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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / July 2004Why does cat pace while being petted?
He approaches me. He WANTS it. I start petting him. He starts purring .... and then starts walking. Once he is out of reach ... the petting stops. He looks back at me (what happened?) and stares. I wiggle my fingers to remind him where the petting hand _is_. He walks back, positions himself to be petted, and a few seconds later starts pacing again. I'm tempted to think "Stupid cat" but I realize there must be some instinctual or habitual behavior here that I'm ignorant of. Anyone? Don't know what it is but I have a "pacer" too. She will often not settle down for petting but loves it. SOemtiems she will stretchout for belly rubs or lay down for petting but by and large she paces. Most do this somewhat and others more than some. > He approaches me. He WANTS it. I start petting him. He starts purring .... > and then starts walking. Once he is out of reach ... the petting stops. He [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > think "Stupid cat" but I realize there must be some instinctual or > habitual behavior here that I'm ignorant of. Anyone? >Don't know what it is but I have a "pacer" too. She will often not settle >down for petting but loves it. SOemtiems she will stretchout for belly rubs [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >> think "Stupid cat" but I realize there must be some instinctual or >> habitual behavior here that I'm ignorant of. Anyone? If you follow him, perhaps he will show you what is on his mind. MLB >>Don't know what it is but I have a "pacer" too. She will often not settle >>down for petting but loves it. SOemtiems she will stretchout for belly rubs [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >If you follow him, perhaps he will show you what is on his mind. MLB Yea. Meep will do this. If I even think about following, she's off like a shot to the door - she doesn't want anything but to be let out :) (She's an outdoor-only-under-supervision cat, due to the large number of outdoor neighborhood cats). jmc jmc usenet [at] jodi [dit] ws Any day you learn something isn't a total waste. > If you follow him, perhaps he will show you what is on his mind. MLB Ha! True! >>Don't know what it is but I have a "pacer" too. She will often not settle >>down for petting but loves it. SOemtiems she will stretchout for belly rubs [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >If you follow him, perhaps he will show you what is on his mind. MLB Tried that. He just walks in circles in the general area. >>>Don't know what it is but I have a "pacer" too. She will often not settle >>>down for petting but loves it. SOemtiems she will stretchout for belly rubs [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Tried that. He just walks in circles in the general area. HE WANTS TO PLAY! > >Tried that. He just walks in circles in the general area. > > > HE WANTS TO PLAY! I think he does! Cheeks hops up on the pillow next to me, and lets me pet her just for a second, then sits just out of reach and LOOKS at me! LOL I can see her trying to will me to pull out the tape measure creature or the lazer pointer. Just think what they would say if they could talk. He's training you. According to cats, we're supposed to follow them around with a continuous petting.  Signaturerach > He approaches me. He WANTS it. I start petting him. He starts purring .... > and then starts walking. Once he is out of reach ... the petting stops. He [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > think "Stupid cat" but I realize there must be some instinctual or > habitual behavior here that I'm ignorant of. Anyone? > He approaches me. He WANTS it. I start petting him. He starts purring .... > and then starts walking. Once he is out of reach ... the petting stops. He [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > think "Stupid cat" but I realize there must be some instinctual or > habitual behavior here that I'm ignorant of. Anyone? I'm not sure I have a clear picture of what you're describing. My cats will come up to me and sort of walk back and forth while I'm holding my hand up so that they get rubbed starting from the top of their head along their back and ending with their tail. They typically turn around for another run and repeat the process multilple times. Occasionally they pause before turning around and coming back. I think this is a pretty common behaviour and probably dovetails with their instinctual bahaviour of rubbing against objects with the addition that they enjoy the stroking aspect. If you're describing somthing like a cat initially just sitting down and being being patted on the head or scratched under the chin then walking away but seeming to want more, I haven't seen that. circa 15 Jul 2004 19:58:18 -0700, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, CajunPrincess (CajunPrincess@mail2world.com) said, > I'm not sure I have a clear picture of what you're describing. My > cats will come up to me and sort of walk back and forth while I'm [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > on the head or scratched under the chin then walking away but seeming > to want more, I haven't seen that. It sounds like the OP is describing the behavior that a *lot* of cats, including one of mine, do when they're being brushed. It's the "pet me over here...no, over here...no, wait, over *here*" walk. Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", Laura R. <UseFirstInitialPlusRobinson@technologist.com> artfully composed this message within <news:MPG.1b6257c3dea377a798ad4a@news.verizon.net> on 16 Jul 2004: > It sounds like the OP is describing the behavior that a *lot* of > cats, including one of mine, do when they're being brushed. It's > the "pet me over here...no, over here...no, wait, over *here*" > walk. That's Shamrock's walk. Funny thing is, any petting other than on his head turns him psychotic. He always moves so you're stroking his back (hates that) or his tail (hates that) or rolls over exposing his tummy (trap). SignatureCheryl circa Thu, 15 Jul 2004 15:41:03 +0000 (UTC), in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Mike S. (retsuhcs@xinap.moc) said, > He approaches me. He WANTS it. I start petting him. He starts purring .... > and then starts walking. Once he is out of reach ... the petting stops. He [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > think "Stupid cat" but I realize there must be some instinctual or > habitual behavior here that I'm ignorant of. Anyone? Cattardation. Alternately, "messing with the human's head". Laura SignatureExperience is the name every one gives to their mistakes. -Oscar Wilde >Alternately, "messing with the human's head". Yep. One of my cats does this...and when she gets out of reach, she looks back at me as if to say, "Why don't you have longer arms?" |
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