What is it with kitty's belly that makes her attack?

OK, attack is a rather strong word, because she IS playing, but when
you have itty-bitty SUPER SHARP kitten teeth and claws, gentle
playing becomes "peeling kitty's claws out of your hand."

We do a lot of "touch therapy" with our animals and the new kitten is
no exception. She can get manhandled, smooshed, rubbed on, you know
the whole lovey dovey routine...

....BUT, if and when you rub her belly, 90% of the time it fires her
"time to play with teeth and claws" mode. The other 10% of the time
she not already worked up or in play mode and she purrs loudly when
her belly is rubbed.

What in the world is making Gabby (our kitten) so playfully vicious
when we touch her belly?

Oh, and no... nothing is wrong with her belly visibly. I also
checked for tenderness, lumps, et cetera and she seems fine. For
example if I hold her and feel her belly she is OK. If I lay her on
the floor or beside me on the couch and rub her belly she attacks my
hand with all 4 paws, and teeth and then goes bouncing down the hall
attacking everything along the way (children, dogs, furniture,
scratching post that she still won't use, et cetera).

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

Though our cat is certainly not a kitten anymore, she will *bunny
thump* us with ther hind feet anytime that we try to rub her belly.
It starts out innocent enough, but then, she wraps her big old front
paws around our arms and starts beating us up with her hind feet.
I'm not really sure if it's aggressive behavior, a hunting behavior,
or just rough play. I'm really curious now.

Grace

Response from Grace :

Though our cat is certainly not a kitten anymore, she will *bunny
thump* us with ther hind feet anytime that we try to rub her
belly. It starts out innocent enough, but then, she wraps her big
old front paws around our arms and starts beating us up with her
hind feet. I'm not really sure if it's aggressive behavior, a
hunting behavior, or just rough play. I'm really curious now.

That is EXACTLY what Gabby is doing! Only thing is, her "bunny
thumping" starts AFTER she starts in with her front paws and teeth.
And she digs in deep with those hind legs too, sheesh.

Every now and again, I noticed her ears would fall flat against her
skull... you know the "demonic cat" look. Yet, she never appears to
be getting upset and of course we are not doing anything that would
hurt her. I say she appears to not get upset because we can simply
pry our hand from her grip and she just lays there. Or sometimes
chases us down and leaps on us... still playing.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

Tiger does the "bunny thump" but I can rub Amber's belly anytime and she
seems to enjoy it.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

"-Lost" wrote in
:

OK, attack is a rather strong word, because she IS playing, but when
you have itty-bitty SUPER SHARP kitten teeth and claws, gentle
playing becomes "peeling kitty's claws out of your hand."

We do a lot of "touch therapy" with our animals and the new kitten is
no exception. She can get manhandled, smooshed, rubbed on, you know
the whole lovey dovey routine...

...BUT, if and when you rub her belly, 90% of the time it fires her
"time to play with teeth and claws" mode. The other 10% of the time
she not already worked up or in play mode and she purrs loudly when
her belly is rubbed.

What in the world is making Gabby (our kitten) so playfully vicious
when we touch her belly?

Oh, and no... nothing is wrong with her belly visibly. I also
checked for tenderness, lumps, et cetera and she seems fine. For
example if I hold her and feel her belly she is OK. If I lay her on
the floor or beside me on the couch and rub her belly she attacks my
hand with all 4 paws, and teeth and then goes bouncing down the hall
attacking everything along the way (children, dogs, furniture,
scratching post that she still won't use, et cetera).


Half the cats we've owned over the last 40 years love a belly rub, the
other half will shred our hand if we go near it. Seems to be a
preference thing with cats. And those that love it, really really love
it.
Bobble

Lyric puts her ears back, too! There is also a lot of yowling and
growling, yet, once we finally manage to get our hands and arms away
from her, she jumps right back in for more. She walks around us as
if she is *stalking* us. Yowling, ears back, tail switching,
crouching nearby. It is funny, but the biting, scratching and
thumping hurts! Sometimes she will do her sneak attack, which is
when she hides behind something, only to shoot out and grab a leg,
gnaw, thump and scratch, and then disappear again.

Grace

"Lynne" wrote

My male cats have never really liked their tummies rubbed, though my
youngest will allow it when he's suckling. My mother's 2 females love
having their tummies rubbed, so I'm guessing it's just a personal
preference with each kitty.


Gracie melts onto her back, splays her lets, and gazes dreamily at me when I
pet her
belly. It is so silky, with creamy colored spotted fur. She is hilarious,
her face is so expressive. Sometimes she heaves this enormous sigh.
This cat is seven lanky pounds of pure personality. My cat is the Best
Cat Ever, just like everybody else's cat!

"Lynne" wrote in message
. 97.142...
on Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:19:15 GMT, "cybercat"
wrote:

Gracie melts onto her back, splays her legs, and gazes dreamily at me
when I pet her

The little slut!!


Precisely. She had been here maybe three months when one night, while I
was petting her as she lay on her side on the bed, she threw her leg back
like it was on a hinge and looked at me. lol

Response from bobblespin :

snip

What in the world is making Gabby (our kitten) so playfully
vicious when we touch her belly?

snip

Half the cats we've owned over the last 40 years love a belly rub,
the other half will shred our hand if we go near it. Seems to be
a preference thing with cats. And those that love it, really
really love it.

I think you are right. As ---Mike and Lynne said also, it appears it
is entirely personal preference. Although I have known quite a few
cats to go a little mountain lion when their tummies are rubbed.
Maybe I should stop handling the catnip extract or something? Haha!

Thanks for the feedback, Bobble.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

Response from Lynne :

on Sun, 23 Sep 2007 18:41:42 GMT, Lynne
wrote:

Too effin cute. I want to bury my face in her tummy.

speaking of which, I have updated photos of the pup. They start
here and once the first one loads (takes a bit) you can click
through the rest of them:

http://picasaweb.google.com/what.the...sPlusHendrix/p
hoto# 5112395407118914738

or

http://tinyurl.com/ywbtj2

Beware, the first two are XXX rated!

I am glad to see I am not the only one who gets a kick out of "butt
swirls."

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.