The stray that I took in gives love bites, and what I do is just hold still and he lets go after a second. From what I understand holding still when cats do that is best because if you pull back or interact with them they may decide you're playing and bite harder.

Interestingly I've yet to meet an affectionate cat that didn't give love bites. Between the love bites and the kneading it seems like they take the saying love hurts seriously LOL.

 

If you mean just nibbling, it could be his way of grooming you. Mine did it, but it really never hurt.....too much.

 

Thanks, Rain and HBM. Do you think it's okay to exclaim "ouch!" and take my hand away (so long as I'm not pulling it from her teeth)? Do you think most people understand that this is not aggressive? She is pretty gentle about it and does it when she really gets into rubbing her face against my hand. I'm assuming this is pretty normal then? Our cat never did this....

(HBM, I don't think it's grooming behavior for her... it really does just seem to be over excitement with the attention.)

 

I used to have a cat that did this. It never hurt, it just always caught my off guard. Honestly, cats couldn't care less about the "ouch" method. She seems to be over stimulated with the attention. I think your best bet is to not pet her at all for awhile, only allow her to come to you. Try to look for signs that she's going to bite and quickly redirect her to a toy. A teaser with a bell on it works pretty well for getting their attention.

 

My cat Bing Bing does this, and usually she goes for the nose. Most cat-people won't mind it, we see it as a sign of affection. Training a cat do something is pretty hard (less food-motivated, not interested in pleasing you), training her NOT do something she likes is probably even harder. I couldn't even get the "ouch" method working for my dogs .

 

Thanks both. I won't worry about it then.
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I wouldn't Crock, enjoy the love.