cat biting me sometimes

Hi

Oscar is a very loving baby, he sleeps on my bed sometimes. Sometimes I wake up and he is lying there, so I stroke him and 99% he will purr and close his eyes and enjoy it.

Last night, I woke and he was there, with one open...so I started stroking him and tickling his tummy, as he lies on his back. He grabbed my arm and started biting it and stratching it. Anyone know why?

I hope he is ok

Clare x

I think cats feel very vulnerable when they lay on their backs with their stomachs exposed and it's a sign of trust when cats allow people to stroke their tummies. Our Snowball also enjoys having his tummy stroked for brief periods. But we do have to watch him very closely for signs he has had enough if we want to avoid being scratched and bitten. Also, we have never given Snowball the idea that our hands are objects that he can play with.

lol this is so normal its pathetic There's nothing wrong with him.

If my hand even goes near Zoey's tummy she grabs it, bites and does the rabbit kick So I have learned not to touch her tummy

I have a couple of cats that respond that way. They sometimes get overexcited by "loving" and will grab and bite you.

If the bites are excessively hard, you will need to teach Oscar to either lighten up or not do it. Mine have all learned the words "be gentle" - if they bite down to hard, I will stop all hand movement, tell them to be gentle, and when they let up, slowly reach up and scratch the top of the head and praise them. Avoid their tummies at all costs during this time.

We had a cat once where this didn't work and had to use more extreme measures. When they bit and wouldn't let up, we would push our finger into their mouths further, which opened up their jaw and caused a little discomfort to them. If you resort to this, be VERY careful - only push a little and use this as a last resort only. You can harm their jaw very easily if you push too hard. I don't recommend this unless they really won't let go at all. Once they let up, pet and praise them.

Sometimes I grab Zoey lightly by the scruff of her neck when she starts biting me and tell her NO! and hiss at her.

Or, I get up and storm into the bedroom and close the door so she knows she upset me and playtime is over. 1 min later she's outside the door meowing loudly "meeoowwwwmommmy I'm sorrryyyyy"

Of course, what your cat is doing is pretty normal and I dont think calls for these kinds of measures. Just stop touching his belly

When Snowball is enjoying having his tummy stroked he either keeps his paws close to his body or else he makes kneading motions in the air. The way we can tell he has had enough is that he gets more tense in general, and he starts watching our hand. When he starts reaching for our hand with his claws out, we know we have to stop immediately because if he actually grabs us it's sometimes hard to pull away. Snowball understands and responds to the words "no, be nice," when this happens. Your cat may have a similiar way of letting you know when to stop or he may have a different way. You will need to learn what the signal to stop is.

Oliver's #1 play time is when I grab his tummy and he goes into rabbit-kicking mode, wraps his front paws around my hand/arm, and starts (gently) pretend kill my hand into little pieces.

He will never hurt me no matter how tired he gets.

Now other cats I've had will tear me a new one if I tried the same stuff. Each cat's boundaries are different. Yours is oddly showing you his. Not a big deal. if you woke to him clawing your face then you might have issues, but for now it's typical animal-human communication breakdown stuff.

Ahhhhh ok thanks guys

I will pay more attention to giving him too much loving hehe.

Thanks again

Clare x