O.o

[bladespark]

This kind of is disturbing. Our new cat appears to have some issues. Namely, you get no warning if you have offended it. Purring and happy one second, and literally the next instant bit me and hissed. Not good. I'm going to leave her alone now, but that worries me. Purring usually = calm and happy cat, but in this case it seems not. Gah.

Also worrying because I'm not sure what I did. JJ tried to touch its stomach earlier, which was an understandable cause for such a reaction, but I was petting its back, something which mere minutes previous, it seemed to be enjoying.

Update: This amuses me! I went and read up a little more on feline aggression, just to see if this sort of behavior is a signal of anything, or just a nervous new cat. Apparently it's pretty common, and theories about it include the cat wanting affection only on its terms, not yours, and saying "petting time is over now" and this rather amusing one:

"This type of aggression seems to be more common in males than females. Proposed explanations for the behavior are that the petting becomes either unpleasant or sexually arousing, and that the cat is attempting to establish a dominant role with the owner."

I'm not sure if this was actually meant to say "you're turning the cat on, so he's going to behave sexually towards you," (which in cats does include biting,) or what. But that's sure what it sounds like. *giggles*

Comments

[xianghua.livejournal.com]

I swear it's something about the color-point pattern. Fully half the CPs I've known have been stark, raving LUNATIC kitties...

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Heh. Figures! Well, I'm poking about the net, reading up on feline aggression, and apparently this particular "bite-in-mid-pet" thing isn't terribly uncommon, and isn't a sign of any other problems, so I can stop being paranoid. If that's as psycho as she gets, I guess I'll consider myself lucky.

[xianghua.livejournal.com]

If it helps? She (he?) may just need some time to settle in. Max used to do the nip-n-purr thing when he was really happy, LOL... our little sadomasochistic kitty.... (Well... little is relative, he was 27 pounds.)

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

Well, this was not a nip. This broke skin.

[rimspace.livejournal.com]

I've known a few cats like that, one of my brother's current ones does something pretty much the same, except she also has a habit of bringing claws into it as well.

And it's no so much 'behaving sexually towards you' (although that can form a part, I think) but more about establishing a hierarchy.

[lacy.livejournal.com]

One of our cats is like that, she's always kind of been the hot tempered one of the bunch so she gets away with it. ;) She's sweet the majority of the time, but occasionally just doesn't want us petting her as much as other times. Interesting article, btw.

[malakim2099.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's nothing to really worry about. George still does that sometimes. *grins*

[crystallinegirl.livejournal.com]

A possible other reason, if she/he was a stray, might be that under all that fur she's got sore spot on her skin that you can't see? I've had that happen before.

[kainhighwind-dr.livejournal.com]

Heh. I've had that happen with many a cat, male or female, and always figured it meant "That's enough!" Guess I wasn't far off the mark! Never heard about the sexual arousal part but that is intriguing (and embarrassingly amusing). I also figured for some cats, they might get the impression you were tickling them, and thus instigating play (which they may or may not want at the time). I got so many 'war wounds' that way.... -_-

Purring also can be a sign of discomfort or pain; and other reasons unrelated to contentment. And biting when being pet in certain places can sometimes mean there's some kind of internal injury. But yeah, belly rubs are kind of a no-no with a strange cat. Poor JJ.

We took in a stray who would go psycho if you rubbed him in a certain spot; he'd several moments later get up and come over, walking eerily sideways, glaring at you, and then promptly assault you. And I do mean assault: he'd jump on your back and start biting and kicking and trying to draw blood. He gave no obvious warning of pain, but we figured perhaps he had an injury or tumour or some such inside him. Or he was just plain messed up in the head (spinal or head injury maybe). Never had that happen with any other cat.

Best to just let the vet figure it out at this point. Could be like xianghua said, and it's a trait of that particular breed. But they're so damn cute! Who can't want to pet THAT?? Maybe that's the cat's lure: "Come, I am furry and silky soft, and I will not bite. No... I will not bite... precious hand..."

[realis-kat.livejournal.com]

sorry, just me throwing my pennies in, but unn, maybe its because well, she is still a kitten and kittens are prone to mood swings and odd actions?

[beetlecat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have to agree with everyone saying 'it's 'cause she's a cat'. :P

As friendly and cuddly cats are, they're still one of only 2 non-pack animal we humans have actually managed to domesticate (the other is ferrets) and they can be prone to mood swings and lashing out.

One book mentioned it like this, when you're scratching a cat, it's all happy and purring, but then the 'tame' switch in its brain turns to 'wild' and it suddenly realizes how close you are and what a threat might be, and it attacks.

As long as she's not becoming a real trouble, she will probably settle down some as she becomes more comfortable. Or, more likely, you will begin to learn how to spot when her brain switches to 'wild' mode.

[bladespark.livejournal.com]

I hope so. This just bothers me because of the six cats I've spent a lot of time around, none of them have seriously tried to harm me, but this was definitely an actual attack, not just a warning.

[jtbeckett.livejournal.com]

we had a cat that took up residence in our back yard who had that problem... it was a female, and it turned out she was pregnant. She kept attacking our kids. We tried to find her a home for a few weeks, but no one wants a pregnant cat that scratches and bites the faces of small children who weren't even touching it... so we had to take her to animal control.