wu@uwmacc.UUCP (peter wu) (03/15/86)
****** My friend has a cat and I like to play with it. Once in a while the cat will lie on the floor with her stomach up for me to caress. But after caressing her for maybe 15 seconds, she would always grab my hand with her paws and bite my hand lightly (but still hurt a little). On one occasion she managed to scratch my hand. Does anybody else have the same experience? Is it trying to tell me to get lost or is it playing? peter
hopp@nbs-amrf.UUCP (Ted Hopp) (03/15/86)
> My friend has a cat and I like to play with it. Once in a while > the cat will lie on the floor with her stomach up for me to > caress. But after caressing her for maybe 15 seconds, she would > always grab my hand with her paws and bite my hand lightly (but > still hurt a little). > On one occasion she managed to scratch my hand. > > Does anybody else have the same experience? > Is it trying to tell me to get lost or is it playing? > > peter Every cat that I have known wants to wrestle when it rolls over on its back. That seems to be an invitation for a "mock attack". It sounds like your friend's cat is waiting for you to attack and, when you don't, decides to take the initiative. I'm surprised she waits 15 seconds; our cat, Florence, starts in right away. Scratching and biting are a normal part of such play. I avoid getting my hands within range of Florence's claws; she is usually happy just clawing at a rope or piece of cloth bobing up and down over her. Florence and our dog, Ada, love to go at it. Florence will roll over and Ada will stick her nose right down into Flo's stomach. Flo will then grab one of Ada's ears and chomp down. Ada loves it. Her fur seems to protect her from any serious scratches; I've never seen any ill effects from such play. Eventually Ada (50 lbs) gets too rough for Flo (6 lbs) and Flo ends the game by running off to wash herself. -- Ted Hopp {seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!hopp
grr@cbm.UUCP (George Robbins) (03/16/86)
> My friend has a cat and I like to play with it. Once in a while > the cat will lie on the floor with her stomach up for me to > caress. But after caressing her for maybe 15 seconds, she would > always grab my hand with her paws and bite my hand lightly (but > still hurt a little). > > Does anybody else have the same experience? > Is it trying to tell me to get lost or is it playing? > > peter Many cats seem to have this sort of response. I would guess it's some kind of sexual or nurture related pattern. You also get these friendly bites when otherwise petting a cat, even though it seems to be enjoying it. Your guess as to whether it means 'thats enough' or 'quit playing and get serious' or just mock play... -- George Robbins - now working with, uucp: {ihnp4|seismo|caip}!cbm!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbm!grr@seismo.css.GOV Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
elw@netexa.UUCP (03/18/86)
> ****** > My friend has a cat and I like to play with it. Once in a while > the cat will lie on the floor with her stomach up for me to > caress. But after caressing her for maybe 15 seconds, she would > always grab my hand with her paws and bite my hand lightly (but > still hurt a little). > On one occasion she managed to scratch my hand. > > Does anybody else have the same experience? > Is it trying to tell me to get lost or is it playing? > > peter I've had two cats (at different times), both of which I played with in mock fights. (Basically my hand becomes the enemy for some fun rough-housing, I assume that it was fun for the cat too as they were always free to walk away if they didn't like it.) Both would grip with their teeth, but NEVER broke the skin with their teeth. Occasionally I would receive a small scratch from a claw (paws got invovled in the fun too), but NEVER a 'serious' wound. Since claws are rather sharp, this must be expected. In your case, I would assume that either she's had enough, or your rubbing the fur the wrong way for that particular cat. There is little reason for attacking the source of a pleasurable sensation. :-) E. L. Wiles @ NetExpress, Inc. Virginia
akl@hjuxa.UUCP (Anita K. Laux) (03/18/86)
() In article <2030@uwmacc.UUCP>, wu@uwmacc.UUCP (peter wu) writes: > ****** > My friend has a cat and I like to play with it. Once in a while > the cat will lie on the floor with her stomach up for me to > caress. But after caressing her for maybe 15 seconds, she would > always grab my hand with her paws and bite my hand lightly (but > still hurt a little). > On one occasion she managed to scratch my hand. > > Does anybody else have the same experience? > Is it trying to tell me to get lost or is it playing? > > peter This is typical of cat PLAY. They love to do this, just be a *little* careful of the claws - they sometimes get a bit too serious about their nibbling. When that happens, tap the cat's nose with your finger and say "NO!" They'll usually stop dead in their tracks and look at you with a typical "who, me??" look. Note the word "tap" - don't clobber the poor thing. A feisty feline who persists would probably enjoy a catnip toy better than your hand. AKL@DEC
phil@s3sun.UUCP (03/18/86)
