Play fighting is fine, they just need to learn claw control. Recoil and stop play when you get clawed. I’ve got three cats here I can wrestle with without getting a mark on my hands or arms. A long thick jumper they know is safe, but bare skin they know is not for claws. It’s so well learned that even when you need to do some maintenance or intervention they don’t like, they will not claw you. Like washing diarrhea out of their fur, or some emergency medical intervention.
Yeah, I have a cat who my roommate 13 years ago taught to play with his hand, and let him bite and scratch as hard as he wanted. He would bite hard. It took a while, but I got him to stop by just immobilizing my hand when he started latching on, which made him lose interest and loosen his grip. I’d also give him a high-pitched “ooow” as an audible cue. Once I got my hand out I would poke his nose and say “no bites” then pet him on his forehead. Every once in a while he still regresses, but instead of biting now he almost always just aggressively headbutts your hand.
Play fighting is fine, they just need to learn claw control. Recoil and stop play when you get clawed. I’ve got three cats here I can wrestle with without getting a mark on my hands or arms. A long thick jumper they know is safe, but bare skin they know is not for claws. It’s so well learned that even when you need to do some maintenance or intervention they don’t like, they will not claw you. Like washing diarrhea out of their fur, or some emergency medical intervention.
Yeah, I have a cat who my roommate 13 years ago taught to play with his hand, and let him bite and scratch as hard as he wanted. He would bite hard. It took a while, but I got him to stop by just immobilizing my hand when he started latching on, which made him lose interest and loosen his grip. I’d also give him a high-pitched “ooow” as an audible cue. Once I got my hand out I would poke his nose and say “no bites” then pet him on his forehead. Every once in a while he still regresses, but instead of biting now he almost always just aggressively headbutts your hand.