Nikita 'attacked' me!

siggav

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Heh..

Right now, ok Nikita gets pretty excited around food. She never gets human food but that doesn't stop her from getting rather hyper when there's food around.

I don't let her onto the kitchen table when I'm eating and she knows that but she ends up starting to attack my feet instead in a sort of displacement for the energy she's built up being so super interested in the food.

I then either banish her from the kitchen or just put on shoes which makes her loose interest so really it's not a huge problem. She also only does this when I'm eating alone.

Anyway this was happening again now just a few days ago, I could see her getting more and more worked up prowling on the floor of the kitchen, her tail getting twitchy, meowing and just general "hyper Nikita" build up. So I went and put shoes on just to prevent her from thinking about attacking my feet.

She didn't calm down and I could see her there on the floor getting more and more worked up and then suddenly when I was eating BAM! she pounced up from the floor and onto my upper arm/shoulder and bit my clothes.

She hung there for a very short time but then fell down, she's 12 lbs and fortunately wasn't intending to hang on with all her might.

I was rather surprised, I wasn't exactly expecting to get pounced on like that but she didn't hurt me at all, it was more of an attention thing if anything. I banished her from the kitchen and continued eating, just so she wouldn't think it was something that worked to get me playing with her and then once I'd finished my meal and cleaning up I had a big long play session with her to get rid of her built up energy.

But yeah.. heh, I've said before that I think one of the reasons it works to have cats as pets is that they're not bigger than they are. I know Nikita doesn't want to hurt me but if she were a lot bigger I don't know what state I'd be in right now.

It's been a few days and she's not done it again so I think it was a one off but yeah, not something I was expecting.

ETA: I have 'attacked' in scare quotes in the title of this post because she didn't actually attack me.

Yes she pounced at me which she shouldn't have, but she did it with claws in and her bite wasn't a proper bite, she got a part of my hoodie in her mouth but didn't bite down. Then fell off me a second later. It happened very quickly, no damage done to me or my clothes.

This is not something I encouraged her to do and not something I want her to do. I don't think she'll do it again and if she does I'll have to lock her out of the kitchen if she starts "floor sharking" (great term btw) while I'm eating.

Her attacking my feet while I eat however is a real problem but it's something I'm working on. She does it to get attention so ignoring her is the best solution so far. Either by closing her out of the room or by putting on shoes which she doesn't attack. With cats though it can take a while before these sort of measures start to make a difference. They're stubborn beasties. The foot thing started quite recently (as in the last month) when I began cooking more at home and eating in the kitchen rather than in front of the tv so I'm still waiting for clue into the fact that gunning for my feet isn't going to work out for her.
 

mrblanche

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>>Anyway this was happening again now recently, I could see her getting more and more worked up prowling on the floor of the kitchen, her tail getting twitchy, meowing and just general "hyper Nikita" build up. So I went and put shoes on just to prevent her from thinking about attacking my feet.<<

My brother calls this "floor sharking."
 
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siggav

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Originally Posted by mrblanche

My brother calls this "floor sharking."
That's a great term for it!
 

zane's pal

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You need to do something to break her of this behavior. It may look 'cute' or 'charming', but cat bites can be dangerous and aggressive behavior towards humans must not be tolerated.

If she were to bite someone else--especially a child--she might be deemed a 'dangerous animal' and you would be served with a court order to have her put down.

If you didn't comply, a sherriff's deputy could take her and do it himself (possibly with his service revolver) and you could be fined for contempt of court and/or go to jail.
 
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siggav

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She's only one this once and she didn't really bite. I know about how dangerous cat bites can be. She doesn't bite either. I probably wasn't clear enough in my original post but she only bit my clothes for a second or so before falling down onto the floor, it wasn't a solid bite.

Her attacking my feet is something I'm working on and until now simply putting on shoes or banishing her from the kitchen when I eat and she starts to get into that mood has been enough.

I know my cat and I can read her bodylanguage very well.

Back when it happened I immediately put her out of the kitchen and closed the door which is plenty of 'punishment' for her. She could read my bodylanguage as well and knew that I was pissed off at her for doing that.

