Current Events > Can someone explain cats

(+) Yeah! (+)

Always been a dog person, but my friend found an abandoned kitty in a parking lot, and I adopted her. She's two now, and I still can't figure her out. Just now, she was sitting on my lap at work, purring and being cute, when suddenly she just sunk her teeth into my arm and didn't let go. Sometimes she does little nibbles to get attention, but this was an I WANT TO CAUSE YOU PAIN bite. Why Lina? Why?

They're not really domesticated. You're basically keeping a wild animal in your house and pretending it's a pet.

Cats do not abide by the laws of nature

yeah sometimes they give you little lovebites, especially when they get over excited. it can also be aplayful thing. at 2 years old your cat still probably has lots of energy and needs stimulation.

I have never had a cat do what you described

It's a cat thing. You can't rationalize cats like you can dogs. Dogs make sense to people, cats do whatever the fuck the want. Just know that cats can get overstimulated easily, and when they do they lash out. And after they lash out and spend that bit of energy they go right back to wanting stimulation again.

My cat will beg and paw at me to pet her, and after a few minutes of that she'll attack me, then immediately go back to begging for more pets.

McSame_as_Bush posted...

she was sitting on my lap at work, purring

cat purr is one of the best sounds to hear. it's very calming.

Every cat has a tolerance meter for pets. It's unknowable and changes hourly, but if that meter is ever exceeded they bite you.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Every cat has a tolerance meter for pets. It's unknowable and changes hourly, but if that meter is ever exceeded they bite you.

Agreed, but not usually hard at all. It's supposed to just be, "okay, done here"

bsp77 posted...

Agreed, but not usually hard at all. It's supposed to just be, "okay, done here"

I didn't really say it was hard, just unknowable. You'll get better at it with practice but you can never be 100%

Can someone explain cats

No

maybe she just wanted to bite you for fun. one of my cats will randomly latch himself onto my leg when I walk past him or try to stick his paw in my mouth when I'm yawning (he usually misses and ends up punching my face)

All this cat talk, and no cat picshttps://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a29517bf.jpg

Cats aren't meant to be understood. They are bundles of calamity that are contained within a sleeping vessel. When the vessel wakes, some chaos escapes. It is your duty as a human to witness the small calamity to prevent the large, and to give head scratches and snacks.

I think Ive read or heard somewhere that cats just know things about people and react accordingly

My cat does that all the time. I'll be petting her, she's snuggly and purring, and then suddenly all four sets of claws clamp down on my arm and she starts biting my fingers.

She's obviously playing because she could definitely really hurt me if she wanted to, but she draws blood and it fucking hurts regardless.

https://youtube.com/shorts/GfT5CqrWJW0?si=yS_hTng898-HCnQD

Mine only bites and grabs onto your hand when you're really pushing it but she does not make you bleed. Otherwise she will purr and want pets for all the time she wants, then she will get up and walk away. It works that way.

Welcome to owning a cat, each one is different. My previous one loved to be held and would climb on your shoulder, this one hates being held.

I had my share of cats but none of them ever bit me except for one mama cat. I could pet them for a while and they never bit my hand.

We're talking about unchecked aggression here, dude.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/88b69e4e.jpg

Mostly it's playful. Even if it's hard.

Sometimes it's boundaries.

Other times it's just madness and sometimes the cat just wants to watch the world burn. Intrusive thoughts.

Thats how they play sometimes. You have to remember that they have a prey drive and also like to play. If a cat bites you without breaking the skin, its just showing affection.

It's cat law, they are bound by code to randomly bite the things they love.

My cat will mock bite (as in open his mouth) but not actually go through with it. Just a way to say no more, please.

I would take action if my cat was biting me hard enough to draw blood, the most immediate being moving away and not giving them any further attention for that period. Very hard bites should not be normal.

Longer term, I would double down on activities that make you bond with your cat. Regular play sessions are an obvious one, follow those up with treats to reward them for their "kill".

Clicker training is also awesome and something I think everyone should do. My cat will follow the clicker and gently touch its nose to it in order to get a treat - this enhances the positive relationship we have and he learns that he gets rewarded for doing something I've directed him to do. The next step I'm on is using the clicker to prevent him from running out the door. You can modify all sorts of behavior with it.

Besides abuse; reasons for why your cat might bite you:

• Overstimulation - often from petting/scritches, some cats get overstimulated by the petting and will "nip" or bite. Solution: slow your pets down, reduce intensity, and increase the interval between petting.
• Irritation - similarly to above, sometime a certain body location can be sensitive causing irritation when touched. This can be due to age, injury, disease, or natural occurrence. Solution: observation will determine course of treatment.
• Play/roughhouse - Some owners like to roughhouse with their cats and play/wrestle often using their hand. While fun, it can teach a cat to attack hands, as you have now challenged the cat mano y mano. Likewise cats will use their teeth in place of hands to grasp and carry things. Solution: reduce the intensity of play and set strong boundaries between times of roughhousing and relaxation.
• Attention - small nips or play bites are common occurrences when the cat wants attention. They lack hands and four legged friends use their mouth instead. Solution: only serious bites should require correction.
• They crazy - sometimes a cat just isn't learned the rules of the house, and will claw and bite without restriction. This also occurs if a cat isn't raised without other cats, that through play, learn not to play too rough. Solution: mostly a lost cause

Tyranthraxus posted...

Every cat has a tolerance meter for pets. It's unknowable and changes hourly, but if that meter is ever exceeded they bite you.

