Since I have a humongous 15.5lb Mainecoon cat and I take aspirin daily for blood thinning, I realized that I needed to do some kind of behavioral training. Yeah, it isn't fun to be at work and realize your arm is still dripping blood from a "playful" night time attack.
I embarked on this mission the usual way, by doing a lot of research and reading. The main gist I got was that I need to teach Rasputin that my hands aren't toys and they only help and soothe. Technically, I should have been doing this from the time I brought him home but I thought later is better than never.
I have this pair of pink fuzzy gloves which I use as attack/play hand. He gets really into it, latching on my arm so hard that I can completely pick him up. I do the insane alien face sucker move, random mousey pinches, and finally the shudder of death when he's getting worn out. This has been going on for months. I usually glove play with him at night and once I get the glove off, I pet and soothe him with my hand and he licks me. So, he gets it.
It has gotten to the point where if he sees me getting the glove on my hand, he does a trill meow and his tail starts swishing. I wish I could video this but it's kinda rough and tumble - too much to hold a camera. My hands and arms are scratch free. Even when he's feeling perverse and does attack me, I just make a whimpering sound of pain. Within seconds he licks me to say sorry.
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