I live alone and children enter my home very rarely and when they do I always observe their interaction with Nikita since I'm just as worried about them doing something to her as the other way around.

I sincerely think this was a one off and I doubt she'll do something similar again. If she does I'll have to banish her from the kitchen when I eat until she's grown out of it.

I am a responsible cat owner and I know my cat.

She's a fully clawed cat and it had been a while since I last trimmed her claws and she didn't even puncture my clothes what then hurt me and just fell off down onto the floor a second after her pounce.

Again I'm not intending to let her do this again and I don't think she will but if she intends to I can read her body language in the 'build up' and remove her from the room before she does anything stupid.
 

xocats

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My Sadie gets frantic for food sometimes.
I am just glad that she is not a full grown tiger...
long ago, I would have been her dinner.
 

sarahp

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Haha silly hyper girl!! She knows how to get attention


Smudge occasionally does that when I'm studying. Rather than walking around to the front of the chair and getting on my lap, she leaps from the ground to my shoulder, then claws her way up to my shoulder where she smooshes her face into mine.

Scares the crud out of me because I usually have no idea she's even there, and her claws digging into me hurt! Lucky I get a snuggle out of it
 

abbycats

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Zoey is very playful and when she gets in to things she shouldn't and I try to get her to do something else she gets mad at me. She has been known to hiss and bite me! She sits on the hard drive and tries to bite the cable in back which is a No No thats when she gets angry at me! I swear she does it for attention when I am at the computer and she isn't getting her full attention from me!

This morning she has been in to everything! She broke in to my closet this morning it is all torn up, she was knocking things off the dresser when I woke up. She is somewhere in the living room right now creating mischief! I just let her go with her bad self!


My house is a disaster today!
 

stacyd1987

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Angel is an attention seeker and will full out pounce me, grab my arm or leg with her paws and nip. Not a serious bite but a playful nip, though sometimes it hurts a tad. She never uses her claws on me either since it's usually a "come play with me" attack.
 

abbycats

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Originally Posted by Zane's Pal

You need to do something to break her of this behavior. It may look 'cute' or 'charming', but cat bites can be dangerous and aggressive behavior towards humans must not be tolerated.

If she were to bite someone else--especially a child--she might be deemed a 'dangerous animal' and you would be served with a court order to have her put down.

If you didn't comply, a sherriff's deputy could take her and do it himself (possibly with his service revolver) and you could be fined for contempt of court and/or go to jail.
I understand cat bites can be dangerous and any cat can get defensive if approached wrong especially by children. When I was a tiny tot I got a big lesson from my aunts siamese cat when I cornered her, it wasn't the cat that got in trouble. It was me who was scolded, along with a nasty wound on my eye lid! I think that your getting carried away by telling the person posting that the sheriff is going to come and shoot her cat if she doesn't correct behavior.

Children are very rare in our house and I would hope the parents had enough sense to keep their children in line when visiting. When we do have visitors all my cats except for one check out the people and leave the room. I have one extremly affectionate cat who loves to meet new people.
 

zane's pal

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Originally Posted by abbycats

I think that your getting carried away by telling the person posting that the sheriff is going to come and shoot her cat if she doesn't correct behavior.
I have known it to happen!

Children are very rare in our house and I would hope the parents had enough sense to keep their children in line when visiting.
One would hope so. But many parents are sure that their little angel couldn't possibly do anything wrong, and it must have been that mean old cat who attacked without provocation.
 
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siggav

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Originally Posted by Zane's Pal

I have known it to happen!
Another thing to bring up as well is that I'm living in Scotland. Not the states. There are no sheriffs and the cops are not armed.

Actually there are sheriffs in Scotland, they're not law enforcement though but they are usually very experienced lawyers and sit as a judge in 'Sheriff courts' which deal with day to day sort of court cases (fines, estates after a death, adoptions etc.)

There is also no rabies in the UK and cats are very rarely put down for being aggressive. Even in cases where that's potentially warrantied.

All of that is completely beside the point though because my cat doesn't bite people. She pounced on me for attention and I didn't give her attention (she got a time out instead) so she'll learn not to do that.

Also because she's fully clawed she'd use her claws first if she were actually frightened or aggressive, biting is a last resort sort of defense for cats.
 
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