Is this normal?: Cat melting in your arms

[magiksgirl]

Hi! 

I have this 12 week girl kitten that is very well socialized (by me since she was about 2-3 weeks old) so she has never bitten me or scratched me on purpose.

She seems to like being near me but runs away from me when I try to pick her up (maybe she's scared because my brother and dad sometimes play a little too rough by unintentionally rubbing too hard or poking too hard). Sometimes I do manage to pick her up 

She is accustomed to being flipped over and cradled in my arms like a baby and I rub her chin, ears and belly.

I noticed that sometimes immediately when she's cradled or after some rubbing she "melts" in arms by going limp, sometimes with her head dangling off my arm. I find it amusing since I can carefully cradle her with my hands (and since she's so limp, she balls up a little) and raise her up and she continues to be melty. I do this for a couple of seconds, I don't want to annoy her though.

If she squirms a little I return her to my arms (so she doesn't fall straight down) and I cradle her again. 

Sometimes, after cradling, raising, cradling and more rubbing, she falls asleep on my arms 

When she starts squirming too much I gently put her down and she flees as fast as she can. 

I had never heard of kittens "melting" in your arms. Is this affection she's showing or is this something else like a defense mechanism? 

Thanks! 

 

 

[Columbine]

Ragdoll cats are named because they go limp in your arms like a ragdoll. It sounds like that's what you kitten's doing. I believe it's thought that a recessive gene is the cause of the limpness. I had a dlh rescue that did the same thing. It's nothing to worry about - just a quirk of genetics

 

[magiksgirl]

Ahhh.... I see... I found it funny! She's a tuxedo baby:

20150409_233110_Play_And_Clean_Time_05_Colita.PNG

• magiksgirl
• Apr 10, 2015

 

20150409_233110_Play_And_Clean_Time_04_Colita.PNG

• magiksgirl
• Apr 10, 2015

 

20150501_165715.jpg

• magiksgirl
• May 6, 2015

That stray Tuxedo momma that adopted us has been full of surprises: giving birth to a Russian Blue (ish), a Black baby, and 2 tuxedo babies (one melting and one not) Where did she get so many good genes?! 

I'm actually not that shocked she might have recessive ragdoll. In the last 2 years or so, a lot of nice cats showed up in our neighborhood including many tuxedo cats, red a shorthair tabby, a bicolor, a red point girl and even a Siamese! 

 Now makes me wonder how many cats there actually are hiding between the houses.

Thank you for the reply @Columbine! 

 

[angelinacat]

I had a cat once that was lying in my lap.  He went to sleep so soundly that his neck went totally limp and his head fell over sideways like it wasn't attached.  That scared the puddin' out of me.  I had to wake him up so that I could make sure that he was okay.  He was.  But he never did that again.  He was a gray tuxedo, very similar to your handsome boy there to the right.

 

[magiksgirl]

@AngelinaCat  Awww, your poor baby got scared after being woken up 

 

Isn't it weird how it feels like they died or something? 

 I got scared at first also, but now I'm used to it. I just wanted to know if it's something to be concerned about 

PS: All the pics are of the same baby girl. 1-2 when she was about 2-3 weeks old and the 3rd one when she was about 6-7 weeks old. I can never seem to be able to get her real color captured on camera 

  She's black and when the sun hits her she looks like burnt orange. She's a weird one to classify color on