Why does my cat only cuddle just after waking up?

[WhatchaCallKitty]

She is usually in a great mood immediately upon waking up. She walks right to the bed (where I normally am), jumps up on me & kneads my back and it feels great. I like her massages a lot, but she only does this after waking up, then eats, and she is actually scared of me a little bit for some reason until she sleeps and wakes up again, rinse and repeat.

Anyone else have a cat that is on/off in terms of cuddling, but is sometimes scared of you for no reason?

Appreciate any advice/suggestions.

 

[glittercat]

Yes....

My boy Anubis can be a bit odd sometimes. Usually I find it's if I've gone out of the room and come back in wearing something else or different shoes or similar (even if it's only a few minutes later). His eyes get huge and he looks really anxious and about to run, but if I speak to him he comes over straight away to be petted. If however I don't speak and go towards him he will flee and hide. I don't know why he does it.

All my cats are indoors and he's never ever been mistreated or hurt. I guess he's just nervy - he is really timid when we go to the vet etc.

 

[ArtNJ]

Cat's dont trust humans all at once. You can be safe in the bed (where you are quiet) but not generally safe and not safe everywhere. I've seen more than one post from members where the first spot was when they are taking a bath -- kitty would come to the side of the tub for pets. Why? Because the bath is a spot where those particular humans always relaxed, were quiet and calm for a good while.

Gradual expansion is the strategy you want to use. Try calling the cat when you go to bed and see if she will allow petting them. Then try to expand to calling onto the bed for pets during the day (lie down so its as similar as possible).

I like to use a call sound (you can make up your own) and tap the spot. That way, they know you are offering petting time. Once you link that up, it helps with the expansion to different times & spots.

P.S. My recently departed girl kitty (sniff) was a rescue. Early on she would crawl on my stomach in bed. I started using a call noise and tapping my tummy on the bed, and then I ported that to the couch. Years later, I was surprised when I was stretching on the floor . . . and she crawled onto my stomach. By that point, she already generally trusted me, but she never forgot that the tummy was a nice place for a nap, and gradual expansion helped us get to general trust.