Content
- Why does my cat bite me when I'm sleeping?
- he bites like a joke
- Lack of environmental enrichment
- Health problems
- How to scold a cat when it bites?
- How to prevent my cat from biting me when I'm sleeping?
- 1. Avoid it becoming a joke
- 3. Enrich your environment
- What to do if nothing works?
When we share our home with one or more kittens, sleeping well can become a real challenge. In fact, many cat owners find it difficult to get a good night's sleep because their feline companions are very active during the night and tend to scratch the doors or curtains, jumping around the house, playing vigorously with your toys or even biting your humans while they sleep.
Why does my cat bite me when I'm sleeping? If you ask yourself this question, in this PeritoAnimal article, we'll explain the most frequent causes of such behavior and what you can do to preserve the quality of your sleep without harming your pussy's physical and mental stimulation. Keep reading!
Why does my cat bite me when I'm sleeping?
Although there is a widespread belief that cats are nocturnal animals, the truth is that they maintain predominantly twilight habits or activity patterns, ie, tend to be more active and energetic at dawn and dusk. However, it is also true that they are genetically related to other nocturnal cats, such as the tiger or lion, in that they share common ancestors.
For cats that live in nature, as well as for wild cats (that is, those that have never had contact with humans and their habits), the night and dawn represent the most favorable period to carry out their vital activities, especially hunting, with greater security and accuracy. In this way, the entire your body and its biological cycles are adapted to this circadian rhythm, which explains, among other things, the adaptation of your eyes to little or no light availability.
However, domestic cats (Felis sylvestris catus) went through a long process of adaptation to the habits and behavior patterns of human beings, including their predatory nature, and became the most twilight cats on Earth. That's why you'll see how your kitten avoids wasting energy in the hottest periods and with greater availability of light during the day, and becomes more energetic and predisposed to play before sunrise and after sunset.
Now, you might be asking yourself, "How does this explain why my cat goes crazy and bites me while I sleep?"
he bites like a joke
Well, first of all, you should know that it's perfectly natural for your kitten to be more active when there's less sunlight available, even during the early morning hours (or in the early hours of the morning) when we, her human guardians, we are usually still sleeping.
It is also important to keep in mind that most of the games and activities that we propose to our kittens basically consist of simulate the context of a hunt. For example, when we show them a wand with a toy that looks very much like a bird with colorful feathers, we are "awakening" their natural hunting instinct which, despite adaptations, is still very well developed, which so stimulates their sensory abilities. and cognitive like your bones, muscles and joint structures, that is, your body and mind.
If your cat bites you while you sleep, it is very likely that, for him, this represents a joke like any other hunting simulation he would do during the day, in which he "tests" his good hunting instincts to try to catch your foot, your hand, your leg or even your head. And if you start to move to try to "hide" under the blanket or to keep it from "attacking" you while you sleep, your kitten may interpret these signals as a stimulus, just as when you wave your wand to get her to chase, and step up the pace of the game.
In this context, far from having the intention of hurting you or producing any negative emotion, what your cat is looking for is to play, have fun, and why not? enjoy your company in these activities that he enjoys so much.
Lack of environmental enrichment
This can occur more often when cats do not have an environment enriched with toys, sensory stimuli and other accessories, such as scratchers or platforms, to have fun alone and whenever they wish. Thus, they tend to resort to other objects in the house or to their own tutors to have the necessary conditions and elements when they want to play, jump and express themselves freely. Later, we'll talk a little more about environmental enrichment for cats and its importance in managing balanced behavior.
Health problems
However, if your cat bites you while you sleep and you notice that he gets very restless during the night, you also need to rule out the possibility that he has a health problem. There are many diseases that can negatively impact the behavior of cats, both pathologies that cause pain and neurological disorders like endocrine problems which can lead to symptoms of stress, hyperactivity and even behavioral problems such as aggression. Therefore, if you identify any changes in your kitten's personality or changes in habits, do not hesitate to consult a veterinarian.
How to scold a cat when it bites?
As we've said, it's completely natural for cats to have different activity patterns and circadian rhythms than people do. Therefore, when making the decision to adopt a kitten, we must be aware that this means learning to live with a different species and an individual with their own needs, which requires us, as guardians, to knowledge and patience required to ensure all care for your health and well-being, as well as proper education.
