Is Hex protecting my son?

[jazzygemmy]

Hex is our Siamese cross. She adopted us when she was 2 and she is now 5. Our son is 15 months old and Hex has always acted strange when he cries. Today it happened for the first time in a couple months and it got me thinking that I should ask you guys what you think is going on. My son was all worked up this afternoon after he accidently turned on the carpet shampooer and it SCARED THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF HIM. Thought he was going to die, I'm sure. Anyway, during this particular crying episode, Hex went bonkers. She ran into the room that I was comforting him in and started crying/howling. Not only that, she will walk right up to me and give me the oddest look. If looks could kill. In fact, today she was staring at both him and I so intensely, I feared she was going to attack him or myself. I sort of nudged her away with my foot, but she was persistent. Eventually, he calmed down and she went back to her normal self right away, being sweet and cuddly.

Other than these seemingly protective displays, she is mostly shy and nervous around Bradley, not really letting him touch her, etc. But, she NEVER gets aggressive with him and he is never rough with her.

So my question is...is she being protective? Does the crying hurt her ears? What could be the explanation? I have been searching the net and can't really find much about this behavior. Thanks!

 

[tulosai]

It cold be that she is being protective, for sure.  It could also just be that she finds loud sounds upsetting and his making such a big fuss threw her off her game for that reason.  As long as she is not doing anything that might hurt you or your son, I'd probably just let it be.

In the future, though, I would try to avoid nudging her with your foot at such times.  There is always a chance this might further upset her and provoke a reaction, which I'd advise against.

 

[jazzygemmy]

 
In the future, though, I would try to avoid nudging her with your foot at such times.  There is always a chance this might further upset her and provoke a reaction, which I'd advise against.

Good point! Thanks!

 

[mservant]

Does she ever sit and watch over him at other times or just show interest when he is crying?    Your cat may be being protective or she may be trying to work out what the sudden noise was about and wanting it to stop.  As your son was sounding particularly distressed it could be that she picked up on this in some way.  If she does it again try to see what her ears, whiskers and tail are doing and if there are any other hints with her body language.  Her body language will give you the biggest clue as to her emotion and possible reactions.

One of my cats used to go sit at the end of  kids beds who came to stay with me regularly.  She wouldn't curl up and sleep like she would on my bed, she'd just look around.  It never looked like she was watching the children, more that she was watching to make sure everything around them was OK.  The cats didn't like crying but they would tend to stay around unless there was complete chaos.  

 

[jazzygemmy]

 
Does she ever sit and watch over him at other times or just show interest when he is crying?    Your cat may be being protective or she may be trying to work out what the sudden noise was about and wanting it to stop.  As your son was sounding particularly distressed it could be that she picked up on this in some way.  If she does it again try to see what her ears, whiskers and tail are doing and if there are any other hints with her body language.  Her body language will give you the biggest clue as to her emotion and possible reactions.

One of my cats used to go sit at the end of  kids beds who came to stay with me regularly.  She wouldn't curl up and sleep like she would on my bed, she'd just look around.  It never looked like she was watching the children, more that she was watching to make sure everything around them was OK.  The cats didn't like crying but they would tend to stay around unless there was complete chaos.

I did notice that her whiskers were perked forward and so were her ears. She was in a "sitting" position without her butt on the floor looking up with direct eye contact (I was sitting on a bench). Her tail was low, but not between her legs and was wagging slowly. She definitely had this wild/concerned look on her face. I haven't really seen her watching over him at any other time. Typically, she avoids eye contact with him and mostly just tries to stay out of his way.

 

[lilin]

Hard to say. Babies move kind of unpredictably, so it's common for cats to be a bit uncertain of them. But, at the same time, the high-pitched frequency could be triggering something protective in her -- like kittens might. Or it could just be all the noise that had her freaked out. It's hard to say.

But cats can certainly be protective. I've seen it.

My elder kitty Pearl was totally outgoing -- an absolute lover. She loved EVERYONE, even complete strangers. I'd never seen her show aggression in her entire life.

But when I was 16 or 17, there was someone at the door when my dad was out who was trying to kind of bully their way into the apartment.

Pearl came flying out of nowhere and LAUNCHED at this person. I'd never seen anything like it. And she didn't stop until the person had backed out of the doorway and up against the wall on the opposite side of the hall.

There's no doubt in my mind she was being protective of me. I obviously didn't want that person there, and she wasn't happy about it at all.

 

[mservant]

 
I did notice that her whiskers were perked forward and so were her ears. She was in a "sitting" position without her butt on the floor looking up with direct eye contact (I was sitting on a bench). Her tail was low, but not between her legs and was wagging slowly. She definitely had this wild/concerned look on her face. I haven't really seen her watching over him at any other time. Typically, she avoids eye contact with him and mostly just tries to stay out of his way.

It could just be that she was alert and anxious trying to understand what was going on but I have attached a link here that might be helpful for you as gives more descriptions of postures, eyes and other signals she might have been trying to give you.  It sounds more like a pose where she would jump, either a a defense for you or your son, or because she was frightened by the noise.  If this is the case it might be worth searching to see if there are any other posts or advice about settling cats and young children in together safely.  I'm running out of time tonight as was out earlier on but will see if I can find anything tomorrow.  When I think about Mouse when he's in excited play mode and about to play attack my head he has his ears forward, eyes in direct contact and pupils slightly contracted so he has a very cheeky look, and his whiskers tend to be forward.  The main difference in the non play attack position described in this article is the tail -  Mouse will have his tail held still and arched upwards like he is alert and happy.

http://www.icatcare.org/advice-centre/cat-communication

I hope no more carpet shampooer traumas and things have been quieter for you the past couple of days.  I do want to reassure you in that when afraid, most cats I've seen will run and hide if they have the chance, esp when it comes to tackling humans and human children!

 

[jazzygemmy]

^Thank you SO MUCH! That is an awesome article. Thankfully, there hasn't been a carpet cleaner fiasco in the last couple days! lol

 

[mservant]

Good to hear the carpet cleaner has been behaving itself.  Keep it safely locked up!  I'll keep my fingers crossed that Hex is indeed adopting your little boy as an extra furmom, and that all stays quiet between them.  My cats were always really good with the young kids that came in and I never had any problems.  Mouse just met his first little one (she was 4 months old) and they were so cute.  They started off sort of touching and drawing back, but after half an hour they were nose to nose on my sofa and so cute together.