Cat that isnt mine, wondering about something

Theres a cat a few streets away from me I see sometimes.

When i see it, i go over to it and start stroking it.

Firstly , he rolled completely on his back.

secondly, Then his side, still exposing his stomach sort of.

but when he is in either of those positions and I go to stroke him, he lightly attacks me with his paws.

Other than those two positions he lets me stroke him.

thirdl,y Also i saw he was flexing his paw a lot exposing his claws,

so, in short,could someone explain those 3 behaviours for me. Its a dark calico if thats any help.

Rolling on his back means he has complete trust on you, and is giving you the "honor" to pet him.
"Attacking" you lightly with his paws when you pet his belly can mean that he either is playing with you, or he doesn't like to be petted on the belly - It's not all the cats who like a belly rub... My Bugsy is like that.

And the paw flexing is kneading in the air, or making biscuits as we call it, just a contented thing that some cats do.

wow thanks,

also, what does it mean if a cat criss crosses between my legs.

It is every cat's secret desire to send humans sprawling on their faces


Seriously, they are rubbing on your legs, scent marking you, telling other cats that you belong to them, even if only for the moment

Maybe take a picture of the cat and put posters around asking if he belongs to anyone? Sounds like this kitty wants to adopt you.

And our Billy rolls on his back - but does NOT want belly rubs! He rabbit kicks us with his feet. He loves being petted all over otherwise. So just know this kitty trusts you - but doesn't want her stomach rubbed.

Laurie

Yeah - what everyone else said. Every sign you've described is ffrrrrrriendly. BTW - with very very rare exception, calicos are female ... as are tortoiseshell cats.

And extending the claws a little isn't really aggression, just a facet of how he's messing with his paws.

Sounds like a friendly bugger!

Well, the wikipedia page says that nearly all calico,tortoiseshell are female, like a previous post says.

However, the tag on him says, Alfie, or Archie, so not a very female name.

Or I made a mistake and isnt a calico, is that possible ?? It could be, for example, a british shorthair, or norwegian forest cat, with calico design ??

Or its a very rare male calico.

Also, today, he/she was rubbing its head against someones doorstep, like he was trying to scratch his face because it had an itch maybe ?? What does that mean ?? He also kept wiggling on his back left and right back and forth ?? He couldnt stay still today, what does that mean ?

Here is a great explanation as to why calico or tortoise shell color-pattern kitties are almost always female - if they're male, they cannot breed. http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/catb...calicocats.htm

Cats have scent glands in their cheeks, their paw pads, on the top of their head, and in their urine and sacs that cause a scent to be left on their poop. Cats leave ALL kinds of messages around for each other with their scent glands. Think of the scent glands on the front half of the kitty as "friendly" stuff, calming kinds of scents related to nesting, and territory in a happy way. They use pee and poop to "mark" territory as well - but these scents are a much more "aggressive" kind of territory marking that gets into complicated stuff re: cat hierarchy, mating, threats, other stuff like that.

So a kitty rubbing its head or cheeks on something is a happy kind of marking - a "this is part of my home," kind of thing - and that includes people's legs, that doorstep - things she likes, people she likes, places she hangs out.

The wiggling on the back - could be she has fleas? Maybe she is itchy! It could also just feel good to roll around! One of our kitties just absolutely LOVES to roll around on his back, stretching and rolling - and he is an indoor only kitty, doesn't have fleas or a skin condition - it just feels good and is fun.

Laurie