Our female tabby did this with her kittens when they were only 4 or 5 weeks old. She would lay on her side, hold one of them with her front paws and then take a few shots at the kitten with her rear paws. I've known many cats that would do this with a human hand, but could not believe it when I saw it happen with a young kitten. Perhaps she was doing some kind of education but it sure scared me the first time I saw it. Now the kittens ( we kept 2 from the litter ) do it to each other. Those little suckers really play ROUGH! They don't stop 'till one manages to break the others' strangle hold. Then they run arround the living room, climb the drapes and do it all again. I still don't claim to understand what is going on, but it sure is entertaining! -- Phil Cohen (phil@s3sun.CSS.GOV, sdcsvax!phil)
larry@kitty.UUCP (03/18/86)
In article <2030@uwmacc.UUCP>, wu@uwmacc.UUCP (peter wu) writes: > My friend has a cat and I like to play with it. Once in a while > the cat will lie on the floor with her stomach up for me to > caress. But after caressing her for maybe 15 seconds, she would > always grab my hand with her paws and bite my hand lightly (but > still hurt a little). > On one occasion she managed to scratch my hand. > Does anybody else have the same experience? > Is it trying to tell me to get lost or is it playing? Hell, that cat's just playing with YOU. All cats do that, unless they are some sort of an unfriendly zombie. Cats perform what I refer to as a "triple threat", whereby they: (1) grab your hand with their front feet so you can't let go, and maybe dig their claws in a bit, while (2) biting you with their teeth, and at the same time (3) raking the hell out of your arm with their REAR claws. That's just plain old fun for a cat (and people, too). ==> Larry Lippman @ Recognition Research Corp., Clarence, New York <== ==> UUCP {decvax|dual|rocksanne|rocksvax|watmath}!sunybcs!kitty!larry <== ==> VOICE 716/741-9185 {rice|shell}!baylor!/ <== ==> FAX 716/741-9635 {G1, G2, G3 modes} duke!ethos!/ <== ==> seismo!/ <== ==> "Have you hugged your cat today?" ihnp4!/ <==
manheime@nbs-amrf.UUCP (Ken Manheimer) (03/19/86)
> > My friend has a cat and I like to play with it. Once in a while > > the cat will lie on the floor with her stomach up for me to > > caress. But after caressing her for maybe 15 seconds, she would > > always grab my hand with her paws and bite my hand lightly (but > > still hurt a little). > > [...] > > Does anybody else have the same experience? > > Is it trying to tell me to get lost or is it playing? > > > > peter > > Every cat that I have known wants to wrestle when it rolls over on > its back. That seems to be an invitation for a "mock attack". It > sounds like your friend's cat is waiting for you to attack and, when > you don't, decides to take the initiative. > [...] > -- > > Ted Hopp {seismo,umcp-cs}!nbs-amrf!hopp Most cat's i've encountered seem to have some kind of pleasure/pain threshold where they crave having their stomachs rubbed until some moment when they abruptly do something to divert the rubbing, usually attacking the hand and sometimes just jumping up and running away. There are a few cats i've met that are that way with any petting; i've always been mystified by these. Surprisingly, both of my cats love to have their stomachs rubbed and never have displayed that abrupt turnabout - in fact, they never seem to get tired of it, though they don't always want to play that game in the first place. (In fact, they're unusual in other ways; one likes (if that's what purring means) to be held over my head while i jump around (calisthenic like) and even enjoys being swooped around like an airplane, up to a point. How'd i find this out? One day when i was feeling particularly exuberant and impulsive i picked up the kitten and zoomed it around - lo and behold aggie liked it. Molly isn't similarly enthusiastic, though.) I'd like to think that i'm an especially sensitive and sensible petter, but i expect it has something to do with some incidental circumstance. I could never tell whether the ambivalent response was neurosis or desire for other kinds of play. In fact, i suspect that my cats' tolerance has something to do with the fact that they were neutered when they were fairly young (6 mos), but i would hesitate to conjecture further. (?? Pretty peculiar if you ask me...-) Ken Manheimer ...!seismo!nbs-amrf!manheime or manheime@nbs-amrf.uucp (Everything leaks. Not excessively; just enough.)
marauder@fluke.UUCP (Bill Landsborough) (03/20/86)
When cats play like that they are inviting a "mock fight" where noone gets hurt. It starts out to be just play but then the fighting competitiveness comes into the battle and they start to get rougher. They continue to get rougher and rougher until the submissive one quits or one gets hurt. The "winner's" ego is bolstered and that animal further asserts his dominance. You see this type of play on any wild kingdom show with young animals. And you will see it in any pet which is growing up and finding its place in the animal society. When I play like this with my dogs or cats, sometimes I win and sometimes I let them win. It helps their self image of their fighting ability and yet it keeps the cockey ones in their place. If you win all of the time, they soon will not want to play anymore with you because of it. They need to go into battle thinking that sometimes they will come out the victor. Bill Landsborough ---- "Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude... Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
kerry@ctvax (03/21/86)
She is just playing....