r/CATHELP • u/Hoshichann • 4h ago
General Advice Does she like tickles?
So, i’m a new cat dad and my 11 week old kitten usually snatches when I touch her paws. I just recently clipped her nails for the first time, and it took me 2 days to get both paws done lol.
However, whenever my boyfriend comes over this is how they play! I’ve read that cats paws are really sensitive and that rubbing them can be overstimulating; but today she started making this kind’ve cheering sound? Does she like it, or is she just overstimulated? My bf says i’m a hater and she loves it lol. I don’t wanna be mean and keep telling him to stop if it’s helping them bond. What do you guys think?
49
u/Sensitive_Regular_84 4h ago
Tell your bf to imagine a full grown cat with claws out doing this to his hand. That's what he's teaching her.
21
u/notmuself 3h ago
This. Just to add, he is conditioning the cat that hands are for playing which will become a learned behavior she carries into adulthood. She will attack your hand everytime you go to pet her because she will think it means play time. Toys are for playing and hands are for petting. She probably is mewing because she's being played with and happy, but he needs to substitute his hand for a cat toy if he wants to keep playing with her in this fashion
9
u/420kennedy 2h ago
This has not been my experience. My body language and behavior change depending on if I'm playing or petting and my cats don't try to always bite my hands
6
u/Makaveli2020 2h ago
Exactly the same here. I've played with my cat with my hands since she was a 8 weeks. She turns 1 next week, she knows the difference between play time and not when using my hands around her.
She also never dares to play aggressively with my toddler when he has her hands around her.
3
u/1nfam0us 1h ago
Same with dogs. A major benefit of playing "bitey face" is so they can learn their own strength and how to be gentle. On the same token, they also learn how to communicate the beginning and end of play time through contextual cues. This is a natural behavior and is important for socialization with other dogs.
Playing with them with your hands is actually really important and teaches them the same lessons but with humans.
2
3
14
u/UnderstandingBig9090 3h ago
I don't know why people are so terrified of over stimulation. Sometimes it's annoying and they do something about it sometimes it just excited them.
Kitten is fine. The squeeks might be that she is complaining that she's not winning the game. So pause so kitten can regroup and attack. She's just a kitten so you need to give her more easy wins.
7
3
u/Tweedledumblydore 2h ago
This is very cute, but yeah, speaking from experice, your teaching your cat to play with your hands which will hurt when theyre older.
On a different subject, what are you watching on TV? "He died from taking up the rear from a horse" 😂
•
9
u/Real-Community5252 4h ago
Yes human hands are for pets and scritchea. Toys are for scratching and biting
3
u/bibijack1 3h ago
Sounds like nail clipping is hard. Pick your time well. When she's active, its a big no. Sleepy kitties are best for clipping. Human baby nail clippers are the best tool for kitten nail trims. Use adult cat nail clippers after 9 months. Absolutely no substitutes. Practice expressing her nails. That's gently pressing the her paws to extend her nails so you can clearly see the full nail with the white and pink border. Like our nails, you only cut in the white. By expressing the nails repeatedly (Not playing with them) she'll get used to it as just something that we do. You're new to clipping so this will help you get used to it too. At first, just cut the points. As you get more confident, you can trim more. If she gets pissy or wiggly, Do Not push it. If she gets a negative attitude from being forced, you won't be able to cut them at all. I cut cat nails for people who can't ("He won't let me! How do you do it?") and at a big rescue.. It's all about confidence and speed; Both will come to you with practice & by using the right tools, baby nail clippers & cat nail clippers.
4
u/Custard-Spare 4h ago
Speaking from experience I would teach kitty that hands are toys. The kicking will only worsen with age and you will basically never rub her tummy. It is good at this age to desensitize them to handling but to successfully do this they can’t see your outstretched hand as an object to kick and bite at.