You gotta watch the tail. Once it starts twitching you know shit's about to get real

Explanation is as follows:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d7db6bcb.jpg

You know that feeling you get when you describe something you could do right now to totally ruin a person's day, but don't?

Cats actually follow through.

Cat impulse: FAFO?
Cat logic: Yes!

[ Also MAGA, but *not* cute. ]

sounds like a cat thing

the reddit /cats sub is actually really good for information

Their breath smells like cat food.

My sisters cat doesnt like motorcycles
the best I can do is park my bike like a block away, but I aint walking

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

His show taught me how to approach a skittish cat by showing it your open palms. That way they know you dont have a weapon or a net.

Link_of_time posted...

Besides abuse; reasons for why your cat might bite you:
* Overstimulation - often from petting/scritches, some cats get overstimulated by the petting and will "nip" or bite. Solution: slow your pets down, reduce intensity, and increase the interval between petting.
* Irritation - similarly to above, sometime a certain body location can be sensitive causing irritation when touched. This can be due to age, injury, disease, or natural occurrence. Solution: observation will determine course of treatment.
* Play/roughhouse - Some owners like to roughhouse with their cats and play/wrestle often using their hand. While fun, it can teach a cat to attack hands, as you have now challenged the cat mano y mano. Likewise cats will use their teeth in place of hands to grasp and carry things. Solution: reduce the intensity of play and set strong boundaries between times of roughhousing and relaxation.
* Attention - small nips or play bites are common occurrences when the cat wants attention. They lack hands and four legged friends use their mouth instead. Solution: only serious bites should require correction.
* They crazy - sometimes a cat just isn't learned the rules of the house, and will claw and bite without restriction. This also occurs if a cat isn't raised without other cats, that through play, learn not to play too rough. Solution: mostly a lost cause

I've heard the term dozens of times, and been on the internet forever, but this is the post that finally made me realize 'mano y mano' translates to 'hand to hand', and not 'man to man'

I didn't take Spanish in high school

Cuz they're fucking easy to care for. You don't have to bathe them, you don't have to rush home after work and then walk them in the freezing rain before they piss all over your house. You just gotta scoop the litter every other day and you're good lol. And they still show you affection like dogs, except they don't smell and drool all over your face. Plus if you wanna go away for like 5 days or so, all you need to do is put out extra food, water, and litter and they're good to go.

Dogs feel like you tailor your life around them. Cats you can just mostly live your life and have your freedom.

thronedfire2 posted...

I've heard the term dozens of times, and been on the internet forever, but this is the post that finally made me realize 'mano y mano' translates to 'hand to hand', and not 'man to man'

I didn't take Spanish in high school

Lol, I didn't either till one day I thought, mano means hand in spanish, wait... In a America it has definitely always meant man against man.

Mano y Mano isnt an expression outside of the time Billy Madison says it.
You're thinking of Mano a Mano.

(I dont know why Mano is being auto capitalized on my phone)

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Which is funny to see happening in Japan as well.

Payzmaykr posted...

His show taught me how to approach a skittish cat by showing it your open palms. That way they know you dont have a weapon or a net.

My cat spat in my face when I showed it my open palm. Must be a Republican.

McSame_as_Bush posted...

Always been a dog person, but my friend found an abandoned kitty in a parking lot, and I adopted her. She's two now, and I still can't figure her out. Just now, she was sitting on my lap at work, purring and being cute, when suddenly she just sunk her teeth into my arm and didn't let go. Sometimes she does little nibbles to get attention, but this was an I WANT TO CAUSE YOU PAIN bite. Why Lina? Why?

I had a cat take a 1cm chunk out of my leg, a little bite is nothing compared to losing an actual chunk that takes months for the skin to grow back

Villain_S_Fiend posted...

My cat spat in my face when I showed it my open palm. Must be a Republican.

nah, cat knew where those hands had been and responded appropriately.

Cat got over-stimulated.

s0nicfan posted...

They're not really domesticated. You're basically keeping a wild animal in your house and pretending it's a pet.

They are domesticated. They aren't reliant on people and are capable of surviving alone or in the wild. But, they're very ,much domesticated.

CE sucking so hard at simple stuff that they go housecats arent domesticated!!!! Is very in character

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/91976042.jpg

Cats are like that. Signs that they trust you is stuff like loafing around, blinking at you and nibbling your fingers.

But yeah they don't usually bite you unless they're anxious, overstimulated or angry. Cat may say they're sorry by bringing you a dead rat and headbutting you in the legs.

KogaSteelfang posted...

Cats aren't meant to be understood. They are bundles of calamity that are contained within a sleeping vessel. When the vessel wakes, some chaos escapes. It is your duty as a human to witness the small calamity to prevent the large, and to give head scratches and snacks.

When you consider their larger relatives it makes sense. Sleep most of the time, eat, check the boundaries, go back to sleep.

I have a outside cat (a maine) and a inside cat ( a tux) The tux knows when the maine is on the porch because the door has a opaque glass window. He just waits to slip out. They are both males. One is snipped, the other intact. The tux is still intact but 90% of the time he doesnt do what intact males do. He's a bit weird. He hates when I leave. I also think 2 moves in a year threw him for a loop.

My mom's cat is like that. She found her as a kitten and took her in.

She'll come up and start rubbing on your leg meowing, looking for attention. You can pet her for a minute then the claws come out at lightning speed and blood starts flowing. Sometimes you don't even have to touch her. She'll come up to your hand and swipe it then casually walk off.

I loved cats before this. Now I'm afraid of every cat that approaches me.