Arm Straddling and Kneading

DreamerRose

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Mingo is the same way, but it's because I taught him not to jump on my arm unless I have a long-sleeved shirt on. I got scratched too much in short sleeves. He's very polite about it - if I invite him in a 3/4 sleeve, he eyes my arm, then looks up to see if it's all right. I think it's harmless, too, and he loves to do it. As soon as I start to dress or undress, he's on the bed, softly mewing. It means a lot to him.
 
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lightblue

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  =================

I should think that a lot of rescued kittens, esp. orphaned ones that relied upon a human to bottle feed them at an early age, would do this kind of combination of kneading and nipping behavior. My (rescue) kitten Milly was bottle fed starting at four days old, and I suspect she was bottle fed by the human foster parent with the additional use of snuggly fleece blankets, too. She often climbs into one of her cuddle baskets, which always has a soft fleece blanket in it, and she kneads, purrs, and bites/ suckles on a tip of the fleece blanket at the same time. Sometimes she dramatically pulls on the fleece blanket with her teeth, closing her eyes and waggling her head back and forth, all (it seems to me) in an imitation of nursing behavior. Often she konks out afterwards, and is asleep for hours after doing this.

Some human foster parents bottle feed little kittens in such a way that the hand and forearm become a part of the whole nourishing, bottle-feeding experience for the kitten. When my Milly wants to cuddle in bed, she loves her head to be tousled by me and cupped by the palm of my hand, and she kneads on my chest and arm. I can only guess that her original foster human often bottle fed her with her arm and hand held in a certain way, and Milly finds that having her head tousled and covered by my hand is comforting.

So, I think this is all just a sign of nursing behavior (happy behavior, comfort behavior) for many rescue/shelter kittens!
Thanks!  This actually helps it make sense - the idea that she would have been bottlefed by a person holding her so that she developed those comfortable nurturing feelings with a human forearm/hand.  The one thing I don't think I was clear about in my original post that is unusual is that she kneads with her BACK feet instead of the front like they normally do - but I guess that probably also stems from how she was held when being fed.  Also I wouldn't describe her biting as 'nipping' - she latches on firmly and won't let go!
 

gdfggffhj

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Thanks!  This actually helps it make sense - the idea that she would have been bottlefed by a person holding her so that she developed those comfortable nurturing feelings with a human forearm/hand.  The one thing I don't think I was clear about in my original post that is unusual is that she kneads with her BACK feet instead of the front like they normally do - but I guess that probably also stems from how she was held when being fed.  Also I wouldn't describe her biting as 'nipping' - she latches on firmly and won't let go!
.

My female cat Smokey does the same thing she will latch onto my arm then start moving her back feet and I'd I move my arm she bites me.
 

Bonesers

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My cat is over a year old now and sleeps with me almost every night and likes me most of anyone else. At night time as I'm trying to sleep he will be balancing himself on my legs kneading and biting the blanket for balance. He also seems upset when you try to move him, almost like your taking a kids favorite toy away. He is not neutered but I don't believe its sexual.
 
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talkingpeanut

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My cat is over a year old now and sleeps with me almost every night and likes me most of anyone else. At night time as I'm trying to sleep he will be balancing himself on my legs kneading and biting the blanket for balance. He also seems upset when you try to move him, almost like your taking a kids favorite toy away. He is not neutered but I don't believe its sexual.
This does seem like hormonal behavior. Do you let your cat outside?
 
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Shelbyparker98

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Hey, my four year old female cat does this I have cuts in my forarm from her claws and I have had the biting this is a daily thing for her but if I leave her to do it long enough she falls asleep but if I try getting her off my arm because it’s more painful than normal she will be very vocal at me. I believe it is a comfort thing as she has done it since she was a kitten
 

Ginger Wells

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Now this is just the funniest thing and I'd love to know if anyone else has seen it.

ABOUT HER
My little Sparkle Princess (don't judge me haha) is a gorgeous (and I swear I don't just say that because I'm her father) little jet black rescue. We got her at 10-12 weeks old, and now she's 4 1/2 years. Around other people she is neurotic/shy/anxious, and she cant tolerate more than three people in the house. But if it's just my wife and/or me, she is over-the-top affectionate, vocal, and playful. Demands attention, and if you respond to her with similar sounds she will carry on a conversation with you for minutes. She also loves making this odd chirping noise at birds she sees out the window. Silly as that behavior is, I've found some reasonable explanations for it.

What I haven't been able to find anywhere is an explanation for what she does when she is really excited. I don't think it's sexual and I sorta hope not since she does it a lot and it seems silly/cute. She was spayed as a kitten.

