Bringing out the inner cat

It's good to bring out the inner cat in my cat.

Seated at the table, I sensed my cat wished to communicate. She had
food in her dishes but was not eating. A sign that communication is now
possible. A channel has opened up. She is giving me obtuse signals,
like blocking my path and grabbing my ankle.

So I sit at the kitchen table. She is on the table by now. She proceeds
to bite the top part of my wrist with some provocation by myself.

And lo and behold she does a new twist to her biting. She quickly bites
the tender part of the underside of my wrist.

Whew. Good that she is keeping her combat skills not only up to date
but trying out new moves.

Christina Websell...

I'm glad to hear you like to be bitten by your cat as she seems to like to
bite *you.* I don't and mine don't. Why do you let her?

jmcquown...

Persia bites me, *very very gently* when she's feeling particularly loving
towards me. She usually licks my wrist or elbow first, or my knee if I'm
seated on my throne! then she gently nips at me, purring loudly all the
time. It's not aggressive behavior. It's "I love you!" behavior. And she
does the slow, blinkey eyes thing at me when she's doing it.

Sounds to me like treeline is trying to encourage some sort of aggressive
play and/or (as stated) combat skills rather than an expression of love.

Kreisleriana...

Cats bite each other all the time, in various ways, so when they live
with us, it's natural for them to at least try it. We try to
discourage it, and make them understand that it's not appropriate to
do it to their hoomins. But there are those very gentle, force-free
bites, and I don't mind them. It's the frenzied, heat-of battle
bites that aren't allowed.

Theresa

Make Levees, Not War

treeline12345...

Why do you assume, incorrectly, that I do not also encourage
expressions of love? That seems a rather negative and biased assumption
on your part. Quite catty, actually.

In any event, if you read further down, my cat also gives me kisses. It
was originally a trick I taught her but she also rubs noses with me
briefly because settling down to sleep with her face on my chest.
Purring of course.

For a former street cat, not a former pet, that's not too bad.

treeline12345...

She likes it. Just playing. She has never broken the skin or even
bruised it ever. Just a fun thing to do. Play fighting.

Enfilade...

Our Nocturne is a biter...or rather, a nipper, being as she never
breaks skin. We notice her doing this to the kittens too. It's her
way of trying to prove she's dominant in the household.

We found that struggling against or reacting to the bite just made her
do it /more/...while ignoring it causes her to no longer feel the need
to "prove" her dominance and just settle right back down again.

She does it if we do something we know she won't like (such as touch
her tummy) and then, every once in a while she'll take our hands in her
teeth just to remind us.