Owchies! :(

I am having this problem where my cat stirs from sleep and all of a sudden claws me. It really hurts and I wish there was some way I could get it to stop.

I know some of you may think she is having a bad dream or may be scared, but she is usually really deep into sleep without any twitching or anything.

What she does is just random and has no warning signs. But God it really hurts when she snaps into action like that, and it bothers me.

Any ideas on what is wrong?

Or what I should do?

I would suggest Soft Paws if she won't let you trim her claws, I actually trim Maia's claws regularly since she is a very aggressive player.

Originally Posted by cheylink

I would suggest Soft Paws if she won't let you trim her claws, I actually trim Maia's claws regularly since she is a very aggressive player.

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Nah her claws are trimmed, and she is very good at sitting there and letting me trim them. She's an angel. What I am trying to figure out, is why she bursts into sudden "attacking" reflexes from sleep. She doesn't seem to be having a bad dream, or suffering from shock of sudden fear. What she does is just random, and has no warning signs.

Even though her nails are trimmed, she still manages to leave quite a bit of scratches upon my hand or arm. She sleeps in my lap most of the time, because I am at my laptop a lot. So it's usually my hand or arm that get clawed, with her sudden reflex.

Maybe you unconsciously shift and throw off her equilibrium and she feels like she's falling, causing her to claw to get a grip instead of falling? Or maybe she's having that falling dream we humans have... those are the worst! Try to pay attention to whether or not you're shifting... that's the only thing I can think of.

I have a beach towel across the bottom 1/3 of my bed (only use flannel sheets, no blankie) and it keeps the cats from attacking my feet - or at least my feeling it. Would you consider wrapping your arms in face cloths overnight :-)?

Originally Posted by erinca7821

Maybe you unconsciously shift and throw off her equilibrium and she feels like she's falling, causing her to claw to get a grip instead of falling? Or maybe she's having that falling dream we humans have... those are the worst! Try to pay attention to whether or not you're shifting... that's the only thing I can think of.

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Well I could be shifting, I don't know. See I draw a lot, and color my work using photoshop. So I am online and coloring 100% of the time. During this time, I sit indian style on my bed. My laptop sits on my pillow infront of me. Shorty like to curl up in my lap, and she's fine most of the time.

Just some times, she freaks out randomly from sleep and ends up clawing the heck out of me. Falling dreams do suck, and I really do hope it's just a bad dream rather then a psychological problem.

Well, we humans sometimes have "sleep terrors" as kids--that's when you wake up out of a really deep sleep, and sit up and scream. Most of the time people can't remember any dreams when a sleep terror happens; and generally they can't be awakened properly and go back to sleep after. If they can be awakened they generally remember nothing but a vague feeling of fear. Maybe that is what your cat has, and her clawing is the kitty version of "sit up and scream".

Sleep terrors are pretty harmless. Lots of human kids have them & grow out of them.