Do You Play With Your Cat With Your Hands?

[Mer.kitten]

i mean like move it under the blankets or make it walk like a spider til your cat pounces, ect. I havent done it much with Hunbun, shes a sweet kitty and doesnt bite and i want to keep it that way.. but last night we were playing Pounce On The Hand. When she ‘caught” my hand shed just gently-i cant even say ‘bite’, it was more like shed mouth my hand for a sec, then run off, and come back and start stalking it again.

I just feel like a hypocrite cos i yelled at my ex (we still live together) and said “DONT play with her with your hands!”... and now im doing the same thing.

Just curious how many of you use hands sometimes, and how many make a point not to and keep it strictly to toys?

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

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Mer.kitten - I've done it all my Life, and I'm scratched and bitten just about every day, but it doesn't bother me. I still preach, "don't use your hands as cat toys," and it's still good advice.

Caveat: I use 8% sodium hypochlorite (i.e. straight household chlorine bleach) as a disinfectant for bites. I've never had an infection, but then I haven't even had a cold since the 1980s.
.

 

[Mer.kitten]

Its just, like when i need to put her in her carrier for example, and she doesnt want to go, she'll squirm to get out of my grip, but NEVER bites or even mouths me. So my fear is if i play with her with my hands on the regular, she gets "used to" biting me, even just gently... then i need to put her in her carrier or bathe or or pill her and shes bites, cos shes used to biting now. Or am i just being paranoid?

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

Its just, like when i need to put her in her carrier for example, and she doesnt want to go, she'll squirm to get out of my grip, but NEVER bites or even mouths me. So my fear is if i play with her with my hands on the regular, she gets "used to" biting me, even just gently... then i need to put her in her carrier or bathe or or pill her and shes bites, cos shes used to biting now. Or am i just being paranoid?

Mer.kitten - No - you're being cautious, and trying to avoid initiating an eventuality where Honeybun becomes a full-time biter.
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[weebeasties]

Some of my cats will play with my hands, others don't. I know it is something you are not supposed to encourage but I have always done it.
Sometimes Keith can get a little rough and I'll squeal and he immediately stops. Shady, who was my soulmate kitty, would wait for me to grab his belly and wrestle my hand. I used to get so many scratches from that, but he LOVED it and honestly I did too.
I can say that in my 30+ years of being a cat mommy I have NEVER been bitten in anger or fear by any of our cats. Believe me in those 30 years there have been lots of medications given, forcing into carriers, and all manner of things that would annoy a cat. Never have they lashed out in anger.
They know the difference between playtime and fighting. They play with my hands like they would play with a buddy. Occasionally one will get a bit carried away and it hurts a bit but it's never intentionally. They would never hurt me on purpose as I would never hurt them. We've got faith in each other.

 

[vince]

I always play rough with my cats. I let 'em bite, scratch and kick all they want. I always have done that with any cat I had. All of them grew out of it. My two are somewhere between two and three years old now and they'll kick a little and give me soft love bites, but that's all even though they regularly drew blood when they were little.

 

[aliceneko]

Toffee likes to play with my hand but Fudge doesn't so much. Toffee is very playful and energetic, and likes to be stimulated regularly. He tries to catch my hand when I move it under the blanket, especially when I make a rustling noise by scratching the sofa a little. He bites regularly, but mainly when he's excited as normally when I give him tummy tickles he'll bite me out of excitement; or when I've ended up in the middle of a game between him and Fudge.

 

[Mer.kitten]

Thanks for the input guys i think im going to stop now before i get in the habit of it.

 

[mama africa]

I do … and Missy loves it !!!

 

[misty8723]

I did with Cynthia, I would walk my fingers along toward her and try to touch her feet or tail. She would bat my fingers and I'd pull them back, laugh, and do it again. Occasionally I would get scratched a bit, but she never bit or tried to bite. I've tried that game with Swanie and Cricket and neither are interested.

 

[mightyboosh]

There's only my grand daughter that can get away with this, anyone else would be eaten alive.

 

[bengalcatman]

I never thought it was a good idea to play with a cat with bare hands. With our Bengal (Makena) it would be a serious mistake. Makena would never intentionally hurt anyone, but he is very fast and very strong and could accidentally do a lot of damage. We always warn visitors not to play with him using their hands.

Then we got a kitten that was only 4 weeks old. June Bug was so tiny, and loved to be handled. She was also in quarantine from our other cats until she tested virus free, so it seemed like she needed direct touch. I felt like she needed human contact. And honestly: I couldn't resist anyway.

As some others have stated, no big deal. She went through a period where she bit too hard and had difficulty understanding that she was hurting me. Eventually she learned to be careful after many a loud "NO!" followed by an abrupt end to playtime.

June Bug is about a year old now and she greatly prefers her toys because she can bite and swat them harder. But she still will gently play with my hand, careful to never leave a mark or scratch. She seems to do this more out of affection than for play.

So I guess it depends on the cat and the owner.

 

[mama africa]

Love bites

 

[LisaT.]

Not anymore. And Theo (on the top) hasn't bitten my hands or arms since!

 

[candie]

My cat's toy is my hand under covers she likes it more then store bought toys even if it has catnip. I have no idea why though

 

[huxleysmom]

I don’t. I’m a firm believer in « hands are for petting, not for play », but then again, I am allergic to cats so any scratches or bite marks become very itchy and problematic for me.

 

[nunnc84]

My cat used to bite when she had enough petting. So I bit her back, and shoved her out of my bedroom. Now she licks me when she has had enough, and moves away. After experience, I have learned what she means by this; and respect her language. I've rescued her, and had her for 4 months now.
Lately, I rescued a kitten. He attacks my feed under the covers. I shove him off the bed. I know my hands are not play toys, I can't resist sometimes. I can say OWOW, or take your claws out of me; and he does so. Over time I have learned to use my voice. I'm still learning.

 

[Annimation]

My oldest daughter likes to play with her a lot with hands and with toys. Everyone else only uses toys. She seems to know who to bite and who not to bite now that she's been with us for a little over 3 years.

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

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Mer.kitten - I've done it all my Life, and I'm scratched and bitten just about every day, but it doesn't bother me. I still preach, "don't use your hands as cat toys," and it's still good advice.

Caveat: I use 8% sodium hypochlorite (i.e. straight household chlorine bleach) as a disinfectant for bites. I've never had an infection, but then I haven't even had a cold since the 1980s.
.

If only you’d stopped there with the bleach. I fear drinking it may have had some ill effects.

 

[FlawlessImperfection]

Love bites

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Oh my goodness I’ve found my favorite Missy picture!! I love it!!