?Kitteh Question?

[ThatsMyBarack]

My Goldmine loves to lie on his back, show his tummy, and purr up a storm. But when I try to pet his exposed tummy, he grabs my hand and tries to stuff it in his mouth, still purring like crazy. What does it all mean? :shrug:

[Kitty Herder]

1. I don't know what it means, but one of mine does that too.

Just one of those ineffable feline mysteries, I suppose.

[TZ]

2. Overstimulation--but he is playing

When you rub the belly the cat will get overexcited and bite and scratch..basically if you watch them play with a toy, you will see the same behavior. Its usually not angry behavior..just excited behavior. Sometimes mine really will let me pet them without getting excited. Sometimes they just are too wound up.

[Jamastiene]

3. If a cat exposes their stomach to you, it means they

are comfortable with you and trust you. It doesn't mean they want you to rub it, most of the time. There are exceptions to that rule though. Generally, though, cats are ticklish on their stomachs, or just don't like to have them rubbed. That has been my experience through the years with cats.

Hope this helps.

[Orsino]

8. Paradoxically, it's also an aggressive move.

Dogs roll on their backs to show submission, while cats often use the position to attack--even at play.

It's up to the cat whether he likes tummy rubbin' or not. Sometimes he may just want to play-bite you. My own critters vary a lot.

[stuntcat]

4. he's askin for it

He looks like he's just asking for a hand to bite there! :loveya: Is that his toy box next to him?

[ThatsMyBarack]

5. It's actually a baby scale....

that we now use as a kitteh-toy box! ;)

[MorningGlow]

6. Kitteh wants to rassle

Our orange male does the same. He also loves to be brushed, but he derails the brushing by turning around and biting the brush, so we always have to have two brushes--one in each hand--one to brush him with and one that he can attack.

So fierce, these kittehs!

Goldmine is gorgeous, BTW! :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

7. Pretty cat! I love the orange kitties!

Amos did that, as well. Actually, he'd do that even when he wasn't lying on his back, LOL. I also heard that this meant that they were overstimulated, and that these were "love bites." They still hurt, love, or not...:hide:

[SOteric]

9. Maybe he's just scratching his back.

They do that in the same way.

[sasquatch]

10. My parents black cat bart does that. He just wants to play with his owner.

:)

[applegrove]

11. Mine does that too. I think lying with his belly open is a vulnerable position

and he/she is trying to tell you to lay off the belly. Mine does it all the time. Just because the belly is exposed doesn't mean they want to be petted there. I find myself petting the cat there anyhoo - belly's are just so tempting to pet I don't care how often my fingers end up in his mouth.

[yellowdogintexas]

12. we have one that we call the Belly Ho because he is so easy to get to flip

over and show his belly. All you have to do is touch his tummy for a few seconds and he flips over and wiggles around, begging to have his tummy rubbed.

[ThomCat]

13. He trusts you, and he wants to play rough with you.

:)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. I am rubbing a lovely, furry cat belly right now.

The owner of the belly is lovin' it.

[LoveMyCali]

15. My first cat used to do that to me all the time too

and I swear she was laughing at me and thinking "I can't believe she fell for it again!"

The cat I have now bites me all the time, not hard ... he's never broken skin, I think he's just trying to show me that he thinks he owns me. Now that he knows that he won't really get a rise out of me he doesn't do it as much. It just isn't as much fun if I don't get mad. ;-)

[Lil Missy]

16. LOL! Didn't you know that cats are all brain damaged like that?

He just wants to play, or get some lovin'. :D