Cats are adorable and are good cuddle buddies in bed. Most cat parents like to snuggle their cats before they sleep, and the cats love it too.
Their cute purr gives out the pleasure they experience whenever they scratch their backs while in bed.
Snuggling is nice and cozy for everyone until you are fast asleep, enjoying a peaceful nap, and your feline starts to gnaw at your skin.
That can be terrifying! The magnitude of the situation depends on the severity of the bite.
A cat bite could be a subtle nibble or a deep bloody bite.
Reasons Your Cat May Bite You While You Sleep
If your female cat bites you while asleep, you may be confused about what this symbolizes.
This situation is significantly worse for someone new to parenting a queen.
This article will make you understand the reasons your cat persistently bites while you are asleep and teach you how to deal with the situation.
1. Cats Sometimes Bite Out Of Aggression
Waking up to bites on your skin is enough to raise the alarm. Nevertheless, it is imperative to consider how your cat bites you.
Is it an aggressive bite accompanied by a hissing sound with ears down? If your answers are positive, you should be bothered.
Your cat is deliberate about the attack, trying to tell you it is mad at you.
This aggressive bite is usually accompanied by other aggressive behaviors it exhibits at night.
Signs of aggression include; cats growling at you, with flat ears and a wagging tail.
Research shows that felines are generally aggressive animals.
Even the most tamed cats out of this species are not taken out of this equation.
Tomcats are usually more aggressive than queens.
Queens are more aggressive a few days after giving birth to their litter. An aggressive cat can decide to bite you unprovoked.
2. To Play With You
Firstly, you need to understand that felines are primarily crepuscular and nocturnal. While you are asleep, your cat is probably awake the whole time.
It is probably staring at you, wondering when you will get up from the bed.
Does it occur to you that it could be bored while you are asleep? You can’t blame it for purring and nibbling at your skin while sleeping.
It is probably telling you to get out of bed. Felines are social animals, and they like to have company.
If you hardly spend time with your cat and find it biting you when sleeping, you should know you left your cat bored the entire night.
While grown-up cats are independent, kittens are more dependent and need more attention.
After all, they are juvenile cats who need a mother. Your kitten biting you does not necessarily mean it is attacking you while you sleep.
It could be a sign that the poor little thing needs more attention.
It is most likely sending you a message that you must wake up from bed and spend quality time with it.
Every cat loves to play, including kittens, tomcats, and queens.
The next time your cat bites you at night, don’t be shocked, wondering what your cat wants. It is probably waking you up to play.
3. To Call Your Attention To Something
If your cat is not waking you up to play, it must be calling your attention to something else. Felines are light sleepers.
If both of you go to bed simultaneously, and there is anything that could distract your cat while sleeping, it will probably wake you up.
Biting you would be an attempt to call your attention to something. It could be your phone ringing, the doorbell ringing, or a disturbing sound it hears.
Watch your cat’s reaction after it has successfully woken you up.
Does it seem agitated and restless? Does it try to get you off the bed and lead you somewhere else? If your answer is yes, your cat tries to call your attention to something.
You may want to consider waking up and following your cat to wherever it leads you.
That way, you can respond to the message it is passing to you before going back to sleep.
Ignoring your cat will only encourage it to keep biting you.
4. To Eat
Do you feed your cat before going to bed?
A hungry cat will disturb you while you are asleep. Biting your face while you are sleeping could be an attempt to wake you to feed it.
On the contrary, the bites should be gentle; otherwise, a deep taste would indicate some traits of aggression in the cat.
Deep bites mean that your cat is not just hungry but angry.
The Secret Guide To Stop Your Cat From Biting You While You Sleep
1. Spend Quality Time With Your Cat
Felines are social animals. Abandoning them could trigger an adverse reaction from them, such as biting you while you sleep.
Creating quality time to spend with your cat could be a way to stop it from biting you while you sleep.
Despite having a busy schedule, including the time needed to spend with your cat in your program is important.