THE BEHAVIOR
So her favorite time to play is when we are in bed. She does lots of typical silly kitten stuff. But when she really gets into the playing, if one of us has a forearm down flat at the bed, she will stand on it, straddling with her front legs and trying her best to balance with her back feet on our arm, her head over our hand and her feet near our elbow. She kneads alternatively with her feet, which is pretty uncomfortable because of her claws and the force her tiny body is putting into pressing with her back feet. She sometimes latches onto the hand too (with her teeth), and if she gets really excited she latches on pretty hard, not making us bleed usually but definitely leaving teeth marks. She'll maintain this position and kneading for several minutes if we let her. And if we start to move our hand away from under her, she'll start yelling at us for it and bite hard onto our hand to keep it in place. If you disrupt this weird activity she talks a lot like she's really mad about it, but she does not want to stop playing.

It hurts a little bit, both the feet kneading in the arm and her biting the hand, but it doesn't hurt badly and even after a few years it's still so bizarre that it's funny and it's her thing so we let her do it. As a side note, when she is excited like this playing (not when doing the weird arm-mounting thing but just otherwise when having fun), she loves to be played with rather roughly, kind of throwing her about. Again I'm hoping the explanation isn't a weird sexual thing, since to us we're just playing with our silly little baby.

Any thoughts? Anyone ever seen this behavior?
My cat Jimmy is 10 years old and he has been doing this very same thing to me (not my husband) for about 4 years. He grabs my wrist with his front paws and tries to balance on my forearm near the elbow. Then he marches, giving me a massage. My husband thinks it is sexual, but he was neutered as a kitten, as soon as he was old enough. He was not a stray, but came from another family member's cat's litter. This can last for 15 or twenty minutes and happens daily. I think it is funny, and love the massage. I keep my house cool, so I am usually wearing a fleece jacket, which protects me when his claws need cutting. He has recently started to manipulate the position of my arm to better suit him. I think this behavior is hilarious. He coos the whole time unless I move my arm and then he scolds me. He does this on both arms by the way, moving from one arm to the other. I am not supposed to move either arm, lest I get scolded.
 

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My cats been doing this same thing but to my leg. He’s about 7 months old and he’s getting big so I thought he was just trying to stand in my leg and just couldn’t fit anymore because he’s been dropping his legs side to side and I said to my husband, “ the cats not too smart he doesn’t realize that he’s too big”, that was until I noticed the other day that he was gently biting my foot but I couldnt feel his bite, it wasn’t a rough bite like when we play. Today he did the same and I quickly stopped him and opened his leg and sure enough, just as I thought, it was out. So I believe it is that he’s masturbating. And he keeps tryna do it not only to me but to my husband too anytime we’re laying down whether it be in bed or on the sofa.
 

Zoehsirius

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Now this is just the funniest thing and I'd love to know if anyone else has seen it.

ABOUT HER
My little Sparkle Princess (don't judge me haha) is a gorgeous (and I swear I don't just say that because I'm her father) little jet black rescue. We got her at 10-12 weeks old, and now she's 4 1/2 years. Around other people she is neurotic/shy/anxious, and she cant tolerate more than three people in the house. But if it's just my wife and/or me, she is over-the-top affectionate, vocal, and playful. Demands attention, and if you respond to her with similar sounds she will carry on a conversation with you for minutes. She also loves making this odd chirping noise at birds she sees out the window. Silly as that behavior is, I've found some reasonable explanations for it.

What I haven't been able to find anywhere is an explanation for what she does when she is really excited. I don't think it's sexual and I sorta hope not since she does it a lot and it seems silly/cute. She was spayed as a kitten.

THE BEHAVIOR
So her favorite time to play is when we are in bed. She does lots of typical silly kitten stuff. But when she really gets into the playing, if one of us has a forearm down flat at the bed, she will stand on it, straddling with her front legs and trying her best to balance with her back feet on our arm, her head over our hand and her feet near our elbow. She kneads alternatively with her feet, which is pretty uncomfortable because of her claws and the force her tiny body is putting into pressing with her back feet. She sometimes latches onto the hand too (with her teeth), and if she gets really excited she latches on pretty hard, not making us bleed usually but definitely leaving teeth marks. She'll maintain this position and kneading for several minutes if we let her. And if we start to move our hand away from under her, she'll start yelling at us for it and bite hard onto our hand to keep it in place. If you disrupt this weird activity she talks a lot like she's really mad about it, but she does not want to stop playing.

