So I am aware of "petting aggression" and read about that on multiple forums but wanted to know if my situation is another form of this or something different.
I will be sitting on the couch and my cat will jump up onto my lap. He asks for petting by pushing against my hand so I begin to pet him. Sometimes while I'm petting him (but also sometimes when I've already stopped) he seems to all of the sudden become nervous or freaked out. He starts to look at me funny, his body tenses up, and he'll bite down on my arm and rest his mouth on it hard enough for there to be a teeth indent on my skin after (not breaking the skin though). If I move slightly to begin to get him off he begins to meow this weird meow he doesn't normally do. I don't get why he gets scared all of the sudden and I'm worried he's going to attack me in this state because he seems threatened in some way. All I can think of is that maybe he gets overstimulated just sitting in my lap and bonding that he begins to freak out? It's like he comes over for cuddles but then doesn't trust me anymore after a few minutes.
I should add that he is a 3 year old cat that I adopted at 8 months old. He didn't do this behaviour at first and only started doing it last year.
Thanks for reading.
I will be sitting on the couch and my cat will jump up onto my lap. He asks for petting by pushing against my hand so I begin to pet him. Sometimes while I'm petting him (but also sometimes when I've already stopped) he seems to all of the sudden become nervous or freaked out. He starts to look at me funny, his body tenses up, and he'll bite down on my arm and rest his mouth on it hard enough for there to be a teeth indent on my skin after (not breaking the skin though). If I move slightly to begin to get him off he begins to meow this weird meow he doesn't normally do. I don't get why he gets scared all of the sudden and I'm worried he's going to attack me in this state because he seems threatened in some way. All I can think of is that maybe he gets overstimulated just sitting in my lap and bonding that he begins to freak out? It's like he comes over for cuddles but then doesn't trust me anymore after a few minutes.
I should add that he is a 3 year old cat that I adopted at 8 months old. He didn't do this behaviour at first and only started doing it last year.
Thanks for reading.