Cat Stabbed Me With Claws

[Pen'sMomma]

My cat is the sweetest cat and is generally calm and friendly. However, I am transitioning her out of sleeping in my bed so last night was horrible. I don't think she slept very much because she kept waking me up by getting into bed with me. Every time I tell her to get down. She has multiple spots to sleep in and her own beds. I've tried this before but gave in because I felt bad but I really don't like her in my bed or fur all over it so I need to go through with transitioning her into her own bed.

The problem is her behavior has changed a bit to her being a little nervous around me and today she stuck her claws in my arm while I was holding her. I'm so annoyed by this because I literally give her everything and do so much for her so it's upsetting that she would hurt me and draw blood. I've put her outside of my room because I am too angry to be around her right now. But I didn't want her to be too stressed out so I am playing her night time music in the hall, which is really calming. Has anyone else had issues transitioning their cats out of their beds?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi.

it's upsetting that she would hurt me and draw blood.

What you are attempting to do is possibly making her feel uncomfortable, but more importantly according to her reactions to you, the way that you are doing it is confusing her.

This isn't her fault. Can you simply close the door to your room as you describe above?

Please take a look at these, they are not long, and have a lot of information. Good luck!

How To Stop My Cat From Waking Me Up At Night (step-by-step Plan)

Solving Cat Behavior Problems: The Key Ingredient

How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat

The Dos And Don'ts Of Cat Behavior Modification

Cats And Discipline Don't Mix

 

[susanm9006]

Your cat is not hurting you intentionally. As you said she is p stressed because she feels your stress. If your cat won’t stay off your bed then you will both do better by simply shutting her out of your room rather than repeatedly having to tell her to get down. Cats are very routine based and she doesn’t understand why her bedtime routine has changed.

She also needs to have her claws trimmed so they don’t accidentally stick you. If you don’t know how to carefully trim then then visit your vet to get it done. I would also suggest also that you not try to hold her but instead let her come up on your lap when she feels like it.

 

[Pen'sMomma]

Hi.

What you are attempting to do is possibly making her feel uncomfortable, but more importantly according to her reactions to you, the way that you are doing it is confusing her.

This isn't her fault. Can you simply close the door to your room as you describe above?

Please take a look at these, they are not long, and have a lot of information. Good luck!

How To Stop My Cat From Waking Me Up At Night (step-by-step Plan)

Solving Cat Behavior Problems: The Key Ingredient

How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat

The Dos And Don'ts Of Cat Behavior Modification

Cats And Discipline Don't Mix

Hi.

What you are attempting to do is possibly making her feel uncomfortable, but more importantly according to her reactions to you, the way that you are doing it is confusing her.

This isn't her fault. Can you simply close the door to your room as you describe above?

Please take a look at these, they are not long, and have a lot of information. Good luck!

How To Stop My Cat From Waking Me Up At Night (step-by-step Plan)

Solving Cat Behavior Problems: The Key Ingredient

How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat

The Dos And Don'ts Of Cat Behavior Modification

Cats And Discipline Don't Mix

Thank you for the links! I will read them tonight. I can't let her sleep outside of my room because we live in a shared house and she is only allowed around the house while people are present as there are many things she can possibly get into and I don't want her to be blamed for something that one of my roommate's cats did. I trained her to know up and down in preparation for this and I didn't think she would be so confused but when I was training her to go up and down she was still being allowed in the bed with me. I don't want her to be upset or stressed but I also don't want to feel like I need to be nervous around my cat. Hopefully, the info will help us!

 

[Pen'sMomma]

Your cat is not hurting you intentionally. As you said she is p stressed because she feels your stress. If your cat won’t stay off your bed then you will both do better by simply shutting her out of your room rather than repeatedly having to tell her to get down. Cats are very routine based and she doesn’t understand why her bedtime routine has changed.

She also needs to have her claws trimmed so they don’t accidentally stick you. If you don’t know how to carefully trim then visit your vet to get it done. I would also suggest also that you not try to hold her but instead let her come up on your lap when she feels like it.

I am planning to get her nails trimmed at the vet but she is still being carrier trained because I don't want it to be an extremely traumatic event for her. She normally likes me to hold her at the window to look at the birds after I'm done brushing her. I do it almost every day. I will wait for her to ask in the future though.

 

[Furballsmom]

 

[duckpond]

My cats all sleep with me, and i think it would be impossible to get them to stop, they have done it for years. And im sure it would totally stress them and confuse them.

I do brush them daily, to keep hair down to a minimum. with a longer brushing session on the weekends. Mine also have certain spots they like to sleep on the bed. I keep a few cheap light weight throws around a put in that area. If was fairly easy to train them to sleep on the soft fuzzy throws, they like them Then i just toss them in the was every few days.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Sometimes when a cat has had some stressful or very confusing/unreliable relationships with other humans (you said in another thread that this was a cat that had been exposed to your friend's alcoholic, violent boyfriend and now you are trying to take care of it), it can be hard for such a cat to not feel nervous around people. It takes time for trust to build. The cat needs quite a bit of time to get used to your patterns during the day, what to expect from you as a person, when to feel safe and calm... just like you also are learning the cat's patterns and behavior clues, the cat is trying to do the same with you!

