My cat is strange….

[Kristen]

[Kristen]

What I’m kinda wondering is, why?

She’s all lovey, as I type this she’s behind my head, acting as a neck massage (ie, purring like mad). But about half the time, when I go to pet her, she’ll flatten her ears back, crouch down, and close her eyes, like she’s expecting me to hit her.

Now, I don’t normally hit my cat (no promises for when she’s lying outside the bathroom door when it’s really dark outside, I’ve accidentally booted her then, but she got lots of apologies, treats, and love for that). When I do, it’s mostly a little tap (literally) on her behind to tell her “no”. Never hard. And once I start petting her, she seems to go… “okay, you’re petting me” and demands more.

Why does she keep acting like I’m going to smack her across the room? I did get her when she was 1, and she does have a tail that was obviously broken at some point (had to explain to the vet that we got her that way, he looked ready to call the humane society on us! 😮 ), do you think she might have came from an abusive household?

And is there anyway to try and get her to stop doing this? I go slow when I go to pet her, talking to her nicely (she likes it when I talk to her, she talks back), but she still does that sometimes. I’m wondering if it’s just an automatic reflex now.

It just makes me sad to see her recoil from me like this….

[Adaneth]

I’m sure she learned it before you got her…but is it possible you might be encouraging it in some way, by giving her more attention after she does it? Just a suggestion–it’s amazing what behavior patterns they can pick up.

[Kristen]

Adaneth wrote:

I’m sure she learned it before you got her…but is it possible you might be encouraging it in some way, by giving her more attention after she does it? Just a suggestion–it’s amazing what behavior patterns they can pick up.

I usually give her a quick scratch and then stop. I tend to give her more attention when she leans into my hand as I go to pet her – but I don’t know what my fiancee does. I’ll have to start paying attention. Same with the other roommates, who she does it to more. She does it the least to me (but I’m also her ‘favorite’ for some reason).

[BDW]

Mine does that when I have hand cream on my hands….or just ate an orange.
But like you said very strange…..might get over it with time. 🙂

[WindstoneCollector]

For some reason Charlie does it too. But I haven’t ever hit him. If I make a zzzztttt noise it lets him know to stop whatever he is doing wrong. Dave taught him that way. I don’t know if Glen has ever smacked him though. But he does the same exact thing. It annoys me that my cat acts like he was beat. 😡 When I would never beat a cat for any reason. 🙁
And we have had him since he was 13 weeks old… :scratch:

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