Playing, or expressing annoyance?

 

I've always assumed this was my cat playing - usually if he's annoyed at me he will slink away, or growl. He's doing neither here, and as you can see he alternates between biting and licking, and if I start to scratch him he'll relax into it.

Seeing as I managed to get it on camera, I figured I'd actually ask to make sure, I don't want to be accidentally annoying him rather than bonding. 

Mostly playing but you are crossing a point into antagonizing him.

Try not doing it for so long and stop once you see he is becoming a bit more aggressive.  It would be much better to use a toy for him to bite and chew on so that he doesn't learn that it's ok to gnaw on human hands.  It would be pretty awful if someone he doesn't know reaches out to pet him and he thinks it's play time and subsequently bites them.

sivyaleah said:

 
Mostly playing but you are crossing a point into antagonizing him.

Try not doing it for so long and stop once you see he is becoming a bit more aggressive.  It would be much better to use a toy for him to bite and chew on so that he doesn't learn that it's ok to gnaw on human hands.  It would be pretty awful if someone he doesn't know reaches out to pet him and he thinks it's play time and subsequently bites them.

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When would you say the point is where I should stop? Sorry, just coz in my perception it seems more or less consistent, so I'm clearly missing something you've spotted  

And yeah I mostly use toys with him, it's just on occasion. 

Cheers! 

I see the problem as threefold:

1. You are playing with him by touching his tummy, which is the most vulnerable part of a cat. He defends his tummy by biting your fingers. Don't let him play with your fingers like that. It's a bad habit to get him into. Once he starts bunny kicking with his paws & bites your fingers, remove your hand immediately.

2. Cats do like hands and fingers COMING TOWARDS THEM. If you want to cuddle & stroke him, go from BEHIND.

3. You are getting him over-stimulated, which is easy to do. As the poster above me says, this is not a good way to play with him. There are loads of soft cat toys made for just this purpose.

Primula said:

I see the problem as threefold:

1. You are playing with him by touching his tummy, which is the most vulnerable part of a cat. He defends his tummy by biting your fingers. Don't let him play with your fingers like that. It's a bad habit to get him into. Once he starts bunny kicking with his paws & bites your fingers, remove your hand immediately.

2. Cats do like hands and fingers COMING TOWARDS THEM. If you want to cuddle & stroke him, go from BEHIND.

3. You are getting him over-stimulated, which is easy to do. As the poster above me says, this is not a good way to play with him. There are loads of soft cat toys made for just this purpose.

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1. It might be the camera angle, I don't touch his tummy, I make sure to not as I know he's not a big fan of it being touched. But as for the rest of the point, okies

2. Sorry, I wasn't sure if it's a typo or not - cats DO like hands coming towards them or cats DO NOT like? And I'd read that it's better to go from ahead because they like to see you first (ahead and from below, rather than from on top). 

3. And yeah I agree. He does get energised up quite.

To clarify, this isn't my main form of play with him anyway, I do use toys (tho he's one of those cats who doesn't really care about toys). This is like every so often we both kind of mutually instigate it and I sort of go with it coz after he's grabbed by arm, if I leave it still, he'll stop biting it and just kind of hug and lick it - and I mean ... that is  kind of cute ... 

 
When would you say the point is where I should stop? Sorry, just coz in my perception it seems more or less consistent, so I'm clearly missing something you've spotted  

And yeah I mostly use toys with him, it's just on occasion. 

Cheers! 

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Actually, @Primula  did an excellent job of summing up the situation.

It's very clear your cat utterly adores you and, is is a well behaved boy that minds his manners in spite of being teased.

I'll just again reiterate that using your hands to "play" with him drives him to treat your hand like prey instead of the loving hand of the human who is his care taker.  

IDK maybe it's just me but I never found it funny to tease anyone be it human or animal.  He can't speak up with a voice, but his body language to me seems conflicted and unsure of your hands intention - most especially when you slowly bring it palm first to his face and hold him down while he bunny kicks.  Truly you are a potential meal at that point and again, it is to his credit that he isn't sinking his teeth or claws into you 

sivyaleah said:

 
Actually, @Primula  did an excellent job of summing up the situation.

It's very clear your cat utterly adores you and, is is a well behaved boy that minds his manners in spite of being teased.

I'll just again reiterate that using your hands to "play" with him drives him to treat your hand like prey instead of the loving hand of the human who is his care taker.  

IDK maybe it's just me but I never found it funny to tease anyone be it human or animal.  He can't speak up with a voice, but his body language to me seems conflicted and unsure of your hands intention - most especially when you slowly bring it palm first to his face and hold him down while he bunny kicks.  Truly you are a potential meal at that point and again, it is to his credit that he isn't sinking his teeth or claws into you 

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Okie dokie, I mean if you guys think that he's not enjoying this form of 'play' then I'll defer to your guys judgement - I just wasn't sure if he was enjoying it or if it was just annoying him, considering he alternatives between biting and licking, and isn't violent or vocal, but as you say @sivyaleah, that might be him being polite.

I'm sure there are other ways I can encourage River to cuddle with my arm

Just to clarify one other point - at no point am I holding him down, if anything he's holding my arm down, he has a very good grip. 

Much better! 

Your cat is lying on his back when he is playing with you & his tummy is exposed. That's why he is getting over-stimulated.

Sorry about the typo. They do not like hands & fingers coming towards their face, just as we humans wouldn't like someone's hand coming towards our face.

The little pink toy in the photo is an excellent thing to throw him when he's over-excited.