silly bipolar cat....

othie

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K I'll start off by admiting this isn't a life or death issue. If you don't have alot of time, by all means, skip it, I can't sleep and it's something I've been wondering about for awhile.

So oliver is our bipolar cat. This cat is one we saved from a shelter and he seems to have mood swings (which is why he fits in so well with us
) One of the things that he likes to do, which has been bothering my father (and the one who will be taking care of him once I move) is that he will come and jump on your chest while sitting to watch tv or whatnot. He will start to purr and after petting him for a few moments he will start to lick your hand. So far, so good right? well after this he will start to nibble on your fingers. At first I figured this was just love bites but he starts biting harder and harder...all the while he is purring his head of and growling at the same time. After about 2 moments of this he will scream, jump off your lap, and walk away with his tail switching so badly his whole lower body is moving with it. I don't think it's a matter of being petted to much because we usually stop after he starts licking. I can't think of anything that would bring this up. Does anyone have any ideas? Any suggestions I can pass on for when I'm not here?
 

yayi

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He is just over excited.

His biting should not be encouraged though. Get him off your lap/chest the moment he starts and say NO or hiss. In time he will understand and stop.
 

larke

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It's a dominance thing, or at least a possessive gesture - he's saying that you're 'his'. When cats lick you or each other, while it might seem sweet, it's more or less telling you that you are his property, slave, etc., and don't forget it! Once it's past a certain stage, the cat being licked usually gets fed up and tries to get rid of the 'licker', but people don't do that, so the licking becomes biting, trying to get a reaction. It's all very feline and the best thing to do is not to continue petting, etc. beyond a minute or two, and just let the cat remain where it is (on you), or kick him off. He may also be trying to get you to play with him, to chase him as part of normal cat behaviour, so you could try doing that, give him some 'action'.
 

emmylou

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This is very common cat behavior. Cats can easily get overstimulated during petting. The key is to watch for warning signs like a swishing tail, or, in your cat's case, nibbling or licking, and to stop petting before that point.

Never let the cat nibble on or play with any body parts.
 
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othie

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Thanks guys, huge help and I've passed on the info. lets jsut hope it works
 
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othie

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

Read the part about overstimulation aggression in this thread. I have a cat that does this also.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20837
I did read that, which honestly is why I started this post. I figured it couldn't be oerstimulation because we stop petting him when he starts to lick us (of course we never push him off either, so now we can work on doing that)
 
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