In that regard, reprimanding a cat for performing behaviors inherent to its nature and personality is highly inadvisable and it can be counterproductive, causing behavioral problems such as destructiveness or aggression. However, part of our “mission” as guardians is precisely to teach our kittens the behaviors considered appropriate at home, as well as providing them with the essential conditions to maintain a stable behavior.
In short, we mean that it is always better, safer and more effective to invest time and effort in educating your cat rather than scolding him. Likewise, this does not mean that you cannot point out inappropriate behaviors that he may perform on a daily basis, but stay away from punishments or other methods that involve causing negative emotions, such as fear or stress, and bet on the power of "NO !", said firmly and at the right time.
In this article on how to scold your cat, we explain it in detail. the safest and most timely way to make the cat understand when he has performed an inappropriate action or behavior. In addition, you can learn here, at PeritoAnimal, which are the most common mistakes you should avoid when scolding a cat to provide an ideal education for your companion.
How to prevent my cat from biting me when I'm sleeping?
Again, the best bet is always education. So if you don't want your cat to bite you while you sleep or at other times of the day, it will be necessary to teach him, from the moment he arrives at home, that this is not proper behavior.. To do this, remember these tips:
1. Avoid it becoming a joke
When your pussy is still a puppy, if you allow it to play with your legs, feet, or hands as if it were prey it can chase, it is totally normal for it to continue to have this behavior as an adult. By doing this when he's little, you will be helping the kitten to assimilate that this is a perfectly acceptable game, which he enjoys not only for stimulating his body and mind, but also for being in her company. Therefore, most likely this behavior and this play will be assimilated as part of your routine and your behavior in adulthood.
2. Educate from childhood
Don't forget that cats, like all species, follow a routine to feel more comfortable and secure, avoiding exposing yourself to unnecessary risks. Therefore, the best time to teach them to behave well at home is during childhood, as in the early stages of physical and mental development, kittens have a more flexible personality and are still assimilating the codes of their social behavior.
So if you indicate that it's not appropriate to bite yourself or others during this phase, and also offer him the most suitable toys so he can put his hunting instincts to the test, you probably won't have to deal with this habit in the future.
3. Enrich your environment
Another point you need to consider is the importance of environmental enrichment in managing your cat's healthy weight and stable behavior. If your kitten does not live in a space with toys and elements that allow it to develop its sensory abilities, express its hunting instinct and have fun freely, it is very likely that it will look for alternative ways to release accumulated tension and have fun, but that will not always be pleasant or safe for him.
So, by providing your cat with an enriched environment where he can exercise and have fun throughout the day, even when you're not at home, in addition to avoiding stress symptoms and destructive behaviors at home, you'll also stimulate his o kitten the exercise regularly and he may arrive at night with a more stable and calm behavior, and not with all the energy accumulated by the impossibility of playing alone at home.
Remember that it's also critical to spend time playing with the cat. This way, you prevent him from performing strange or exaggerated behaviors to capture your attention, while stimulating his intelligence and sharing quality moments with your partner, which helps strengthen the bond of trust between you. Here, we offer you several game ideas for cats.
What to do if nothing works?
If you've made it this far, you've probably noticed that there are different reasons why your cat bites you while you sleep. As we have seen, they can often perform this action simply because they interpret it as a joke and, eventually, because they feel bored or stressed because they do not have an enriched environment in which to spend their energies in a positive way.
However, when a cat accidentally bites its guardians or other people, whether they are asleep or not, it can be a warning sign for a complex behavior problem, which is aggression in cats. If you notice that your cat has become aggressive, the first thing you should do is seek veterinary attention, as aggressiveness can arise in response to pain, sensory or neurological changes caused by certain diseases. The most advisable, in these cases, is to go to a veterinarian specialized in feline ethology.
Likewise, the habit of attacking or biting frequently may be related to poor socialization, especially when a kitten was unable to socialize in the first weeks of life or was prematurely separated from its mother and siblings, which can lead to other learning difficulties. To avoid this problem, ideally, you start socializing your cat as a kitten, following some basic guidelines that we've summarized in this article on how to socialize a kitten. But if you've adopted an adult pussy or haven't been able to properly socialize your kitten at the right time, be sure to check out these tips for socializing an adult cat.
Finally, having eliminated any pathological cause and if you have difficulties to put into practice methods of socialization with your kitten, or if you do not have time to educate him correctly, we recommend that you seek the help of a professional specialized in training or feline education. .
Be sure to check out the video we made about what to do if your cat attacks you when you're sleeping: