Female Cat Keeps Hitting Me On The Hand

[EmilyandEbony]

I have two female cats (see profile name), but my favorite one, Emily, keeps hitting me on the hand at times. It's mostly when I get my hand near her paw, but when I pet her she appears fine. She'll hiss, then wack my hand. She isn't hurting me, but I'm afraid she feels threatened..

 

[Cat_mediator]

How did you get your cats? Did she have any bad experience before you adopted her? You can try desensitizing her by decreasing the distance between your hand and her paw. It is like my cats with the vaccum. First, you keep a good distance between your hand and her paw, if she shows no signs of stress, you give her a treat. Practice it a couple times a day at first, then you can decrease the distance as time goes on. Any time you see that she is stressed, you stop, and next time, increase the distance and try again. Make sure that you don't give her any treats if she shows signs of aggression, otherwise, you might reinforce the wrong behavior. I think clicker training will work great in this situation. Check it out.

 

[Mystikal kitten]

The youngest male cat I have does the same thing but it's because he wants attention.
I also have 2 other cats (Midnight, 2, female, fixed and Rigby, 2, male, not fixed) so I try to give them all equal amounts of attention but that doesn't always work because Rigby is a lap cat.

 

[Yanaka]

I'd say it looks like she wants you to respect her personal space. Does she come to you for affection, sometimes? My kittie (a female, too), was very distant and autonomous when she was younger, but as I respected her boundaries and let her do her thing, she became more and more affectionate. She used to avoid my touch and whack at me, too, and I'd only touch her if she was willing. She's still becoming more and more affectionate, she's a gem!

 

[Kefa]

Did someone ever clip her nails? Or is it just that she can tell you just chopped onions? Does it seem a sensitivity to being touched in a certain place? There may be something painful or remembered pain. Or is it the way you approach her? Does she think you are going to pick her up or do something else she doesn't want?

I only pet Homer when he signals he wants to exchange smells with a head butt or a rub or a full body plop in front of me. Usually this is when I am reading a book, typing on the computer, in the bathroom attending to personal business, or coming home with packages in my arms. Because cat.

 

[EmilyandEbony]

The youngest male cat I have does the same thing but it's because he wants attention.
I also have 2 other cats (Midnight, 2, female, fixed and Rigby, 2, male, not fixed) so I try to give them all equal amounts of attention but that doesn't always work because Rigby is a lap cat.

Mine does it WHILE I’m giving her attention. I got her and Ebony when they were tiny kittens at the shelter. She hasn’t done it as much since after I posted, and she’s still been affectionate. Ebony is more aggressive than her, though. Neither of them hurt me, and their front paws were declawed.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

I have two female cats (see profile name), but my favorite one, Emily, keeps hitting me on the hand at times. It's mostly when I get my hand near her paw, but when I pet her she appears fine. She'll hiss, then wack my hand. She isn't hurting me, but I'm afraid she feels threatened..

Did someone ever clip her nails? Or is it just that she can tell you just chopped onions? Does it seem a sensitivity to being touched in a certain place? There may be something painful or remembered pain. ...

Mine does it WHILE I’m giving her attention. I got her and Ebony when they were tiny kittens at the shelter. She hasn’t done it as much since after I posted, and she’s still been affectionate. Ebony is more aggressive than her, though. Neither of them hurt me, and their front paws were declawed.

These above excerpts make me think it could very well be because of the declawing.

I would respect her space, pain, and not try to approach her paws unless she eventually lets you.

Cat_mediator above has a great post (message #2) about what to do to move forward with this.

 

[EmilyandEbony]

It's been forever since I remembered to check this post. Thank you all for trying to help, and I'm sorry I didn't really respond after about three years. I, sadly, didn't put your advice to use very much, but my cats are doing much better in contact with others. (Except for Ebony still hissing sometimes when you pet her for more than like a second, lol)

 

[FeebysOwner]

Some cats are just easily 'excitable'. So, as long as you know how to watch for signs that she is becoming overly-excited and then stop petting her, all should be fine - especially since nothing negative has escalated in this situation over such a long time frame.