My 8 month old neutered good boy has started taking nips at mine and my wife's faces. How to we break that habit?

[GuillermosDad]

My good boy Guillermo, like a lot of kittens out there, enjoys crawling up by our faces. Sometimes I or my wife pick him up and will carry him around the house. When we do that it is natural to carry him with your arms crossed so his legs are resting on our arms and he's held against the chest. Like a wittle baby. This puts him pretty close to our faces. The wife and I both enjoy sometimes giving him a head bonk with our heads or just nuzzling him a bit face to face. He seems to enjoy this and will seek it out when we are laying down or he is perched on like his cat tree and we come up and he leans over to be close. He loves rubbing his face on us, which I've been told is a cat marking his "people" and getting his scent on you. So it kinda melts my heart and I take it like a kitty smooch, which is nice.

The issue is that sometimes when we are holding him, and we get our faces near his face, sometimes he just decides to take a nip at us. He's never broke skin nipping our faces but it is very surprising and can be painful. We typically just put him down and scold him for doing it, he will sulk a bit and then its business as usual. A couple times when its actual hurt I've swatted his snout and told him in a big mad dad voice no.

I really don't know if he's playing or if he's reacting to something he doesn't like when he is being held, it happens so quick and half the time my eyes are closed when he does it. He doesn't mind getting carried, and will run up on the couch or his cat tree and seems to enjoy getting picked up. He purrs real loud and will close his eyes most of the time.

Does anyone else have experience with this behavior? If he's just trying to play I think we need to keep him away from our faces when he seems playful and try to scold him when he does that behavior and hopefully he catches on. If he's doing it out of fear or lashing out, I guess we shouldn't carry him around anymore or try carrying him so he's away from our faces?

Anyone got some insight or suggestions?

 

[Catzzzmeow]

Could be over excitement/overstimulation that’s the cause of it. They have no where to place the energy and they just react. I just posted this morning my fact about butt smacks…our boy loves it, but there are times he just turns and nips at our hands from being so excited. We stop immediately and then he resets in seconds and begs for more.

Do you speak to him in a higher voice/baby talk when you are carrying him when he does this nipping? If so you might try not talking or over petting when carrying him…it might simply be too much for him to take in (I know how can it be too much love right?!) @GuillermosDad

 

[GuillermosDad]

That seems a reasonable explanation. We baby talk to him and do when were carrying nuzzling him sometimes. I really haven't been paying too much attention in the past to all the specifics of what was going on right before he nips, but am now and hopefully can put together a better picture.

So it is kind of a normal behavior when they get overstimulated to do something like that. I have suspected that part of it is when he is held he is up higher then he is comfortable jumping, is somewhat restrained from jumping, and doesn't have a lot of options to get away so one of his only actions is to stretch out and take a nip at something. Which is unfortunate because our faces are the only thing really accessible. Trying to pin down if its a fear or stimulation response or him trying to initiate play is what seems most concerning.

I'll try keeping calmer when carrying him and do the face nuzzling when he's on his own footing and see if that makes an improvement. Thanks for the insight, I've got to go check out your butt smacks post now. I used to follow this sub-reddit called cat bongos and it was just videos of cats who like to get their bodies and butts patted rhythmically and it was quite cute and enjoyable. Our boy doesn't seem to be interested in booty smacks and prefers to snuggle. Thanks @Catzzzmeow

 

[Yoda mom]

@GuillermosDad , yes, experience with nose nippers here too.
**will chime in more when I get back home.

how long ago was he neutered? I asked because my TobyLove was a brat for a couple of weeks after his neuter.

my girl, she is a nose nipper. stealth fast nip to noses, never breaks skin. she does it when just hanging out or tucked in bed next to me, without even petting her, she does a lighting bolt nip to my nose

 

[GuillermosDad]

@GuillermosDad , yes, experience with nose nippers here too.
**will chime in more when I get back home.

how long ago was he neutered? I asked because my TobyLove was a brat for a couple of weeks after his neuter.

my girl, she is a nose nipper. stealth fast nip to noses, never breaks skin. she does it when just hanging out or tucked in bed next to me, without even petting her, she does a lighting bolt nip to my nose

This is pretty close to what Guillermo does, he is very fast when nipping and has never broken skin, and while I'm still trying to pay attention to what happening when he nips there isn't a whole lot of stimulation going on.

He was snipped on his 6 month birthday (bad present I know), so its over 2 months ago. His is a little more chill since his neutering but once he was healed up his personality and activity levels didn't change drastically. I've attributed most of it to just getting older.

How do you interpret your cats behavior? Are they being bad or trying to play or get your attention in a non-negative way? Have you done anything to try and change that behavior?

 

[Yoda mom]

@GuillermosDad , I notice my Claire Bare's nose nipping behavior when she is most comfy and purring away laying on my arm/shoulder at night. it's like a happy love nip. I tap her on the nose and a "ah" no nip command. she does not do it as much as she used to. I have trained my self to watch her body language closely. she will turn her head side to side and start to stretch her neck out towards me... I tell her ah, no nip and tap her nose gently. then she lays back down all the way purring