The toes are NOT fish sticks!

OK, what's going on here? Elsie is a 5 y.o. Katrina rescue who I've had for over a year. Lately she's taken to attacking my toes with her claws under the bedspread, around 6:00 AM, when she wants to be fed. I can understand this behavior to some extent, but am still annoyed by it.

What is more troubling, is that she'll often crawl onto my chest in the morning and purr into my ear as a way of waking me up. This is cute but, when I stick a hand out of the covers to pet her, she'll immediately attack it!

My wrist is shredded right now. I'll either pin her to the floor by the scruff of the neck or smack her on the nose in response to her biting. I'm sure this is not the best response to her behavior but am kinda' frustrated.

I don't think it's necessarily her response to being over-stimulated, rather she sees my hand as a moving play toy to attack.

Anyone here experience, and resolve, a similar problem?

Thanks, Dave

First of all can i start off by saying please do not pin her to the floor and smack her on the nose, because doing this will only make her scared of you.

My cats try to grab at my feet as well, but all i do is pull them up!. And don't go to pet her from under the covers because it's obvious she see's your hand as a toy.

Does she have any toys?

hi dave!
I have a cat (she has gotten somewhat better) but every morning....she's very sweet rubbing all over me then the second she sees my eyes open she bites me & literally smacks me with her paws, if she is not doing that she will chew on a box or anything she can to make noise to get me up. Same reason to do with being hungry. Does she eat before bed at all? sometimes if I end up feeding them slightly earlier then usual, I will give them a little something before bed. At the very least it helps you sleep in a little longer.
not sure what else to tell ya.

Yes, she's got plenty of toys. Her behavior is not from a lack of things and/or people to play with. You can see her mood change as she's getting ready to pounce on my hand or feet. She actually chases them under the covers -- pulling them in only further excites her. It's as though she's chasing a running mouse rather than "the hand that feeds."

Again, this behavior has only started recently. Maybe I'll try to arrange her second feeding before bedtime, rather than when I get home from work? I'm not sure that her behavior is related to food though.

i have a cat who will do this. i normally wake up to scratchs on my ankles or hands. they have a thing about moving under the covers , what dosnt help is my Oh will play like this with her now on the bed. she is just playing , the same as if she saw a fly or mouse move then pounce.
again i will say please dont tap her on her nose , they are very senstive there and will end up in her cowering when you go to pet her. the scruff of the neck thing is more puppys i think not cats. the only other thing i can suggest you do if it bothers you that much is to shut her out of your bedroom. good luck

We keep a bad-kitty water bottle by our bed close by and spray Morty when he does this. Now I just have to point the bottle at him to get him to go away long enough for me to have a chance to move out of bed to feed him without getting attacked. Morty actually crawls under the covers to bite me, my leg our toes, whatever he can sink his teeth into. Good Luck.

well you can also try to hiss at the cat, i know it sounds funny. But it does work.
i had some issues with eazy doing the same, but that is cause that is one way i play with them, However once they learned i would put them out of the bed room for waking me up, They stopped doing that.

Originally Posted by zirkel

It's as though she's chasing a running mouse rather than "the hand that feeds."

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Yup you have bed mice. They are the most elusive of all mice and it is a cats job to try and catch then kill them.

Karma did the same thing a little while ago. We would say no firmly and pull our feet in. Every time she did it we would say no, loudly and firmly. She finally got the hint and hasn't done it in about a month. It would freak her out to hear us say no when she thought we were asleep.

Just be patient and keep working with her.

Originally Posted by theimp98

well you can also try to hiss at the cat, i know it sounds funny. But it does work.
i had some issues with eazy doing the same, but that is cause that is one way i play with them, However once they learned i would put them out of the bed room for waking me up, They stopped doing that.

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I'm pro hissing! It totally worked for Singa and Soleil is also startled when I do so.

Paris and Cairo used to do this too. We also called it bed mice cause it started when Paris would take her toy mouse and hide it under the covers waiting patiently like a gargoyle on the dresser or condo until one of us would wake it from it's slumber (slide feet under the covers).

I couldn't get them to stop. Well I sort of thought it was funny so I didn't try that hard. But it definitely motivated me to keep their claws trimmed. They've grown out of it now, and only do it when we provoke them to.

hissing just makes Morty jump at my face. It gets him wound up.