Is there such thing as a bipolar cat???

[Zilla]

I don't know if that sounds far fetched or not but its a serious question do anyone's cats ever act like that?? My cats never act like that but my moms cats do. She's got three cats and a little chihuahua. One cat is 14 and she's actually the more normal one... There's a 10 and an 8 year old that act very odd I think. They will come up and be all nice to you then two seconds later lash out and bite or hiss. I will pet them all down their backs nicely and they purr. Then like I said out of no where they will have a bipolar moment then come back and let me pet them again.... Does anyone's cats act like that?? It just seems odd to me....


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[kittyfreak]

My cats do not but a friend of mine her cat is just like that. Bubba is his name. He will be content while being petted and then grab your hand with both his paws and bite u. Needless to say I do not pet him anymore. After 10 min he will come back like nothing happened at all. I always thought he was just crazy.

[Nell]

My sister's cat is like that. She'll come up to you looking for attention, crawl into your lap being all lovey-dovey, but pet her for too long or in the wrong way and she'll turn nasty really quick. I always attributed it to over-stimulation since that generally only happens when someone is petting her.
She's pretty temperamental in other ways though. When she was much younger, all you had to do was look at her wrong and she'd turn mean. She's the kind of cat that makes people dislike cats.

[catloverami]

Quite a few cats gets get overstimulated from too much petting, especially down their back. Often they don't if you just concentrate on the cheeks or chin, or maybe the top of the head. None of my Manx ever did that nor do my Devons, but I've met quite a number of cats who do react that way and I'm always very careful to watch for any signs of annoyance so I don't get swiped.

[Ritzpg]

If behavioral and common medical reasons are ruled out, then I think you have to look at chemical imbalances. People have them, why wouldn't cats.
BUT bipolar is a serious diagnosis and illness, and other diagnosis, illnesses should be ruled out, human error like petting too much leading to petting agression being one. There was one thread about a cat that truly did seem to be psychotic (and very very ill mentally). It's no joke--to the cat or human involved.

[catinthemirror]

My uncle's cat is like this too. He comes up to anyone looking like he wants attention, but before you even touch him he starts violently swishing his tail. If you pet down his back more than once, he's going to scratch you. He's just fine having his cheeks rubbed though. Whenever I see him I just stick to gentle cheek rubbing and a few scritches on his head, which keeps him from lashing out.

My cat Sassy will smack people for touching her sides. You can pet her head and down her back all you want, but if you touch her sides she whips around and smacks you (claws in) while making a reprimanding 'Mrack!' sound She knows what she likes.

Whenever I meet a strange cat I just slowly offer my hand and let them show me how/if they want to be touched. Some cat are just really particular about being touched.

[Arianwen]

I think a lot of cats do this (one of the farm cats is notorious for it!!!) - maybe we are mistaking "normal" behaviour for a problem - perhaps we should just be grateful for the tolerant ones.

[Zilla]

:Lol: maybe they are just getting old and sea-nile.... Who knows.... Thanks for all the responses


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[jusjim]

Originally Posted by Zilla

:Lol: maybe they are just getting old and sea-nile.... Who knows.... Thanks for all the responses


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Could be, but Zenobi (rip) bit me after I'd had her a couple of days and was furiously angry, eyes flashing. I've told the story several times on here and I solved the problem with a bit of patience, but never have been sure of what was going on. I think part of it was as suspicion that she was going to get scruffed. Try to think back to exactly what you did before the change.

Zenobi did have quite a temper, though, if she was annoyed with me, but I was usually able to work out what 'I' was doing wrong.

That two cats are doing this makes me think they believe you're going to do something they don't want done.

[catloverami]

I did know of one cat that was suspected of being bi-polar. Even from the time it was a kitten, it could be sweet, gentle and cuddly one minute, and then change in a flash to being a yowling, biting attacking demon. The conclusion was that it was bi-polar or had some sort of brain damage or problem. The kitten was about 5 months old at the time, and had showed no sign of improvement or change, so the owner eventually decided it was best to have it euthanised as it really was a danger to people and would be even more so as an adult.