I this normal?

Whenever I go out (even if its for 20 minutes) and I don't tell my cat where I'm going and for how long, when I get back she angry meows at me and when I stroke her she scratchs me!!!
I wanna know why she does it and is it normal behaviour for a cat you pick up off the street?

No idea?!, but i know a lot of cats don't like to be stroked so maybe this is why your getting scratched?!.

I know my Rosie will only stand being stroked for so long before she tells me she's had enough then goes to give me a little nip

Merlin loves his tummy rubbed and will stretch out and do all kinds of weird contortions to be stroked in just the "right" place. However when he's had enough, the four paws will come up and he will gently bite my wrist as if to say "enough is enough", before giving it a quick lick and flipping over. A quick swipe with the paw (claws in) is also a sign that he's had enough tummy rubbing.

However if you tried to do this to Freya, she'd be walking away with half of your arm in her mouth !

I think some cats have a stroking tolerance ranging from wrist-numbingly long to "touch me again and I'll kill you". I suppose it depends on the cat and how much socialisation / handling they had from when they are tiny.

Our two were both feral rescue-cats and had the same upbringing until we adopted them, but both have completely opposite personalities. One loves to be stroked for hours, the other "just" tolerates it (but is getting better with each week that goes by)

The thing is when I'm at home, normaly I'm playing on one of my consols or watching T.V and she comes to me and sits on my lap and starts what I call "snob whipeing" me. she doe's this to the point where I have to pause the game I'm playing and stroke her until she falls asleep.
When I come home from going out, she sits on the computer chair and stairs at me, then she meows angrly then when I sit down she comes to me and when I stroke her once she hits my hand, as if to say tell me where your going next time.

wow....well if you picked her up off the street, chances are shes afraid of being abandoned. When did you get her? It may take awhile befre she trusts you when you go out to come home to her. I remember when my dad had this dog he got from a friend, my dad didnt want her anymore so he gave to to my mom and my step dad. We drove over to my moms house and dropped her off, and we left her with them. She was really attached to me and my sister, so when we dropped her off, and we left with my dad and didnt come back for 2 weeks, she thought we had abandoned her with my mom just like my dad's friend did. She was only young, about a year or two old. 2 weks later when we came to my moms house, she was so suprised, and happy to see us, she knocked me right off my feet on the grass and licked my face until me mom helped me up. She just needs time to realize that your not going to abandon her.

If you have a used bookstore around or a library, you might try reading The New Natural Cat, by Anitra Frazier. She has a section in there about visualizng to your kitty that you are leaving and what will happen when you come back. If you are comfortable with it, it might help.

I think xpiercedgoddess is right. She just needs to realize that you are coming home everytime.

Originally Posted by kura

Whenever I go out (even if its for 20 minutes) and I don't tell my cat where I'm going and for how long, when I get back she angry meows at me and when I stroke her she scratchs me!!!

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she may be meowing "where were you?" or "hello" but that doesn't mean she wants to be touched. I usually make sure my kitty smells my hand and knows its me and wait for her to make the first move. then she never gets aggressive. Try just saying hello and giving her a treat instead of touching her.

I've had her for a year and she is 7 according to the vets. So do you think it might be separion anxiety? And I talk to her all the time. when she meows when I talk to her, my b.f is amazed, by how I can sit there talking to her and his mum thinks I'm crazy for talking to her. The way I talk to her is as if she is a human and I treat her lilke wise.