Odd behaviour in our calico

ignatz

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We have a four year old female calico and a seven year old human little girl in our family (we also have two other cats and a dog inside).

When I tickle my little girl she squeals and squirms. Our calico, whom we found as a stray four years ago when she was a few months old, will attack my little girls neck, trying to bite her but not scratching her. This happened for the first time only recently.

She is otherwise non-agressive and generaly kinda skiddish. She is not overly affectionate anyway, but is generally more tolerant of the little girl in terms of approachability, so this surprises me. I spend lots of time with her since I work at home. It seems like she's trying to protect me or is she just responding to the high-pitched squeals and giggles? My wife thinks she just wants to play, but her attacks seem unusually vicious to me.

Anybody have any idea?

Thanks.
 

larke

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She's not playing - she's reacting to what probably sound a lot like small-animal-in-pain sounds and she's getting ready to finish it off. Sounds awful I know, but it's instinctive and often when a cat (or other animal) is in a similar situation they'll react like that. Just don't tickle your daughter anywhere near the cat!
 

ldg

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I was just going to post the same thing.


If you tickle your little girl and don't see the cat and she attacks, don't physically remove the cat. Blow a short, sharp puff of air into her face and say "no". (It's like another cat hissing at her telling her to stop it). I would stop tickling your daughter at that point - but I'd also ignore the cat for a little while. She needs to learn that your daughter isn't prey.

But understanding the behavior of your cat, I would take it into consideration - it's instinct, not something learned or easy to retrain. So I would try to tickle your daughter when kitty isn't around.


Laurie
 

goldenkitty45

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Sounds like she's reacting to the high pitch squeals. I'd not do it in front of the cat - why take a risk of your child being hurt?
 

taterbug

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Everyone else is probably right, but I just have to add my two cents.
I have seen my cats do this to my daughter when she was younger. She'd be laying in the floor rolling around 'wrestling' a huge stuffed doggie she had, screaming like it was attacking her and Booger would run over to her and grab her around the neck and act just like she would when she was trying to calm her kittens down. Kind of like she was telling her to stop making so much noise and be still! If your cat is not making any marks or drawing blood on your daughters neck, I wouldn't say she is *attacking*...I'd think she's trying to "discipline" her. If she was trying to attack...she would draw blood.
 

howtoholdacat

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Originally Posted by taterbug

Everyone else is probably right, but I just have to add my two cents.
I have seen my cats do this to my daughter when she was younger. She'd be laying in the floor rolling around 'wrestling' a huge stuffed doggie she had, screaming like it was attacking her and Booger would run over to her and grab her around the neck and act just like she would when she was trying to calm her kittens down. Kind of like she was telling her to stop making so much noise and be still! If your cat is not making any marks or drawing blood on your daughters neck, I wouldn't say she is *attacking*...I'd think she's trying to "discipline" her. If she was trying to attack...she would draw blood.
That was my thought too. Especially if the cat has a special connection with your daughter.
 

ldg

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Originally Posted by taterbug

Everyone else is probably right, but I just have to add my two cents.
I have seen my cats do this to my daughter when she was younger. She'd be laying in the floor rolling around 'wrestling' a huge stuffed doggie she had, screaming like it was attacking her and Booger would run over to her and grab her around the neck and act just like she would when she was trying to calm her kittens down. Kind of like she was telling her to stop making so much noise and be still! If your cat is not making any marks or drawing blood on your daughters neck, I wouldn't say she is *attacking*...I'd think she's trying to "discipline" her. If she was trying to attack...she would draw blood.
I've never seen a mom interact with kittens - we work with ferals, and we've never rescued a mom while pregnant - only the kittens, after they were born (and, of course, subsequently had mom trapped, spayed and released).

I wouldn't have known about this - but if the cat is not gripping the neck - then this really sounds more like what's happening! Thanks for sharing!

Laurie
 

taterbug

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Originally Posted by LDG

I wouldn't have known about this - but if the cat is not gripping the neck - then this really sounds more like what's happening! Thanks for sharing!

Laurie
Why sure! Want to know what's really wild?
Boo was doing this to my daughter before she had kittens! It was after that, that I figured out what she was doing! And I've got anther cat that has never had kittens and she has done the same thing.
 

larke

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It's hard to forget that when Roy (of Siegfried & Roy) began to have a stroke onstage in Vegas, his beautiful big white tiger grabbed his neck and dragged him offstage. They've told people the cat was taking care of him(!) as it knew something was wrong, but I think (and they probably know better too) it saw weakness in him and was taking him to its 'lair' to finish him off.
 
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