Play with it and teach it how to play with its toys.
2. Feed It Before Going To Bed
Never let your cat go hungry to bed.
It will come at you while you are sleeping to feed it, and it may start with your face. A hungry cat is an angry cat.
An angry cat is a restless cat! As a cat owner, always remember that you should feed felines in the evening before bed.
Do not overfeed your cat. Overfeeding is unhealthy and can cause obesity.
3. Make It Exercise In The Evening To Wear It Out.
A cat with so much energy can be worn out with the right amount of exercise.
Make sure to take your cat out for a walk in the evening before going to bed.
This activity will make your cat tire out and sleep all night. With your cat’s sleep, the problem is solved for everyone.
You can have a bite-free, sound sleep, and your cat will not have to stay awake alone all night.
4. Set Up A Camera
Consider setting up a camera so you can understand the reason for this behavioral pattern in your cat.
Camera surveillance can help you know if your cat is trying to call for attention to something.
Moreover, setting up a camera can help you study it better and get a vivid picture of what happens while you are asleep.
5. Reward Good Behavior And Punish Bad Behavior
Be careful to watch out for signs of aggression from your cat.
If your cat is doing anything you dislike, you must discourage such traits early on.
It is easier to correct bad mannerisms in kittens than in adult cats.
Reward it whenever it does anything you approve of to encourage such behavior.
Reprimand felines to discourage them from acts like biting without being provoked.
However, do not hit your cat. Spanking your cat may aggravate the situation and lead to more aggression.
6. Get It A Companion Or At Least A Toy
Try to ease your cat’s boredom by getting a new kitten or at least a toy.
A cat parent considering getting a new kitten should get the opposite sex for companionship.
Doing otherwise could ignorantly endorse more aggressive behavior from your cat.
Research reveals that it is better to introduce a cat of the opposite sex to your home because felines may feel threatened by another cat of the same sex.
Your cat may compete with the new cat instead of finding companionship in the new kitten.
In the worst-case scenario, you will have two aggressive cats biting your face while you sleep.
Make sure you focus on correcting the biting trait; otherwise, you will have an angry cat and a needy kitten biting you while you sleep.
Getting a toy is better for a parent who cannot handle two cats simultaneously.
Are Cat Bites Poisonus?
Cat bites can be dangerous to humans if the cat is sick.
Cat mouths carry several active bacteria capable of causing tissue infections in bite wounds.
One of the common bacteria in a cat’s mouth is known as Pasteurella multocida.
Once bitten by an infected cat, the bite wound is usually red, swollen, and painful. The infection can spread through the surrounding tissues, causing cellulitis.
It can also spread through the blood to other body areas, causing septicemia, commonly called blood poisoning.
Therefore, it is essential always to ensure that your cat is vaccinated and free from mouth infections that could harm your health.
The Best Way To Have A Bite Free Night
Although containing aggression in felines can be pretty challenging. The easiest way to stop cat bites is to check kittens for aggressive behavioral traits.
The fifth tip listed above is the most potent step to curb an aggressive feline.
A cat that merely wants to keep its parent awake is easily contained with the other five tips.
All the secret guides above are guaranteed to help cat parents have a bite-free night and stop their cats from depriving them of sleep.
Purrfect n’ Pawesome is the brainchild of Amanda, who has been into researching and writing about pets to help other pet parents in nurturing their adorable pets. Currently, she runs Purrfect n’ Pawesome along with her team of experienced and dedicated pet experts. Along with being an awesome writer and entrepreneur, Amanda is a cat mom to two innocently spoiled cats, Balanca and Scruffy. She has been writing about pet care and nurturing and wants to share her readers’ experiences, learnings, and knowledge. Over the years, she had the opportunity to work with various pet owners having multiple breeds, and that exposure gave her experience and the lessons of a lifetime. Her family, her entire universe revolves around her two cats, who give her endless support and inspiration to move ahead with her objectives in life. Amanda is a live example of a balanced approach to all parenthood questions we all face in life.
