Why did my cat bite me the way it did?

One of my cats bites me gently when I’m petting her. She’ll lick my hand, and kind of gnaw on me a bit. I think of it as a love bite.

We always called those “soft bites.” It’s a kind of play. She doesn’t intend to hurt you, or she would in fact hurt you.

But it can depend on what’s going on, too. If it happens when you’re tickling her a lot or otherwise stimulating her, she might be saying “Ok, that’s enough.”

Yes, I’m with @Jeruba on this one. Some bites are just play but, eventually, you can simply get on an animal’s, a cat’s or a dog’s nerves kind of, and there is a point where they will basically try to tell you that enough is enough, and biting can be a way they try to communicate that. Sometimes you just have to back off and leave your animals alone. There are sometimes when you wish people would just stop pestering you and leave you alone and there are sometimes when your animals kind of feel the same way. They can’t talk so they bite sometimes, to tell you that they’d kind of like you to just leave them be.

My friend’s cat does this after I’ve been stroking her a while; it’s her way of saying “stop now, I’ve had enough”. She likes to curl up on my lap but she’s not fond of being touched while she tries to sleep.

I agree with the answers above. Also, my cat will try to “move me” She will gently grab me with her teeth and give a slight tug. She doesn’t bite down hard. She might repeat this several times, until I give in and get up and feed her.

This is actually not good behaviour – what you have described. There is a difference between play and rough play. It’s a dominance thing with cats.

We don’t usually allow our cats to do this. It is most common when we are petting them. The cat bites down on the hand and holds the bite – sometimes grabbing the hand with it’s claws as well. Most people think it’s about love and they let their cats do this. When ours do, we say “No” sharply and stop petting (ignoring them). After doing this for about a month, they never bite me (they bite my partner as she doesn’t stick the plan as much).

In most cases, it is how the cat gains dominance and gets something it wants from you.

A quick way to help you figure out what type of biting behaviour your cat is displaying is to note when this happens. Were you simply petting them? Touching them in a specific spot? Is your cat young?
The dominance thing is usually whilst petting. Some cats, like humans, can be moody. If you are petting your cat and its tail starts flicking/body tenses, then you should stop – your cat is telling you it’s had enough petting. If it’s only when you touch a specific spot on them, they probably have an injury. If the cat is still young, it is learning how to behave (testing limits and its own strength) and you must teach it that your hand is not a toy. A person must learn their pet’s personality and quirks to get along with them in the end.

Each of our cats are different. One cat is super snobby and doesn’t like much petting at all. If you touch him, he will begin to clean himself frantically. One other cat can’t get enough petting and loves when you pull his tail or pat him hard but won’t cuddle at all. Another only likes to be pet on the head. The last one (my partner’s baby who’s incredibly spoiled) loves to cuddle and get in your face. Every single one of them has done the bite thing. The spoiled one stopped a long time ago. The other three still do it on occasion (to my partner).

There are different ways to teach a cat to stop this behaviour. You can find many of them online – if that is what you desire.

I hope some of this helps.