It hurts a little bit, both the feet kneading in the arm and her biting the hand, but it doesn't hurt badly and even after a few years it's still so bizarre that it's funny and it's her thing so we let her do it. As a side note, when she is excited like this playing (not when doing the weird arm-mounting thing but just otherwise when having fun), she loves to be played with rather roughly, kind of throwing her about. Again I'm hoping the explanation isn't a weird sexual thing, since to us we're just playing with our silly little baby.

Any thoughts? Anyone ever seen this behavior?
OH MY GOD! My cat is doing exactly what you described right now. I’ve been searching for an answer to his behavior ever since he started doing it! My cat is 5, and he always accompanies the kneading and balancing with maintaining a tight bite on my wrist. Usually it is onto my sleeve, but when it’s just my skin he bites very hard. I’m the only person out of my family of five that he does this to. Have you gotten any answers about it?
 

Miss Grace

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Now this is just the funniest thing and I'd love to know if anyone else has seen it.

ABOUT HER
My little Sparkle Princess (don't judge me haha) is a gorgeous (and I swear I don't just say that because I'm her father) little jet black rescue. We got her at 10-12 weeks old, and now she's 4 1/2 years. Around other people she is neurotic/shy/anxious, and she cant tolerate more than three people in the house. But if it's just my wife and/or me, she is over-the-top affectionate, vocal, and playful. Demands attention, and if you respond to her with similar sounds she will carry on a conversation with you for minutes. She also loves making this odd chirping noise at birds she sees out the window. Silly as that behavior is, I've found some reasonable explanations for it.

What I haven't been able to find anywhere is an explanation for what she does when she is really excited. I don't think it's sexual and I sorta hope not since she does it a lot and it seems silly/cute. She was spayed as a kitten.

THE BEHAVIOR
So her favorite time to play is when we are in bed. She does lots of typical silly kitten stuff. But when she really gets into the playing, if one of us has a forearm down flat at the bed, she will stand on it, straddling with her front legs and trying her best to balance with her back feet on our arm, her head over our hand and her feet near our elbow. She kneads alternatively with her feet, which is pretty uncomfortable because of her claws and the force her tiny body is putting into pressing with her back feet. She sometimes latches onto the hand too (with her teeth), and if she gets really excited she latches on pretty hard, not making us bleed usually but definitely leaving teeth marks. She'll maintain this position and kneading for several minutes if we let her. And if we start to move our hand away from under her, she'll start yelling at us for it and bite hard onto our hand to keep it in place. If you disrupt this weird activity she talks a lot like she's really mad about it, but she does not want to stop playing.

It hurts a little bit, both the feet kneading in the arm and her biting the hand, but it doesn't hurt badly and even after a few years it's still so bizarre that it's funny and it's her thing so we let her do it. As a side note, when she is excited like this playing (not when doing the weird arm-mounting thing but just otherwise when having fun), she loves to be played with rather roughly, kind of throwing her about. Again I'm hoping the explanation isn't a weird sexual thing, since to us we're just playing with our silly little baby.

Any thoughts? Anyone ever seen this behavior?
Mine does the EXACT SAME THING! Tonight was the first time. When he found me, he was approximately 6 mo. to a year old. Someone had abandon him that used to live in the complex I heard. Anyways, So now somewhere around a year and a half.
I had to search what he was doing and was lead to this site and your post!
 

pvict

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Now this is just the funniest thing and I'd love to know if anyone else has seen it.

ABOUT HER
My little Sparkle Princess (don't judge me haha) is a gorgeous (and I swear I don't just say that because I'm her father) little jet black rescue. We got her at 10-12 weeks old, and now she's 4 1/2 years. Around other people she is neurotic/shy/anxious, and she cant tolerate more than three people in the house. But if it's just my wife and/or me, she is over-the-top affectionate, vocal, and playful. Demands attention, and if you respond to her with similar sounds she will carry on a conversation with you for minutes. She also loves making this odd chirping noise at birds she sees out the window. Silly as that behavior is, I've found some reasonable explanations for it.

What I haven't been able to find anywhere is an explanation for what she does when she is really excited. I don't think it's sexual and I sorta hope not since she does it a lot and it seems silly/cute. She was spayed as a kitten.

THE BEHAVIOR
So her favorite time to play is when we are in bed. She does lots of typical silly kitten stuff. But when she really gets into the playing, if one of us has a forearm down flat at the bed, she will stand on it, straddling with her front legs and trying her best to balance with her back feet on our arm, her head over our hand and her feet near our elbow. She kneads alternatively with her feet, which is pretty uncomfortable because of her claws and the force her tiny body is putting into pressing with her back feet. She sometimes latches onto the hand too (with her teeth), and if she gets really excited she latches on pretty hard, not making us bleed usually but definitely leaving teeth marks. She'll maintain this position and kneading for several minutes if we let her. And if we start to move our hand away from under her, she'll start yelling at us for it and bite hard onto our hand to keep it in place. If you disrupt this weird activity she talks a lot like she's really mad about it, but she does not want to stop playing.

It hurts a little bit, both the feet kneading in the arm and her biting the hand, but it doesn't hurt badly and even after a few years it's still so bizarre that it's funny and it's her thing so we let her do it. As a side note, when she is excited like this playing (not when doing the weird arm-mounting thing but just otherwise when having fun), she loves to be played with rather roughly, kind of throwing her about. Again I'm hoping the explanation isn't a weird sexual thing, since to us we're just playing with our silly little baby.

Any thoughts? Anyone ever seen this behavior?

I have a different opinion by far. My male black cat did EXACTLY this to me too since he was 7 months old. When hes straddling and biting my arm, hes having an erection 🥲 I noticed he was in heat weeks before he started straddling me & he didnt get along well with outside cats (he gets bullied & attacked a lot by male seniors, and rejected by females), so i jokingly said to my mom & sister that Toothless may have sexual orientation disorder because he spent too much time with hoomans rather than with fellow cats LOL.
Yes, i havent neutered him. And the reason for that is, id love to have one of his babies first. Still havent figured out how that will work out tho, seeing he gets rejected all the time (of my knowing) plus the limited amount of well cared (healthy, clean) cats in my neighbourhood. I dont want him to catch parasites or bacteria from other cats.
 

GaryTheCat

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Thanks! This actually helps it make sense - the idea that she would have been bottlefed by a person holding her so that she developed those comfortable nurturing feelings with a human forearm/hand. The one thing I don't think I was clear about in my original post that is unusual is that she kneads with her BACK feet instead of the front like they normally do - but I guess that probably also stems from how she was held when being fed. Also I wouldn't describe her biting as 'nipping' - she latches on firmly and won't let go!
I wanted to let you know that I have a jet black green eyed cat named Gary (Like Spongebobs snail) and he does the same exact thing but only to my legs while in bed under the covers. I don’t think it’s a sexual thing. He is super affectionate, likes to play rough. Does not use his claws at all when playing but will bite the hell out of your hand while playing. Anyway back to the leg straddling. It’s so funny. I just let him do it. It’s only at night and as soon as I slide my legs under the blanket bam there he is. I’ve often wondered the same thing- why does he do that.
 

GaryTheCat

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Thanks! This actually helps it make sense - the idea that she would have been bottlefed by a person holding her so that she developed those comfortable nurturing feelings with a human forearm/hand. The one thing I don't think I was clear about in my original post that is unusual is that she kneads with her BACK feet instead of the front like they normally do - but I guess that probably also stems from how she was held when being fed. Also I wouldn't describe her biting as 'nipping' - she latches on firmly and won't let go!
I wanted to let you know that I have a jet black green eyed cat named Gary (Like Spongebobs snail) and he does the same exact thing but only to my legs while in bed under the covers. I don’t think it’s a sexual thing. He is super affectionate, likes to play rough. Does not use his claws at all when playing but will bite the hell out of your hand while playing. Anyway back to the leg straddling. It’s so funny. I just let him do it. It’s only at night and as soon as I slide my legs under the blanket bam there he is. I’ve often wondered the same thing- why does he do that.
 

Tibbs&Olive

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I wanted to let you know that I have a jet black green eyed cat named Gary (Like Spongebobs snail) and he does the same exact thing but only to my legs while in bed under the covers. I don’t think it’s a sexual thing. He is super affectionate, likes to play rough. Does not use his claws at all when playing but will bite the hell out of your hand while playing. Anyway back to the leg straddling. It’s so funny. I just let him do it. It’s only at night and as soon as I slide my legs under the blanket bam there he is. I’ve often wondered the same thing- why does he do that.
I just got a really weird image in my head of Sparkle checking the forums to see if anyone else's human does this weird thing with their arm, and Gary responding that his human does the same thing with their leg.
 

LeanneRae

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Now this is just the funniest thing and I'd love to know if anyone else has seen it.

ABOUT HER
My little Sparkle Princess (don't judge me haha) is a gorgeous (and I swear I don't just say that because I'm her father) little jet black rescue. We got her at 10-12 weeks old, and now she's 4 1/2 years. Around other people she is neurotic/shy/anxious, and she cant tolerate more than three people in the house. But if it's just my wife and/or me, she is over-the-top affectionate, vocal, and playful. Demands attention, and if you respond to her with similar sounds she will carry on a conversation with you for minutes. She also loves making this odd chirping noise at birds she sees out the window. Silly as that behavior is, I've found some reasonable explanations for it.

