Crazy behavior, Jekyll and Hyde cat

[andym1982]

Hi there,

I have a quite strange situation with my cat. She's just over a year old and for almost all this time she has been both loving and crazy at the same time. Very Jekyll and Hyde. When I come home she greets me lovingly, purring, giving me lots of attention and rubbing herself against me, rolling over and letting me stroke her. I also pick her up and she rubs her face on mine. While I am watching TV she will come over and give me cuddles too. But, she has these mental periods where she goes into a completely different mindset - one is where she runs around crazily, making a kind of growling, vibrating noise, like she is possessed! She does this a couple of times a day. She also occasionally stalks me and pounces, and this is getting more frequent. My arms are covered in bite marks, because although she doesn't do it all the time, when she does it her teeth are so sharp that they do immediate damage even though she doesn't bite hard. She also bites my feet when I am in bed ready to sleep and last night her claw got caught in my skin because she lost balance and almost fell off the bed so she used my foot as a means of holding on!

Is this type of behaviour normal for a cat and are these symptoms generally a sign of anything in particular?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jcat]

Most cats get the "crazies" a couple of times a day and need to burn off excess energy with some hard play, e.g., chasing balls, toy mice, wand toys such as Da Bird or the like. Stalking and pouncing are normal parts of playing, which is why interactive toys are so important so your body parts aren't used as "prey".The younger the cat, the more playtime it needs.

 

[andym1982]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I have since bought a mouse on a fishing pole toy and she absolutely loves this. She begs me to play by jumping up to the table beside where I have hidden the toy and looking up at it telling me she wants to play! I also received a free toy on an elastic cord which she also is very interested in! Since getting these the biting has been less and it's decreasing by the day!