lap cat that "turns" if you go near rear legs

hello all,
some of you may have seen before that Golly is now fully installed in my house (14 year old shelter cat)..

the ONLY issue i have with Golly is that he just simply "turns" if my hand should go anywhere near his rear legs.. he is always jumping up to sit on my lap to watch tv or to fall asleep purring his heart out but if i should happen to go too near his rear legs he grabs my arm with both front paws and sinks his teeth in before leaping off.

he's drawn blood twice now now I guess I might just have a cat that is "particular" about he rear quarters but he seems so friendly and docile at every other time..

I have noticed that his back legs seem a bit "bowed" - maybe he has some onset of athritis ?

I'm going to the vet with him on Saturday morning and will ask about it then but am just curious if others on here had any suggestions / experiences of this ?

thanks for any replies,
Frank (Essex UK)

You could be right...or possibly it is some typw of nerve damage from something.....or maybe something has happened to him in that area, that you don`t know anything about, and it makes him too scared to be touched there.
I`m glad you are taking him to the vet. Hopefully you will find an answer and some help for whatever it is.
I`m sorry that he has hurt you too....those teeth and claws are sure sharp, aren`t they? (Good thing house cats don`t come much bigger, huh?)
Linda

"It hurts when I press it right here."

So don't press it right there. lol

I agree that it's a good idea to have the vet take a look at your boy to see if there's a discernible problem, but you may never find out WHY it bothers him. Just don't touch him there.

I'm glad he's found a home with you.

My foster CoCo bites when I touch her ears, but she never breaks the skin. For now, just stay away from Golly's hind end. Hopefully he isn't in too much pain.

Ok so dont touch it there - but if it's a cat that likes to jump up on your lap and sit there it's very difficult to even get it to move without "turning" on me at the moment.

I've just been set upon for a 3rd time with a very painful set of four bleeding puncture wounds on the inside of my wrist.

I'm starting to get quite fearful of this cat tonight - he keeps jumping up on the sofa next to me and i can't go near him without him turning on me now

he's starting to own my one sofa, and I'm not sure what to do.. try to get him down and he sets upon me..

this is my first ever cat and maybe he's picked up on it or something ?
what do i do ?... just let him go wherever and do whatever as if i try to get him away from me he pounces !..

sorry about this but Its very scarey at the moment !

A vet trip is definitely in order. You said he was 14? That's not ancient but it is fairly old by cat standards. He may have something bothering him internally and it may hurt anywhere he gets touched.

Or it could be he's just old and grumpy (like me). Let the vet check him out.

He only bites if you touch his rear quarters? Or is now coming at you with no provaction at all. It really sounds like its causing him pain. I would have him checked at the vets ASAP. How long have you had him?
If hes just now trying to bite you for no reason. Might be best if you put him in a spare room with his litter box and food. And check on him often. Make sure you clean the cat bites really well .Hot soapy water and peroxide . Cat bites can become infected quickly.

I would say a vet visit is in order as well. With an older kitty there could be alot of problems..one of them being (as with many senior humans as well) is arthritisis. We had a kitty who in her golden years developed very bad arthritisis in her hind quarters which the vet prescribed pain killers for.

I have four that do this, it doesn't alarm me, it is just their way of letting me know that they don't want me to touch them there, so I don't.

I don't think you're going to get a 14-year-old cat to change his preferences about how and where he likes to be touched, so I think you just want to keep him happy and keep your hands away from there.

Yeah agree w/ those who have said that this cat may very well NOT like being touched there......

However givin this cats age...I would not be surprised in the least if he has some sort of Hip dysplasia or arthritis.....

You are worried so you are bringing him to the vet...In my opinion thats really the best thing you can do for now.......besides not touching him there.....

Good luck......

Originally Posted by Nebula11

You are worried so you are bringing him to the vet...In my opinion thats really the best thing you can do for now....

Click to expand...

I agree...never can go wrong with that.

thanks for the replies...
YEs I'm going to the vets tonight (earlier than the Saturday apointment) and see if they will take a look at short notice..

I'm a bit dissapointed in the Shelter who helped home Golly with me... they assured me that he was very gentle and a complete lapcat !... ideal for a first time new owner - I'm beginning to think different to their point of view

I'll let you know what the vet says...
thanks again.