Rude kitty :(

My 10 year old and I absolutely love our 11 month old kitty Bella, but sometimes she can be so mean. Now, I'm sure she doesn't mean it, she just wants to play with us, but other times it's like us being near her annoys her. Yet, when we leave a room, she goes in the room we're at. She can be so sweet sometimes, greets us when we get home, comes up to me while I'm doing my makeup for attention, she'll even sleep on us. It's just sometimes she's really temperamental. My daughter was cleaning her room, didn't even notice Bella was in there, and Bella just ran up to her and scratched her. Also sometimes when she sleeps on us she gets mad that our face is there?? Bites our noses, yet she's the one who lays on our chest haha. She also looks at me and scratches anything she's near to get a reaction from me, though she has 5 different pieces of scratching furniture. I know she's doing it to make me mad because she looks at me, then scratches and I say no, she stops and then looks at me and does it again. I've had cats my whole life and none have ever been this temperamental. Is there anything I can do to stop it? I've never had to change any of my cats behavior, but she's so rude haha. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to calm her down a bit. I've always seen cats as stubborn and they sometimes don't like to listen haha.

This is actually surprisingly common in cats! We hand-raised an orphan kitten named Nym and though he completely trusted us he can be awfully mean and arrogant.  These types of cats want what they want when they want it. A cat that doesn't want to be petted or played with may still want to sit in the same room as you or by you. This is a sign of affection, but affection on their own terms. It is something we have to except as cat owners, even if it can be disappointing.

Some of these behaviors can be a sign of having been taken from their mother too young. Was she an orphan or from a shelter? I know that our two cats that were both separated from their mother too young have these issues where one minute they are purring and the next they are growling, biting or scratching.

The biggest thing that can be done is learning to read her as best you can. If she wags her tail, you probably want to stay away. Dilated pupils are another sign, as is an irritated meow, hiss, raising a paw, or turning and walking away from you. When she does cuddle, and she bites or scratches at you, take her off of you so she understands that she can simply leave. No need to yell or shove her, just leave her. This way she either realizes she won't get cuddles if she does this or that if she wants to stop being cuddled she can simply hop off of you.

It can be hard, trust me, I understand you. Hang in there though.  : )

jamiem104 said:

My 10 year old and I absolutely love our 11 month old kitty Bella, but sometimes she can be so mean. Now, I'm sure she doesn't mean it, she just wants to play with us, but other times it's like us being near her annoys her. Yet, when we leave a room, she goes in the room we're at. She can be so sweet sometimes, greets us when we get home, comes up to me while I'm doing my makeup for attention, she'll even sleep on us. It's just sometimes she's really temperamental. My daughter was cleaning her room, didn't even notice Bella was in there, and Bella just ran up to her and scratched her. Also sometimes when she sleeps on us she gets mad that our face is there?? Bites our noses, yet she's the one who lays on our chest haha. She also looks at me and scratches anything she's near to get a reaction from me, though she has 5 different pieces of scratching furniture. I know she's doing it to make me mad because she looks at me, then scratches and I say no, she stops and then looks at me and does it again. I've had cats my whole life and none have ever been this temperamental. Is there anything I can do to stop it? I've never had to change any of my cats behavior, but she's so rude haha. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to calm her down a bit. I've always seen cats as stubborn and they sometimes don't like to listen haha.

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• jamiem104
• Sep 30, 2016

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• jamiem104
• Sep 30, 2016

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Ha ha. What do you expect from a cat named Bella? She's a prima donna.

Primula said:

Ha ha. What do you expect from a cat named Bella? She's a prima donna.

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She really is. Funny story about the name, my daughter is very girly, but I am not so much. We agreed upon the name Bella because it can sound girly, but she is named after Bela Lugosi, the actor who played Dracula and starred in other old horror movies. Fair compromise I'd say.