Need insight into my cats behavior

jezahb

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Let me start by saying I love my cat, I would never give her up or punish her for this behavior but I would really like to know WHY she does it. 

I try and always be careful not to assign human motives or emotions to cats, as I know they are not people and have different reasons for things...but Khaleesi (the cat in question) does something that can only be described as "trolling" (to use an internet phrase). Sometimes, usually a few times a week, when I get up to go do something Khaleesi will quickly run over and jump into the armchair I just vacated. It is a comfy chair, but it is one in a set of identical chairs right next to each other and the other one is vacant and she often sleeps in it. So it isn't like she just loves "my chair". Anyways, the seat stealing is the least of the issues. The biggest problem is her behavior when in the chair. She becomes really aggressive, if I try and touch her she will swat and attack me. She has even hissed and lunged towards me. If I even look at her when she is in my chair her tail starts to swish in a very irritated manner. 

Let me make it clear that Khaleesi knows she can "escape me" if she is overwhelmed. Early on I established with her a special box that I keep out that is off limits to me, she knows if she goes in that box I will stop whatever I am doing and leave her alone in it. Believe me, she utilizes it whenever she has had enough of me so her chair behavior does not seem to be one in which she feels threatened or cornered by me as she would just run away to the box if she did. It really seems like she is doing this completely on purpose, almost like she is bored and stealing my chair amuses her. 

I enclose a video of the behavior, just in case I am not interpreting her angry, aggressive seeming body language correctly. This is almost exactly what happens everytime, only difference being sometimes she is even MORE aggressive and angry with me. Also, those are serious swats with claws out. If she didn't have them clipped she would have drawn a lot of blood. 

 
 
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karissima

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Could she be bored? I would try a toy -- a wand and ribbon, laser pointer, fetch mousy, whatever she likes. She acts aggressive but she's showing her belly and her ears are not back. My cats will become very irritating/aggressive when they are bored, particularly my youngest cat who thinks we should all play a lot more. I can't just throw the mousy and be done, either, it has to be an interactive play session. Five to ten minutes is usually all it takes to satisfy my youngest cat, two to five minutes for my older cats.

Also try eye contact. Staring down a cat is a challenge/dominance behavior, and might convince her to move. If a few minutes of play doesn't fix the problem, then it might be a dominance issue. Make eye contact and hold it, and see if that helps. (But try play first, because she really acts like she's just bored.)
 

smokem

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well as a cat owner-prior dog person...yeah these behaviors are ..are...are

yeah its a communication or dominance theme..

what are they trying  to say?

definitely a learning curve here.

is this cat fixed?certainly could be sexual in nature.
 

gardenandcats

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Probably she jumps up into the chair you just got out of as its warm from you sitting there.Cats like warmth .. Its obvious by the way shes flicking her tail shes telling you leave me be.If you want her out of the chair entice her out with a toy or treat.
 

vbcatparent

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I'm no cat psychologist, so take my opinion as just opinion, but the connection here seems to be clingly/needy behavior. The chair is still warm and freshly smells of you. By taking that spot, she brings comfort to herself, and she's also blocking you from using your laptop. The anger comes from her being emotional and afraid you are going to put her down and ignore her.

My advice would be to let her have the chair for a few minutes to cool down, then sit on the floor and talk to her calmly. If it worsens, I'd take her to the vet and see if she has some sickness that's making her clingy.
 

kittywhiskers

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One of our cats will pinch your chair if you get up but we just leave her be, she just wants to have the warm spot!
Watching the video makes me think she is bored also, it looks to me like she wants your attention and she knows she will get it by sitting in your chair. The tail flick doesn't seem aggressive, it seems like she has some pent up energy she wants to burn. I would try throwing something for her or a wand toy or even making her chase some tasty treats to wear her out. I think the way you are slowly moving your hand towards her face is inviting her to swipe at it.
Personally I wouldn't stare down a cat as this is threatening and I wouldn't want my cat to be afraid of me.
This is just my opinion on the way I see things from the video, I'm no expert by any means. I wish you luck getting your chair back .:D
 

slykat12

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Looks pretty normal to me hahahaha!!! Cute kitty! She's lonely and bored and wants some of your time. Can you spare some play time?
 
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jezahb

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I agree with everyone who said it is probably due to her being bored, Khaleesi has Siamese in her (her mom was a purebred) and in my experience Meezers tend to be cats that need constant stimulation and Leesi is no different. Even if she is sleeping, the second I get up to do something she jumps up with a trill and comes running like she is excited I am going to entertain her! It is adorable really, her brain is always on and she is always looking for entertainment. Her name means Queen in Dothraki (a language from the TV show Game of Thrones) and she seems to know it! I do play with her at least once a day, either with DaBird or by tossing a twist tie (her favorite toy) around on the bed. Guess that isn't enough for her since she has no playmate when I am gone at work (my other cat Lexi never plays with her, they tolerate each other but Lexi has never been the kind of cat who enjoys physically playing with other cats). 