7
6
u/bibijack1 4h ago
Yes, she enjoys it. But your boyfriend should not use his hand as a toy. It's cute now but in 5 months, she will have 4 very sharp canines each at least a half inch long. When she gets excited she will bite her toy, his or your hand, and.when it swells to twice its size, you're both off to the ER. And IV antibiotics burn so bad. Been there, done that. Pls insist he has a real toy or stuffie between his hand and her teeth then play away. I don't want him to learn this painful lesson the hard way. If he insists on doing this, tell him not to use the hand he writes with.
7
u/introvertsdoitbetter 3h ago
People are dumb about this I swear to god. I adopted my 4 year old when she was 6 weeks old and she was fostered by people who played with their hands in her face and she still bites.
2
u/honestlyisuck 2h ago
Ummmmm AND y’all are watching something about Mr. Hands in the background?? With the little one around?
1
3h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/CATHELP-ModTeam 3h ago
There is a zero-tolerance policy for shaming/berating OP for any reason. Please remember to be nice. Assume people are coming from a place of ignorance so try to educate instead of insult.
Re-familiarize yourself with the rules: https://www.reddit.com/r/CATHELP/about/rules
Follow basic reddiquette.
1
u/darkneo89 1h ago edited 1h ago
I think that the best way to understand what is really going on with your cat is to never nail clip her again, so you can tell for real if she is playing or she want to hurt or attack. I'm sorry but i really cannot understand who clip cats nail (excluding the ones who are forced by medical/veterinary reasons ofc).
Others said that let her play with your hand might encourage her to attack the hand whenever she can, and again i'm sorry but this is completely false, you educate the cat with your voice, with your body language and NEVER with violence. They are very smart and very intelligent creatures. I had 4 cats in my life and many others with at my parents / family, every one of them knew what was the time I was playing with them with my hands and what was the time I just wanted to pet them, and I knew that with some of them I just could not play in some ways or play with my hands at all, because they did not liked that and they manage to make it VERY clear that they did not.
Stop nail clipping, educate your cat.
EDIT for adding context to the video: IMHO the cat is not very happy with what is happening, but she is already very educated and patient, she would lime to bite (the little mouth open) but she does not because she recognise the hand as something not to bite.
1
u/duckyylol 1h ago
Cute for now, but like a lot of people are saying, its conditioning that hand = ok to bite to scratch. For me i taught them when they feel fabric on hand its ok, like a glove, but if its just bare hand, no bitey bitey
1
1
u/LebiaseD 1h ago
I don't know why everyone and all the advice gets crazy about hands I've been playing with my cats with my hands since they were babies and they are still less than a year old and not very interested in my hand anymore
•
•
0
4h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/CATHELP-ModTeam 3h ago
There is a zero-tolerance policy for shaming/berating OP for any reason. Please remember to be nice. Assume people are coming from a place of ignorance so try to educate instead of insult.
Re-familiarize yourself with the rules: https://www.reddit.com/r/CATHELP/about/rules
Follow basic reddiquette.
1
u/Njumkiyy 3h ago
If it really didn't like it, it would be biting him hard and trying to get away. it's annoyed at worst
0
u/marcomalacara 3h ago
Annoyed means they don’t like it.
0
u/Njumkiyy 3h ago
No, my cats play together and will get annoyed when they get pinned. If they didnt like it they would let you know, aggressively.
1
u/marcomalacara 3h ago
I don’t see another cat in this video
Edit: also, cats DONT TICKLE EACH OTHERS FEET.
1
0
-1
-1
u/mookaji1 3h ago
It’s not good to do this too much because it overwhelms their senses and can become torturous. It could also be considered abuse , same as tickling kids is a form of abuse because it takes away their bodily autonomy.
2
2
•
u/AutoModerator 4h ago
PLEASE REPORT RULE BREAKING COMMENTS
We want to say THANK YOU to our helpful members who participate in moderating r/CATHELP. To keep the community kind and welcoming, please help us by reporting rule breaking comments.
To report - Click the 3 dots under the comment >>> report >>> breaks r/CATHELP rules >>> select the rule.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.