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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / January 2004Cat Playing with it's back foot
Hi, We have a semi-longhair Maine Coon, which we found as a stray (about 3 years old now). He was very friendly when we found him but had a bad coat, so we assume it ran away or was abandoned (why anyone would abandon such a beautiful cat is beyond us.. Maybe he begged too much at the table). He has a rather odd habit where he will curl into a ball on occasion (about once a week it seems), grasp one of his hind legs with his two front ones, the then look like he's alternately trying to push his face with the hind leg (no claws, fortunately), or trying to pick something out of his pad-fur (he has "tufted paws" that are characteristic of Maine Coon's I'm told) All the while, he will roll around on the floor, and will get rather agitated if we try to pet him until he calms down (if we try to pet him, he usually will attack with claws). He usually calms down in about 3-5 minutes. There doesn't seem to be any particular trigger that sets off this behavior that we can tell, but the behavior does seem a tad bit like a neurotic defense reaction (whatever that term means when applied to a cat). Does anyone else's cat do this? Thanks, Jim >Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >Thanks, >Jim Could he have a thorn or small rock stuck between his pads? I have mentioned before that my previous (RB) cat had one claw that had grown into a pad. She wouldn't let me check her feet, so I did not know about it. >He has a rather odd habit where he will curl into a ball on occasion >(about once a week it seems), grasp one of his hind legs with his two [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >Thanks, >Jim Since he is declawed, do you think there may be some declaw complications with the paw iteself that's bothering him? Maybe the vet could x-ray the paw and have a look. Sherry snip... (if we > >try to pet him, he usually will attack with claws). snip...,> > > > Does anyone else's cat do this? [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Sherry Apparently the cat is not declawed. I think the OP meant that it was a good thing that the cat did not use his claws when he had his foot against his face. However, a phone call or trip to the vet might not be a bad idea. The cat may have something stuck between his toes. Annie My 8 month old Brio (medium length hair, big bushy tail and long tufts on her feet) does that sometimes... and she's not declawed. Her claws are clipped ... none growing into the skin. > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > Thanks, > Jim > He has a rather odd habit where he will curl into a ball on occasion > (about once a week it seems), grasp one of his hind legs with his two [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > try to pet him, he usually will attack with claws). He usually calms > down in about 3-5 minutes. One of my cats at work, Harriet, sometimes attacks her back foot. It happens when she's in a bad mood. She'll be laying down, pissed off about something, and start glaring at her back legs. Then she grabs her foot and bites it. She always looks surprised after the bite. She doesn't have anything stuck in it (indoors only) and there was always something that annoyed her before the attack. I figure better her attacking her own foot than my hand. Liz >I hope you meant he doesn't scratch himself, not that he has no claws on >his rear feet... >If declawed, have the vet check his feet for complications. Botched >declaws can cause some nasty problems. A clarification. This cat is not declawed, as you can probably imagine if you've seen my 4 posts to the "declawing thead". I'm just glad he doesn't USE his claws when he pushes his face away with his back paw (maybe he didn't play with enogh chipmunks when he was young..) Jim Witte jswitte@bloomington.in.us In article <MPG.1a71b492724a6a82989b12@nntp.lucent.com> kaeli, tiny_one@NOSPAM.comcast.net writes: >wants to play rough. He knows he can't play rough with his people and he >is an only cat, so he seems to go after his own foot. This is often >followed by a mad dash around the house and an intense stalking of his >mousey toys. Then he lays down like nothing happened. hehe Well, he doesn't mad-dash around the house after this - though he WILL mad-dash around the house, along with our other cat sometimes (very occasially these days, the other cat is about 18 and sleeps most of the time, dear thing) It would be nice if he would play with his mousey toys, but ALL of our cats just seem to ignore mousey toys completely. I'm thinking of putting together some plans and building him some "cat track" (a la "The Cats House") this summer. Jim > It would be nice if he would play with his mousey toys, but ALL of our > cats just seem to ignore mousey toys completely. I'm thinking of putting > together some plans and building him some "cat track" (a la "The Cats > House") this summer. I wish I were good at building things. I'd love to build a really complex cat tree slash playhouse thing (floor to ceiling) for the kids. Buying the kind I'm thinking of is just too cost prohibitive. Last one I saw that I really liked was like $500. So, they have two smaller trees with little condo perches and a tube.  