Some cats react to a sort of generalized "form" of the human stance, even if that person is not trying to be threatening or unsafe for the cat. This is from being exposed to a scary human in the past, and it's hard for the cat to change what it has learned (the scary loud boyfriend towering over them, for example).

In part of this TCS article here, it talks about how some cats like these more nervous types feel calmest and safest and cuddliest when their human lays down...
" ... Some cats are shy by nature and may feel uncomfortable being too close to any human. These apprehensive kitties often choose to get close to their owner only when the human is lying down or even asleep, seeming less threatening. [...] "
Your Cat Probably Hates It When You...

When we take cats into our households, there is a lot of give and take and you have to decide where your boundaries are and where you can just give in to what seems inevitable. Some of those things are consistent, but some ebb and flow, like when you are feeling overwhelmed. (Having a cat is a lot of emotional responsibility, not just physical responsibility!) My kitten slept all over the place as she grew up, sometimes on our bed, sometimes not... and it really varies over the years (she has, like, five kazillion bed options in our house, lol ). It may just be that as your cat is learning about you and trying to feel safer and calm, she may just need some time with you at night when you are calm yourself, laying or sleeping... so that she can come to trust you and your patterns in life. Maybe in several months she'll be more confident, and her "need" to be with you on the bed will fade a bit, with her feeling safer to simply sleep nearby in her own bed. Just a few of my thoughts...

 

[r-kins]

Have you tried putting a cat bed on YOUR bed? Maybe you could get her to sleep in that one spot and keep the fur contained. It could be a nice compromise because clearly she enjoys sleeping on the bed with you.

Assuming you're caring for the cat after a bad experience with your friend's boyfriend (stated in another comment), it's no wonder that she's attached to you and you help her feel secure when sleeping at night.

 

[Adway]

I feel that when the cat drew blood by clawing you, she was frightened & she was very desperately clinging on to you.

I tried to take one of my two cats - Bruce - for a walk outside. Bruce is generally courageous & interacts with people who come to my place like they are toys. Bruce has NEVER scratched me. However, as soon as I was downstairs, Bruce clung to me so hard that he drew minute droplets of blood from my chest and arm. It was nothing more than his desperation. He let me go in a few seconds anyway.

Also, don't blame your cat for scratching at you. She was confused & probably her only known defense mechanism was to scratch everything in site.

 

[Pen'sMomma]

Sometimes when a cat has had some stressful or very confusing/unreliable relationships with other humans (you said in another thread that this was a cat that had been exposed to your friend's alcoholic, violent boyfriend and now you are trying to take care of it), it can be hard for such a cat to not feel nervous around people. It takes time for trust to build. The cat needs quite a bit of time to get used to your patterns during the day, what to expect from you as a person, when to feel safe and calm... just like you also are learning the cat's patterns and behavior clues, the cat is trying to do the same with you!

Some cats react to a sort of generalized "form" of the human stance, even if that person is not trying to be threatening or unsafe for the cat. This is from being exposed to a scary human in the past, and it's hard for the cat to change what it has learned (the scary loud boyfriend towering over them, for example).

In part of this TCS article here, it talks about how some cats like these more nervous types feel calmest and safest and cuddliest when their human lays down...
" ... Some cats are shy by nature and may feel uncomfortable being too close to any human. These apprehensive kitties often choose to get close to their owner only when the human is lying down or even asleep, seeming less threatening. [...] "
Your Cat Probably Hates It When You...

When we take cats into our households, there is a lot of give and take and you have to decide where your boundaries are and where you can just give in to what seems inevitable. Some of those things are consistent, but some ebb and flow, like when you are feeling overwhelmed. (Having a cat is a lot of emotional responsibility, not just physical responsibility!) My kitten slept all over the place as she grew up, sometimes on our bed, sometimes not... and it really varies over the years (she has, like, five kazillion bed options in our house, lol ). It may just be that as your cat is learning about you and trying to feel safer and calm, she may just need some time with you at night when you are calm yourself, laying or sleeping... so that she can come to trust you and your patterns in life. Maybe in several months she'll be more confident, and her "need" to be with you on the bed will fade a bit, with her feeling safer to simply sleep nearby in her own bed. Just a few of my thoughts...

Thank you for your response. My cat is doing much better with the sleeping arrangement and it seems as though she feels ownership over her bed which makes me happy. Your comment reminded me of something my therapist and I were talking about. Working through my cat's trauma is helping me work through my own.

 

[Pen'sMomma]

Have you tried putting a cat bed on YOUR bed? Maybe you could get her to sleep in that one spot and keep the fur contained. It could be a nice compromise because clearly she enjoys sleeping on the bed with you.

Assuming you're caring for the cat after a bad experience with your friend's boyfriend (stated in another comment), it's no wonder that she's attached to you and you help her feel secure when sleeping at night.

My bed is too small for this. I think that's part of the issue. I used to have a bigger bed in my former apartment but now I am in a smaller room so I only have a twin bed. She's doing okay on her bed now it was just a difficult adjustment period. I really appreciate your advice though. I may try her bed in my bed in the future.

 

[r-kins]

My bed is too small for this. I think that's part of the issue. I used to have a bigger bed in my former apartment but now I am in a smaller room so I only have a twin bed. She's doing okay on her bed now it was just a difficult adjustment period. I really appreciate your advice though. I may try her bed in my bed in the future.

I'm glad things are working out!