis love to bite at the ankles as a part of their play/prey, and they all have their claws - don't believe in declawing - gruesome to perform the surgery! Sometimes when I am not in the mood for playing -preying I spray some perfume on my ankles - they do not like that!!!!!! For the Yorkie, he is just trying to get my attention so he I listen!!!!! I would rather have an ankle biter than an a$$ biter!

What your kitties are doing is hunting and your the prey. They usually grow out of it. Another thing you can try is to hunt her back. Keep a squirt gun or bottle handy and when she does it, face her and then let her have it right in the face. Then have something like one of those poles with string and a toy on the end that she can "hunt" and kill. Cats can learn. Bite me = water in the face virses play with a toy.

Ok I had to comment on this, Our yellow tiger, Lilly is a biter. Yes she grabs ahold of you with both paws and hangs on for dear life too, anything she can she will bite. She is so sweet but this has to stop. Its starting to get out of hand and paw if you know what I mean. We have had her since she was 3 weeks old and she is just about 12 weeks now and I am not sure what to do with her.

We are trying to make a hissing sound like her "mom" cat would when she misbehaves and it seems to stop her, at least for a moment, but she has become the house attack cat and Maggie our Pit Bull mix really gets it sometimes. I cannot believe how patient she is with Lilly, wow. Maggie loves her like you wouldn't believe too. She will clean Lilly, play with her and they sleep together at times but even Maggie can get irritated by the biting. The bigger Lilly gets the more I wonder how to stop this.

We have tried the pick up by the scruff deal and it just infuriates Lilly so we just pin her down after a hiss and make her stop because I don't want to rough her up. I am hoping if we are gentle with her she will learn to be more gentle. Here's to hoping.

Rumble, the foster I have now has a play fight/bite problem. It was much worse when she came to me a few weeks ago, but the behavior still pops up. I try and teach all of the cats/kittens that I have in my home that No means freeze. The second word is what I want them to stop doing. The biting is hard to control. I had to hold Rumble down and wait for her to calm down to get her to stop biting. I think a large part of the problem is your instinct is to strike out at the cat. You need to just freeze (isn't that so easy to say). I think that her former owner used to hit her and she thought that NO meant that she was about to be hurt. She doesn't growl or spring to fight back any more but she still is a little bratty at times. When they bite at your feet it sometimes helps if you pick them up and hold them by the scruff of the neck or wrapped in a towel. The will hate it and get mad. But you won't hurt them and it helps to place you back on top of the peaking order. My Pooka (another calico) used to like to play bite. The No! Bite! followed by my ignoring her helped. The other cat thumping her silly when she bit her helped even more.

I know where you're coming from on this,as T-bone is guilty of this behavior also.When he was younger ,he was full of energy and always playing at running up behind me and nibbling on body parts(ankles and toes)the entire time that I was walking through the house. What made it worse,was that at first,I thought it was funny and I'd laugh at him,and all that did was encourage him more. lol
He's now about 3 though,and he doesn't ankle bite very often.Seems to happen when I'm messing with him when he doesn't want to be bothered.(Trying to hold him,waking him up,etc..I think it's now done in "payback".

When Jazz was a kitten she was an ankle biter. Now that's she's a senior, she's known as 'the slasher' and 'jaws & claws'.

I had a kitten when I was a child that would climb up into our long winter coats that were hung on hoods down the hallway and he was hiding in those coats. Judah would do a drop attack as we walked by. It was hilarious. He was an ankle biter too.

We "inherited" a black & white stray who is an "ankle bitter". We've just been thinking that he's "socially challenged", but he will jump out at us when we or any visitors walk by. We are thinking that he was possibly initially raised by a young boy who roughed him up playing. We've been able to curb the "hurt" by telling him "no bite" over and over again. We also have a couple stray calicos - none of which exhibit this trait, so I don't think it's just a calico trait.

After reading your entry i was thinking " is it the calico in her" because My jazza does the same thing ..like she's mooding of something but I still love her..she knows when she getting to rough she get's a tap on the nose and stops and gives me this look like "what"?

Well, a bit of a nipper tale. When Buster was younger, he used to "hold" my hand and lead me around. I guess he thought he was my master. He never held on tight enough to break the skin but, there were times that I had teeth impressions for quite a while. They all are such unique little individuals....our lives would be so dull without them. Good luck with you "pin cushion" legs.