Signature-- ~kaeli~ Never mess up an apology with an excuse. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace >I wish I were good at building things. >I'd love to build a really complex cat tree slash playhouse thing (floor >to ceiling) for the kids. Buying the kind I'm thinking of is just too >cost prohibitive. Last one I saw that I really liked was like $500. >So, they have two smaller trees with little condo perches and a tube. Kaeli, you don't *have* to be good at building things. Trust me. My DH & I have a bad habit of jumping into projects when we don't know squat about what we're doing. You should see the ones we have done for the shelter now! (the first one was crap, so it went to the cats at home-they love it anyway)....You have to have tools, though...wish I were closer and we'd help you build one. Sherry > Kaeli, you don't *have* to be good at building things. Trust me. My DH & I have > a bad habit of jumping into projects when we don't know squat about what we're > doing. You should see the ones we have done for the shelter now! (the first one > was crap, so it went to the cats at home-they love it anyway)....You have to > have tools, though...wish I were closer and we'd help you build one. > Sherry Well, I have some tools, but no power tools. Being in a condo and having no garage, I don't have any place to put large tools like saws and such. I have the usual hammer, nails, and screws. :) If I had a garage, I'd try it, but I don't really have a place to put things while I'm working on them. I'm on the second floor, so I can't even put them outside. Between the chairs, little table, and cat playpen, there's about 2 feet of non-contiguous space on the patio. I'm not totally inept, but not that great, either. I did put my own furniture together. It's not always the sturdiest, though. heh I got an idea in my head last fall about getting pre-cut wood...never got around to seeing about a source of carpet. Signature-- ~kaeli~ A man's home is his castle..., in a manor of speaking. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace >I wish I were good at building things. >I'd love to build a really complex cat tree slash playhouse thing (floor >to ceiling) for the kids. Buying the kind I'm thinking of is just too >cost prohibitive. Last one I saw that I really liked was like $500. >So, they have two smaller trees with little condo perches and a tube. Move to new thread: "Cat Houses"` > He has a rather odd habit where he will curl into a ball on occasion > (about once a week it seems), grasp one of his hind legs with his two > front ones, the then look like he's alternately trying to push his face > with the hind leg (no claws, fortunately), I hope you meant he doesn't scratch himself, not that he has no claws on his rear feet... If declawed, have the vet check his feet for complications. Botched declaws can cause some nasty problems. If not, well, my Mom's cat does this when he gets all weird and wild and wants to play rough. He knows he can't play rough with his people and he is an only cat, so he seems to go after his own foot. This is often followed by a mad dash around the house and an intense stalking of his mousey toys. Then he lays down like nothing happened. hehe Signature-- ~kaeli~ Never say, "Oops!"; always say, "Ah, interesting!" http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace circa Fri, 16 Jan 2004 08:43:38 -0600, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, kaeli (tiny_one@NOSPAM.comcast.net) said, > If not, well, my Mom's cat does this when he gets all weird and wild and > wants to play rough. He knows he can't play rough with his people and he > is an only cat, so he seems to go after his own foot. This is often > followed by a mad dash around the house and an intense stalking of his > mousey toys. Then he lays down like nothing happened. hehe Jacob does this, except that he chases his tail instead of attacking his foot (although he does do the foot thing a bit, too). His favorite place to demonstrate this little performance is in the bathtubs. He's a weird little critter. ;-) Laura SignatureI am Dyslexia of Borg, Your a.s will be laminated. |
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