I had hesitated to offer her treats or toys to get her off the chair since, at least in dogs (I am a dog trainer as my career) that would just reinforce her behavior and increase how often she does it. However getting my hand shredded trying to get her off any other way is worse, so she may end up getting what she desired anyways by jumping on the chair...mommy playing with her. They really are master manipulators aren't they? Lucky we love them so much!
 

smokem

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Yeah-my gray boy used to scare me a lot.

I never petted him or extended my hand due to scratches,but he never bit me.

Getting her off the chair ,may sound stupid,have you tried turning away,ignoring her??

Or playing dead?Okay maybe she will just cuddle up and she wins you find another place to work.

or what get a towel or use heavy gloves and force her to move.IDK how that works in a small space,cats

have long memories.every time I apply flea med to smoke-he avoids me for weeks.
 

karissima

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Cat behaviors are not quite like dogs. I worked as a show handler for a few years, so I definitely see where you are coming from in not wanting to reward bad behavior, but I don't think this is a "bad behavior", it is a response to boredom/cry for attention. If you think of dogs who will fight the lead or run when you're trying to harness, it's the same thing. "I'm bored! I'll *make* you pay attention!" How old is Khaleesi? Until about 3 or 4 I have noticed that cats need a lot of play! Maybe once a day isn't enough?

Siamese love puzzles. My ten year old meezer cracks challenges like walnuts. They love a new game. Look into puzzle toys? Put out new boxes, odd objects, etc to inspect and change them every week or two? My three year meez is very active and exploratory, not providing her with a new obstacle or toy every ten days means I become the new toy.

Maybe consider apps and television that provides interest? (We have a DVD for our youngest Siamese cats that features fish swimming, birds at a feeder, etc. They are only allowed a half hour at a time but it's great for when I need peace!) I got my cats a beta fish in a tank with a solid cover. He seems to enjoy teasing them as much as they enjoy plotting against him.

With a Siamese, when in doubt, introduce something new!
 

lamiatron

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1) Please spend more time with your cat. Play with her, using interactive toys

2) do not try to stare down your cat. If she is being aggressive and possessive of your chair, try to establish eye contact, and as soon as your eyes lock, just slow blink her a couple of times and walk away. this communicates to her that you are not a threat to her. do not establish eye contact and maintain eye contact. That is threatening to a cat, and makes them more aggressive towards you. Maintaining eye contact to assert your dominance works with dogs only..not so much with cats. Just FYI

3) try to position the chair in a way where you can approach her from behind or the side and gently just pat her or push her off. If she still hisses and becomes aggressive, just let her be and sit some where else. PLEASE do not spook her by quietly creeping up behind her, talk in a calm soothing tone and voice while you're approaching her. That should calm her down a bit.

4) do you have many cat friendly areas in the house? please invest in some cat perches, or scratching posts, so that she can claim them as her territory.  Buy a cat bed, or scratching post and place it right next to your arm chair, place treats on it so that the scratching post/cat bed is more appealing to her, and sit on your arm chair and go about your business. praise her when she uses the scratching post, ignore her when she uses your arm chair. slow blink and walk away if she is being aggressive on the arm chair. She will soon learn that she gets NO attention from being on the arm chair and will eventually stop being territorial over it...especially if you do implement a space where she can sit, right next to you.

To me it seems like she's being more territorial than anything. And she really does seem to love you a lot, she's being territorial over something that is heavy with your scent. Try to engage her in more play through out the day if possible, and please add more cat friendly areas, and cat furniture to the house so she has areas to call her own. I recall you mentioning that you have one box that is her place? she needs more than one box. I have 3 cats, and you will never find them on any of the furniture, except when they are napping. They nap on the couches, and beds, but they don't become aggressive about sharing with me. They understand that is shared space, and when they don't want to share the bed or couch with me, they retreat to one of their many scratching posts and commence to napping!

Good Luck!
 

vbcatparent

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To me it seems like she's being more territorial than anything. And she really does seem to love you a lot, she's being territorial over something that is heavy with your scent. Try to engage her in more play through out the day if possible, and please add more cat friendly areas, and cat furniture to the house so she has areas to call her own. I recall you mentioning that you have one box that is her place? she needs more than one box. I have 3 cats, and you will never find them on any of the furniture, except when they are napping. They nap on the couches, and beds, but they don't become aggressive about sharing with me. They understand that is shared space, and when they don't want to share the bed or couch with me, they retreat to one of their many scratching posts and commence to napping!
I definitely agree with this. My cat has a scratching post he sees as his version of a couch. That's his default place to chill. He clearly categorizes parts of the house in his mind.
 

lamiatron

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upon further review of the video...

