Darting behavior

jisaacson214

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I have 2 beautiful fur children whom I absolutely adore & who appear to be closely bonded with me. Ember is 3 yrs old & Grembly just turned 2. Both are pure bred Oriental Shorthairs. So I’m having a scary issue that I’m hoping to get some advice on. When I get up go into another room in my apartment, both girls will follow me. This by itself isn't the problem. The problem is when the girls follow me, they will dart in front of me as I’m walking & I nearly trip over them. Sometimes they will quite literally get under my feet or weave in between my legs & it happens so fast I don’t see it coming. One time when Grembly was still a tiny kitten, she got directly under foot & to avoid stomping on her, I ended up hurting myself falling into the wall & making a large hole. They’re so darn quick & I never hear/see them coming until it’s too late. Any suggestions on how to curb this behavior?
 

ArtNJ

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You can't totally stop it on your own, although it should stop or reduce with time. Just pause and if needed shoo them out of the way with your feet. Whenever you can, don't wear shoes around the house, and be extra careful if you need to rush around. Also, and this may sound weird, but if you pay attention to what your cats do in response to what you do, there is sort of a rythm to it sometimes, and you can sometimes figure out where and when to pause for a sec so they rush past and you can then walk freely.

Also, and this is my big piece of advice -- continue to be careful, but don't stress quite so much about this, its not needed. I weigh 180 pounds and I've stepped on every cat I've ever had. Multiple times. I'm careful, but sometimes its really hard, and it happens. And I've never caused any injuries best I can tell. And thats typical. Its certainly possible to injury a cat, especially if you are heavy, wearing shoes and/or rushing around, but for the most part stepping on your cat is not going to cause any damage.
 

Mamanyt1953

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And, to add to A ArtNJ 's advice, being stepped on a time or two (with bare feet or slippers) is a great teacher of car to a darting cat. I've stepped on every one I've had over the years at some point or another. Sometimes, you cannot help it. But they are quick studies. NOT saying to deliberately do this, but not to beat yourself up if it happens.
 
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jisaacson214

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You can't totally stop it on your own, although it should stop or reduce with time. Just pause and if needed shoo them out of the way with your feet. Whenever you can, don't wear shoes around the house, and be extra careful if you need to rush around. Also, and this may sound weird, but if you pay attention to what your cats do in response to what you do, there is sort of a rythm to it sometimes, and you can sometimes figure out where and when to pause for a sec so they rush past and you can then walk freely.

Also, and this is my big piece of advice -- continue to be careful, but don't stress quite so much about this, its not needed. I weigh 180 pounds and I've stepped on every cat I've ever had. Multiple times. I'm careful, but sometimes its really hard, and it happens. And I've never caused any injuries best I can tell. And thats typical. Its certainly possible to injury a cat, especially if you are heavy, wearing shoes and/or rushing around, but for the most part stepping on your cat is not going to cause any damage.

I don’t wear shoes around the apartment, only slippers or bare feet so there’s a plus. Your post mentioned paying attention to what the cats do in response to what you do. They tend to get all excited an underfoot when we’re leaving my bedroom & also when I go into the kitchen where their food is. I’m trying to be mindful of where they both are before leaving my bedroom or heading to the kitchen & walking slower until I have a visual on them.
 

ArtNJ

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If your not wearing shoes, or really rushing about, I think you just have to watch out a bit on the stairs. It would take some really bad luck to hurt a non-kitten badly that way, but making sure that *you* don't fall is also a thing (as you've seen!)
 

game misconduct

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I have 2 beautiful fur children whom I absolutely adore & who appear to be closely bonded with me. Ember is 3 yrs old & Grembly just turned 2. Both are pure bred Oriental Shorthairs. So I’m having a scary issue that I’m hoping to get some advice on. When I get up go into another room in my apartment, both girls will follow me. This by itself isn't the problem. The problem is when the girls follow me, they will dart in front of me as I’m walking & I nearly trip over them. Sometimes they will quite literally get under my feet or weave in between my legs & it happens so fast I don’t see it coming. One time when Grembly was still a tiny kitten, she got directly under foot & to avoid stomping on her, I ended up hurting myself falling into the wall & making a large hole. They’re so darn quick & I never hear/see them coming until it’s too late. Any suggestions on how to curb this behavior?
only thing i found is that after they get stepped on a few times they learn i deal with that every day . i use a cane to walk with(left side affected stroke survivor) you just need to remember to walk slowly and really watch where you put your feet.
 
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