[Serenity73]

Hi everyone,
I have two cats with a similar issue. They both will reach out and claw me and or bite for no reason. Just out of the blue. I can be walking past and one will reach out to claw. I am not sure if this is an attention grabber or not. The other one will lay down by me and allow me to pet her she will be purring and all of a sudden she latches on to a finger and pulls, rips, and bites. I don't get it.rcat
Anyone have ideas about this? Other then that they are super sweet, and they are the twins in my family of cats. Think it's a twin thing?

 

[lyle]

How long have you known your cats? Perhaps they have past issues.

Squiggy used to do the same thing. Come to find out his previous owner had locked him in a garage with no windows for a year or so. Nice cat most of the time, but every once in a while, WOW!

Other than that my only opinion is that cats are mental at best and psycho at worst and cats is cats :catsm

 

[shan841]

How hard are they doing it? Sounds like normal cat play to me

 

[Milky's Mammy]

Milky used to do that too. He would be lying on his side playing (he's a bit lazy) and playing gently then all of a sudden reach out and claw at us or bite us. This went on for a little couple of months, but only happened ocassionally. Then suddenly for the past couple of weeks, he has stopped that behaviour by himself. He still lies down but now when he reaches out to us suddenly, he doesn't use his claws anymore, he's gentle and affectionate. He just reaches out to pull our hands towards him and licks us now.

Maybe the behaviour will change soon. Give them some time.

 

[jusjim]

Hi everyone,
The other one will lay down by me and allow me to pet her she will be purring and all of a sudden she latches on to a finger and pulls, rips, and bites. I don't get it.rcat
Anyone have ideas about this? QUOTE]

If it doesn't draw blood, I'd say it's a love bite. Try not to pull away sharply as this can sometimes cause a skin break. A grown cat can slice off a rats head with one bite. I try to discourage the clawing. I gently push the claws back and push the paw away. If it doesn't stop I do my best to withdraw attention. If the skin gets broken, I point the spot out to Missy and tell her she's hurt me. These days she mostly understands, but I still need to be aware and withdraw if she starts to show signs of being careless. Of course, cats are claws, and claws are scratches. I don't think there's anyway of avoiding all.

One time she was starting to claw and I gave her paw a sharp, but gentle swat with two fingers. There was no hesitation on Missy's part, the paw came up and gave the two fingers a sharp bat. I found it funny.