Why?!?

[samzy]

Okay, history. I've had cats before, one adopted when he was two, and later two little ones adopted before they were old enough to be separated from their mother. This one, the current one is a gray bengal cat. He was originally my aunt's from kittenhood, and now I've adopted him because she's unable to care for him and didn't want to put him in a shelter. He's wicked smart, playful and cuddly. Before living with me, he was a one cat kitten for a while and then they added a second. He wanted to play with the second, but the calico wanted nothing to do with him. Now he's here with me, and my 85 lb dog. It took a while to get them trained not to try and chase each other, but they're doing well now. Anyway, that's the history. Here's my issue...

1) When we first brought him home, he was fine with his tree (his from my aunts house) and he was sequestered in my room while we trained the dog and him to get used to each other. Now however, he won't touch his tree, not with treats, not with cat nip... Nothing. I wonder if vacuuming it had something to do with it?

2) He's super snuggly. He'd sit and purr on my lap, or my chest and just love on me. Now, every so often when I'm petting him, and he's rubbing me and purring, he'll suddenly stop and pounce on me. Not a playful pounce... No, the kind where I have to get up and disinfect the scratches and punctures. I don't understand what's gotten into him.

 

[margd]

I'm not sure why he stopped using his tree but I can make an educated guess at why he suddenly pounces on you in the middle of snuggles and pets. This is actually quite common and occurs when cats feel over stimulated from the physical sensations of being stroked. Different cats have different comfort levels. Some allow just a couple of pats, some are not bothered at all and many fall in-between.

You can learn to predict when your cat has had enough by paying attention to his body language. Typically his tail will start to slowly twitch or swish. His muscles may grow taut and his pupils dilate. This happens quickly - you don't get much warning but with practice, you'll learn his signals. At that point, stop stroking or loving on him. He should calm down.

The cat tree issue is a bit of a mystery. I suppose it's possible he associates it with the hated vacuum cleaner but I have never seen that response before. Hopefully someone else will come along with a possible explanation.

 

[mtgal]

After having animals of all sorts for many years, I've reached the conclusion that, like us, animals do things because...well, they want to do those things! Last year I bought a new cat climbing perch/pole because the old one was in tough shape. I brought it home, put it together and rubbed it with catnip. Two of my three cats checked it out and even played on it for a couple of days. But after a few days, they all went back to the old tree. The new cat tree is still set up, but the cats pretty much leave it alone. Meanwhile, they still play on the old one despite the fact it now has many bare spots and most of the old sisal has been torn off. The same cats also like to paw and scratch on dog toys and even their beds, but that's another thing. Why don't they like the new tree? I have no idea! It has many nice resting nooks, two tunnels and several high platforms - exactly what I thought they would love. Crazy cats!

I agree with Margd about the pouncing on you: my oldest cat loves to cuddle, but if I decide to start petting her, she will only allow this for a minute or two and then will pounce as if to say "enough, leave me alone now." We just have to learn how to read our animals and respect their desire for peace. 

 

[oopsmom]

For the tree - he's in a new place so he's probably finding all kinds of new climbing/hiding/exploring places. Cats change their favorite things all the time. He'll probably go back to it eventually.

Agree with the others about the pouncing.