Why do they do that?

salemwitchchild

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Why do they attack you when you touch their belly? And then after he's done attacking me he licks me.
It's like he's saying Sorry momma but I just had to.
 

pami

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Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild

It's like he's saying Sorry momma but I just had to.


Mine have never attacked me when I rubbed their belly. They actually roll over and invite me to. I wonder why some cats like it and some will bite you.
 
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salemwitchchild

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Originally Posted by Pami



Mine have never attacked me when I rubbed their belly. They actually roll over and invite me to. I wonder why some cats like it and some will bite you.
He lets me most of the time. Tonight I think he has a burr up his toosh. He's been chewing on Kota's paws and running through the house like he is in a marathon. I swear this cat is psycho...lol
 

pami

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My Babygirl didnt really like me to rub her belly longer than 5 secs


Well Puff sounds like hes really excited about the new year
 

ping

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I have wondered the same thing. Ping can not stand for anyone to touch his tummy. He will shred you to pieces before he will allow that.

Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild

Why do they attack you when you touch their belly? And then after he's done attacking me he licks me.
It's like he's saying Sorry momma but I just had to.
 

catsallover

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Bird used to hate to have her tummy touched. Then she had kittens- she decided that my rubbing her poor fat kitten tummy was kinda nice- now it's still one of her favorite things, many, many years later
!
 
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salemwitchchild

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Originally Posted by Abigail

maybe a better question is why do we crazy humans persist in doing things to the cat that the cat hates? if someone kept touching me where i didn't want to be touched i might bite too.
I personally don't think he hates it. At times he doesn't mind me doing it.. I just think he was playing.
 

linda_of_pgff

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I think it is a lot to do with how they were socialized, at a very young age. If they played with littermates and learned how hard a bite hurts, they may invite you to rub their belly and then play nip. If not, they might consider your hand just like another kitten or cat, and they could bite quite hard.

If it's a kitten you're dealing with, I would very seriously consider teaching it how hard is too hard -- by crying out in pain sharply when bitten. I say this not so much because YOU may or may not find it cute or comfortable, but because it's important that an elderly person, or a child, who may not be prepared, could be injured fairly seriously by a cat that bites. Whenever you can, make your pet cat "people-safe" -- we need lots more people to enjoy the company of cats!!
 
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salemwitchchild

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Puff is 9 months old. And like I said he's just playing. He doesn't do it hard. I do not know a whole lot about his past since he came from a feral mom and was in the shelter literally days after birth. I can trust him around my daughter so I think that's "people safe" enough.

Honestly I wasn't asking how to stop this behavior. It was a fun thing he was doing that I thought I'd share by asking a Rhetorical question. I thought it silly of him to bite and then lick me.
 

pami

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Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild

Puff is 9 months old. And like I said he's just playing. He doesn't do it hard. I do not know a whole lot about his past since he came from a feral mom and was in the shelter literally days after birth. I can trust him around my daughter so I think that's "people safe" enough.

Honestly I wasn't asking how to stop this behavior. It was a fun thing he was doing that I thought I'd share by asking a Rhetorical question. I thought it silly of him to bite and then lick me.
Awwww I didnt know that about Puff being born from a feral mom.
I thought it was funny how you wrote it in the original post. I hope you werent asking how to make it stop
otherwise you would have been offended by me laughing.
 
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salemwitchchild

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Originally Posted by Pami

Awwww I didnt know that about Puff being born from a feral mom.
I thought it was funny how you wrote it in the original post. I hope you werent asking how to make it stop
otherwise you would have been offended by me laughing.
Nah. I love having a playful kitty.


That's the only thing I know about his past. I don't know what the mom looked like. I do know she was PTS after she raised her babies.
His brother looked like Puff except he was short haired and VERY vocal.
 

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When a cat is lying on his back with tummy exposed he is not always inviting a tummy rub - he's ready for defensive action! Even if he's being playful and cute they often feel a conflict between the kitten desire for their tummy rubbed and the adult defense mechanism which is why they often go into attack mode when you approach (and bear in mind that you are probably approaching from above). Jaffa lets me rub his tummy but he can suddenly roll over or want to stop if anything disturbs him or if I approach too suddenly.
 

ohnoaninfp

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Cleo would roll over and it would look like she wants you to pet her belly, but when you do she attacks.
 

catsallover

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Originally Posted by urbantigers

When a cat is lying on his back with tummy exposed he is not always inviting a tummy rub - he's ready for defensive action! Even if he's being playful and cute they often feel a conflict between the kitten desire for their tummy rubbed and the adult defense mechanism which is why they often go into attack mode when you approach (and bear in mind that you are probably approaching from above). Jaffa lets me rub his tummy but he can suddenly roll over or want to stop if anything disturbs him or if I approach too suddenly.
My cousin had a cartoon on her fridge- it was of a dog, looking at 2 siamese cats, laying on their backs. The dog was saying something to the effect of "Don't bother the cats- they're pointy side up!"
 

persi & alley

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Originally Posted by SalemWitchChild

Why do they attack you when you touch their belly?
And then after he's done attacking me he licks me.
It's like he's saying Sorry momma but I just had to.
Persi is great with me combing him every morning until we get to the belly part which I save until last. I hold him vertically with the old wrestling hold known as the hammerlock straight up and down so that I can comb his belly all the way from below his chin to between his legs. He hates this part of this, but he cannot bite nor get away. There is no way he will just lay there and let me comb his belly, but he will for the entire rest of his body.
 

andelawhi

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My cats do this too! Usually what happens is they start rubbing their head all over my legs, then they'll flop over- exposing their cute bellies to me- all they while continuing to rub their heads all over my feet. With all the cuteness, you just have to touch their belly! They'll gum at my hand, then lick it like they're saying sorry. So cute!
 
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