1) please try to position that couch in a way where it is not in a corner...and where you can try to approach from the at least the side if not behind..the way it is now, if you approach your cat in any way, you are towering over her and that is VERY threatening to an already territorial cat...

2) when you are approaching her to pet her, you seem very nervous and cautious and you should stop. stop trying to touch her first of all. and if you are going to touch her, please do not be nervous. be confident and be calm. even fake it if you have to, because if you are nervous and scared, your cat is feeding off of that BIG TIME. this only amplifies her aggression/behavior. If you are calm, and confident, your cat will also feed off of that, and behave or interact with you differently.

I have modified my mood, and my reactions to situations when it comes to dealing with my cat from being nervous, scared to being clam, soothing, and relaxed. this has proven to be advantageous in many situations for me, such as getting a cat out from a tight spot, giving them medication, bathing the cat. I noticed that getting these tasks done was so much easier and literally pain and agony free for me once i adopted this new method of approaching certain situations. If you are calm happy and confident, your cat will feel the same. 
 
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jezahb

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I guess I was acting "nervous" in the video, which I actually wasn't feeling. I was trying to seem soothing and perhaps a little bit pleading with her LOL. I am not generally afraid of cats, they would have to do something pretty obviously aggressive to make me feel threatened. Like if a cat gets huge pupils, puffs up and arches its back...yes I would be afraid. Khaleesi doesn't scare me, but I guess in my attempts to act reassuring and not make any fast movements I gave off the appearance of being nervous. 

As far as Khaleesi having places to sleep, she really does! My cats have more furniture than I do. At current count I have one floor to ceiling cat tower, 2 cat tents, 2 laundry baskets that I keep filled with blankets for them to sleep on, 3 boxes (one of which is the special box that Khaleesi knows is her off limits space she can retreat to if I overstimulate/upset her), a computer chair with a cat blanket on it, an armchair that sits empty most of the time for her to sleep on, a circle cat bed on the empty side of my queen bed and another cat bed on top of my filing cabinet. My ladies are spoiled. So she has options, there is even a "purr pad" (some special thing sold "as seen on TV" for a while that supposedly is made of a fabric that reflects heat and cats love it) in the empty corner next to my armchair behind the side table placed there because sometimes Khaleesi likes to sleep there. I unfortunately cannot really move my chairs to another place, I have a rather small one bedroom apartment and the only place they really fit is where they are. 

Interesting thing thing that happened today was Khaleesi was following me back from the bathroom and I was planning to sit down, she ran ahead of me and jumped into my chair. This time she actually started to roll around in it, looking for affection which I gave her. That lasted about 30 seconds of her seeming to love the affection before she meowed and smacked my hand away. Like a switch went off, she no longer wanted my affection but still wanted the chair. So, a suggestion I had heard was to clap my hands when she got like that and it seemed to work. It startled her, her eyes got wide and she seemed to just freeze for a moment and while she was still I went back to slowly petting her...and she let me. It seemed to snap her out of the aggression, and she let me give her pets for a few more moments before jumping down on her own and leaving. Not sure what that was! Very interesting for sure. Shows that at least this time her jumping in my chair was an obvious ploy for attention.

I will try and play with her more, she does love playing and like someone said she enjoys puzzles so I may need to get a few more puzzle toys she can play with independently. I really wish my other cat would play with her, she seems like she needs the stimulation but Lexi has just never been a cat who enjoyed physically playing with other cats. Really don't have the room or budget for a 3rd cat either, so I am stuck being Khaleesi's only source of entertainment. 
 

randomhero1747

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Yes like the others I think she is just wanting attention, my kiki last night was all over me and then started to swat at me while I was on the bed and she was on the floor. She gets that look in her eye and you know. She starts getting spunky with me then I know she just wants her mommy to play with her, and I did and she was all good and happy. But she also knows the limit cause she's never one to bite me, if she tries to then she doesn't do it to inflict pain, just a little "nom nom" that don't hurt. Just give her some more attention and play, or when she does this, grab a toy and entice her to move, but still give her a couple minutes of play. Love the name! :)
 
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jezahb

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Khaleesi doesn't hate my laptop, but she has no issue inserting herself between me and it when she wants attention. My touchpad is actually broken on my year old laptop since Khaleesi has stepped on it so many times! 

Solution #2 for getting Khaleesi to stay off of my chair, place a box on the OTHER chair!


That is one contented kitty! 
 

randomhero1747

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Haha
Khaleesi doesn't hate my laptop, but she has no issue inserting herself between me and it when she wants attention. My touchpad is actually broken on my year old laptop since Khaleesi has stepped on it so many times! 

Solution #2 for getting Khaleesi to stay off of my chair, place a box on the OTHER chair!



That is one contented kitty! 
hahaha prefect idea!
 
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