Both the cats at my step-dad’s place are absolute belly-rub addicts and the idea of scratching doesn’t even enter their minds, you just poke their belly and they flop over, the young one enthusiastically and the old one lazily.
One of ours loves belly rubs, she’ll happily flop over and let you rub all day. Occasionally, though, she’ll decide it’s a feisty day. Rarely get scratched, but I get my wrist gently bit, pulled around, and then rabbit kicked.
She has claws, she just never really pops them out, and her top front teeth are severely stunted from malnutrition before she got to us. It’s absolutely adorable to watch her get going, and then she has to love all over which arm she got.
I find it odd, here on the farm it’s always been the biggest, meanest tomcats that flop around on the porch for endless belly rubs. Even my daughter has never been scratched and she’ll pet these battle-scarred warriors for hours.
might be a good place to mention petting aggression: basically the term for when you’re having some nice petting and affection time with your cat and then they attack you out of nowhere.
the article i linked describes some of the causes, and offers some advice on how to see the signs and avoid the attacks from happening
Add comment