What I haven't been able to find anywhere is an explanation for what she does when she is really excited. I don't think it's sexual and I sorta hope not since she does it a lot and it seems silly/cute. She was spayed as a kitten.

THE BEHAVIOR
So her favorite time to play is when we are in bed. She does lots of typical silly kitten stuff. But when she really gets into the playing, if one of us has a forearm down flat at the bed, she will stand on it, straddling with her front legs and trying her best to balance with her back feet on our arm, her head over our hand and her feet near our elbow. She kneads alternatively with her feet, which is pretty uncomfortable because of her claws and the force her tiny body is putting into pressing with her back feet. She sometimes latches onto the hand too (with her teeth), and if she gets really excited she latches on pretty hard, not making us bleed usually but definitely leaving teeth marks. She'll maintain this position and kneading for several minutes if we let her. And if we start to move our hand away from under her, she'll start yelling at us for it and bite hard onto our hand to keep it in place. If you disrupt this weird activity she talks a lot like she's really mad about it, but she does not want to stop playing.

It hurts a little bit, both the feet kneading in the arm and her biting the hand, but it doesn't hurt badly and even after a few years it's still so bizarre that it's funny and it's her thing so we let her do it. As a side note, when she is excited like this playing (not when doing the weird arm-mounting thing but just otherwise when having fun), she loves to be played with rather roughly, kind of throwing her about. Again I'm hoping the explanation isn't a weird sexual thing, since to us we're just playing with our silly little baby.

Any thoughts? Anyone ever seen this behavior?
I just found out today when my cat bites my arm and straddles my arm he is humping me! He is just now 6 months and he has done this for about 2 months but after talking to my sister and learning they bite females when mating I decided to lift his legs and after 45 years of having tons of cats I’ve never seen a cats penis until today! I’ve also never had another cat bite me! He is also very vocal and we talk back to him! I enjoyed reading about your cat!
 

LeanneRae

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I wanted to let you know that I have a jet black green eyed cat named Gary (Like Spongebobs snail) and he does the same exact thing but only to my legs while in bed under the covers. I don’t think it’s a sexual thing. He is super affectionate, likes to play rough. Does not use his claws at all when playing but will bite the hell out of your hand while playing. Anyway back to the leg straddling. It’s so funny. I just let him do it. It’s only at night and as soon as I slide my legs under the blanket bam there he is. I’ve often wondered the same thing- why does he do that.
It is definitely sexual! They bite the females neck! My cat John does it to me and I actually saw his penis! He is the only cat I’ve had that has done this but he bites my hand and straddles my arm and kicks! After reading information I just lifted his back legs and saw a cat penis for the first time ever! Fixed or not this can continue! My John is only 6 months old so we’ll see if he does this next month!!
 

catloverfromwayback

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Daisy is 13 months old and she doesn't like anyone but me, shoots when she hears the doorbell . A friend used to call her the ghost cat.
I have a Daisy who’s four years old and has only lately got friendly with visitors, and I used to have Hadji who my friends called the imaginary cat, because they never saw him in all his fifteen years!
 

catloverfromwayback

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I have a different opinion by far. My male black cat did EXACTLY this to me too since he was 7 months old. When hes straddling and biting my arm, hes having an erection 🥲 I noticed he was in heat weeks before he started straddling me & he didnt get along well with outside cats (he gets bullied & attacked a lot by male seniors, and rejected by females), so i jokingly said to my mom & sister that Toothless may have sexual orientation disorder because he spent too much time with hoomans rather than with fellow cats LOL.
Yes, i havent neutered him. And the reason for that is, id love to have one of his babies first. Still havent figured out how that will work out tho, seeing he gets rejected all the time (of my knowing) plus the limited amount of well cared (healthy, clean) cats in my neighbourhood. I dont want him to catch parasites or bacteria from other cats.
Unneutered male cats don’t go on heat. What they do is get into fights looking for females and father all the millions of unwanted, abandoned kittens who end up in shelters if they’re lucky. Please get your boy desexed.
 

downton ali

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My big guy will make biscuits over a blanket, but he will search until he finds my hand or leg underneath to make them on. No biting though. He does it and purrs right before he goes to sleep. go figure! My little guy will knead a blanket and bite it. I feel badly for him, because he was found alone running down a road. I think he got separated from his mama too early and seems to be comforting himself. He gets all trance like when he does it.
 
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