Sudden fear

My cat Noki reacted very strangely the other day. He plopped down into a chair, and being so cute, I couldn't resist petting him. Everything was going fine, and then I started doing that "eye thing" with him--you know, where you look at your cat with squinty eyes, and they do the same to you. Noki and I frequently squint our eyes at each other, showing each other our affection (sorry that sounds so cheesy!). But this time, his eyes got all big and round, and he started caterwauling. I pulled away a bit, but he continued moaning, and his ears flattened down against his head. I stood up and began to leave (afraid he would claw me, and thought it best to leave him alone) and then he recoiled back and swiped at me. He did it in a way that seemed defensive and fearful.
Noki has never acted out like this before, and I can't understand the sudden fear. Also, for the most part, he seems to get afraid when someone would enter the room, especially with loud footsteps. I've always assumed that this was a typical "scare-dy cat" reaction, but I'm beginning to wonder if somewhere down the line, me or my husband taught him to be afraid.
I would appreciate any input regarding his behavior. I'm sure all of you can imagine that I was a little hurt by his fear and agression and mystified by his behavior. I wish cats were easier to understand!
Noki is an indoor cat that will be a year old in July, and has been neutered.

It sounds as if Noki simply became overstimulated. Some cats freak out and behave aggressively when overstimulated. Also, because when one cat stares into another cat's eyes, it is usually a sign of aggression (that an attack is about to occur) it is likely that Noki's instincts kicked in and he interpreted your stare as a threat and respondedaggressively as a result. So, as long as Noki is back to normal I wouldn't worry about this odd behavior. Instead, I would be careful to limit any squinty-eyes to no more than a moment, and would be careful not to overstimulate him with too much petting )or staring) at any one moment.

Believe it or not. My cat has done the same to me. I'm reading this book right now about how to talk to your cat. Which also explains how to read your cat by it's body language, and how to react back to him/her. One thing cats get defensive about is staring at them too long, no matter how affectionate you think the look is, cats perseve it differently. Instead of "squinting" blinking is usually the sign of affection, and make sure your face is not too close to his/hers while doing this. Pay attention to your cats tale, because the tale usually tells a lot about your cat's emotions at the moment. an ear twitch, or a flick of the tale mean's the cat is annoyed. It could be that your cat just simply misread you, unless this behavior repeats, I wouldn't worry much about it. But do pay a lot of attention to your cat's body language, the size of it's eyes, it's tale and it's meowing usually give way to it's mood.

Also another thing I've learned and it's fun to watch for, when a cat walks into the room and his tale is in the shape of question mark (slightly curled at the top), he's greeting you, or saying hi.


Let me know if you have anymore questions.


Good Luck!

Oh yes, his tale is always in that upside-down U shape when I come into a room. So that's a good thing, huh? =)

If you don't mind, HFrodoC, I would like the name of that book you're reading! I've been looking for good resources for cat body language. And to correct myself, I haven't been squinting at my kitty, but blinking at him. Thanks for pointing out the difference!

Originally Posted by momogasuki

Oh yes, his tale is always in that upside-down U shape when I come into a room. So that's a good thing, huh? =)

If you don't mind, HFrodoC, I would like the name of that book you're reading! I've been looking for good resources for cat body language. And to correct myself, I haven't been squinting at my kitty, but blinking at him. Thanks for pointing out the difference!

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Actually that upside down U shape, means he wants to play, which is still considered a greeting. Okay....don't laugh but the book's name is "The Cat Whisperer" and it's by Claire Bessant. I got it at Petsmart. I've always been pretty intuitive on my cats' moods, but this has scientific backing. Which is really cool.

I do the squinty thing with my cat Purple, and she gets it, but Nilla HATES it. She's skiddish and will run away or growl. But I can also kind of "talk" to purple about things like being nice to Nilla, cause nilla has a history of being the runt and always being picked on, and it actually seems to help. But purple and I are just connected like that. It also happened to be my side of the bed that Purple peed on when I first got Nilla. But I do want to read that book...

I didn't realize so many people did the eye thing with their cats! I do with mine. I've never had a response quite like that, though! They usually just stare at me or will blink back with the lovey look on their face. I call it their bedroom eyes look. I know, I'm a dork. I do want to read that book, also. It's amazing how learning an animals body language can open up doors never before even known of! I did the horse whisperer thingy a couple of times with troubled horses, and I honestly think that's what gave me an edge. They want to communicate; often times, we just don't know how to listen or respond.