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I didn’t want to highjack someone’s thread – My question is about Scruffing

post #1 of 6
11/25/09 at 11:31am
Thread Starter 
I have a freak of a cat with serious mental issues including serious OCD. We have learned to cope with it and he hasn’t been sick in about a year (He would obsess over things for days where he would not eat or drink and make himself sick). This may have nothing to do with this though, I just thought id mention it since he’s an odd one.

My Bugsy loves to be scruffed. It makes him fall asleep. The first time my boyfriend scruffed him because he was chewing our wires, almost instantly Bugsy tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes and went totally slack. My boyfriend then put him on the sofa where he promptly cuddled up and went to sleep. We do it every so often because it’s so funny to watch. Does anyone else’s cat do this? Is this normal? He could be totally obnoxious, running around like a freak and will instantly fall asleep when scruffed.
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post #2 of 6
11/25/09 at 11:51am
Scruffing releases some instinct in a cat that takes them back to babyhood, when their mothers used to carry them this way, and to do that they had to relax completely. Most times, if you scruff a cat it becomes much easier to hold it still for medical treatment etc. But it works better with some than others! And some adults seem to have so little skin behind their necks that proper scruffing is almost impossible. But never ever hold a cat's weight by the scruff - always support it underneath.

Someone here must know the reason for this - the effect on the nerves or whatever it is.
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post #3 of 6
11/25/09 at 11:51am
Supposedly scruffing in kittens and cats can cause a release of endorphins - the type that calms cats down. As long as there isn't fear (adrenaline) overriding it and the cat isn't being harmed, it could be relaxing to a cat.

Thought about what endorphins it would be specifically then looked it up to double check - serotonin and dopamine. I would also be willing to guess that some oxytocin is released, too.

Instead of scruffing to relax him, try massaging his neck and incorporating a gentle scruffing type motion to it. My cats love this (and getting massaged, period) and it will usually make them sleepy.
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post #4 of 6
11/26/09 at 6:07pm
That's very interesting - I didn't know that scruffing could be relaxing! I've always thought of it as a necessary evil, to keep a cat still for giving medicine. Come to think of it, one of my cats does love a good neck massage that includes "scruffing motions".
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post #5 of 6
11/27/09 at 6:03am
Thread Starter 
it’s very funny to watch. I’m going to see if I can take a video. We tried it last night to see what would happen and for our own amusement. We waited until the cats got super hyper and obnoxious, all three of them running around like maniacs. My boyfriend went in and scruffed Bugsy, held him right up in front of him (while holding under his feet) and within a few seconds he was sleeping.

As much as my boyfriend and I were laughing very loudly at how funny it was, the dog was jumping around playing and the cats were all over the place running and jumping on everything, my Bugsy was sound asleep LOL.
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post #6 of 6
11/27/09 at 6:32am
What an interesting discussion! None of my cats 'like' scruffing, they don't have enough loose fur anyway and it makes Mazy go absolutely berserk, she hates it so much.

She does love being scratched on the back of her neck though.
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