Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 2 year old cat, Lily, and ever since we've gotten her from the humane society, she's been very loving. She used to like having her tummy rubbed in the first 3 months we had her but ever since then when I would pet her anywhere near her paws, tummy, tail etc she'd be relaxing and then in a second she'd turn around and swat me! Somtimes even bite me! And other times she would bite me, dig her claws into me and use her hind legs to scratch my arm. I've seen her do this before when she would use her catnip toy and she'd mangle it almost to death just to get it open to nibble on the catnip. And yet when she cries for attention, I'd give it to her and since I steer clear away from those "danger" spots sometimes even petting her on the head she'll scratch and swat at me.

I thought someone else might also reply with a better answer but I can tell you how Boris is. When he was a kitten he was quite the loving attentive little guy. As he has matured, he is still that way but on his terms. For example last night he jumped up in my lap to lick my neck (that is his security blanket) while I pet him. But he tends to get over-stimulated easy and after a little bit you will see that tail of his start switching back and forth and I know that I am in for a "nip" as last night he nipped my cheek. So I think that as he has gotten older, he tends to get over stimulated easier and just plays more aggressively. Just as soon as this starts, I pick up one of his soft balls and we play a game of "fetch". It distracts his attention to the new game and before long he has exercised that "friskiness" out of his system.
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Boris's Human, Pam