h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

......Why do they walk around in a circle first?

Cats sometimes do it too. I thought it was some primeval instinctive thing - maybe squashing down the grass into a bed?

Aparantly cats 'padding' when they first sit on your lap is something to do with a throw back to kittenhood. I don't know why they pad, but they sometimes just must, lol!
And why do some cats hate you touching their feet or chest?
....it just makes you want to do it more.

strange...my just circles when she needs the bathroom or is chasing her tail

yep dogs like to chase their own tails, but there was one on tv who really growled and bared its teeth at its own tail, lol!
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...self anger and hatred problems clearly!

The dogs turning round before lying down is a genetic memory. In ancient times dogs did this to flatten grass to make a bed for themselves. There isn't anything to flatten any more, but the dogs still do it.

When a kitten wants to feed or is feeding from its mother, it 'pads' on the mother's tum to promote the milk flow. When some one sits down, the cat reads this as "I am your mother lying down so you can feed". The cat jumps on the person's lap and starts to 'pad'. You may also find that the cat dribbles a bit of saliva as it anticipates feeding.

I'm guessing that cats have sensitive feet and don't like it when they are touched, just like some people don't like having their feet tickled. Not liking having their chest touched is a defensive thing. If a cat's in a position for you to touch its chest, the cat's vulnerable.

The dog one...I should point out that while it is plausible...we don't *know* that's why they do it. We don't actually have any evidence that doggy ancestors flattened grass. Dogs' ancestors - wolves - don't necessarily live in grassland.

See also 'Evolutionary Psychology' which is a whole academic discipline founded on the telling of Just So stories

We can, however, observe kittens padding for milk.

The chest one...on the other hand...many cats enjoy having their tummys tickled. Abdomens are even more vulnerable than chests.

I used to own cats. If I tried to touch any part of their chest/tummy, they'd react by bringing up their back feet to fend me off and protect themselves. A cat doesn't seem to differentiate between tummy and chest. It's all 'vulnerable abdomen' to them.

Some cats like/don't mind having their tummy touched. Others react strongly against it. People are the same.

When the weather is hot my cat has taken to walking in to the room, getting to a patch of shade and just flopping without bothering to pad. It's a bit like that cat equivalent of the wrestler Rick Flair when he hits the floor without raising his arms to brace the impact. Funny to see him do it (the cat that is).

As an aside, I seem to have a spellchecker working in the reply box now. Is that a BBC thing or another feature of the Opera 10 browser that I've only just discovered?

I've never known a cat to 'pad' the floor. They generally do it to people because the link between the person and food makes them think person = mum.

Our dog scratches the bejeesus out of his mat, turns a full circle and lies down - I've always just assumed it's some sort of instintive nesting type thing....

Kittens that get separated from their mothers before they are weaned (which unfortunately is alot of cats) end up being really bad at kneading as adults, especially with claws extended.

Our first cat was a rescue cat, abandonned before he was weaned. He used to knead with his claws out. We knew what he was doing and why, so we'd just gently lift his paws to stop it. Other people might have put him on the floor, but that would have been a form of rejection. We just wanted to protect our legs!

Dunno about that Kea. Our kitten was more or less rejected by her mother. We had to hand feed Trubble for weeks. But she's the only cat that retracts her claws when she climbs on us. She's incredibly anti-social with the other cats (hence the name) but pretty gentle with us.

There isn't a more excuciating feeling than a kitten licking your toes

I used to have a cat that batted my eyeballs with its paw, claws retracted. Alot of trust between us.

SWL, maybe it felt secure with you. I always took the kneading with claws out thing as a behaviour pattern that came from insecurity.


>>We had to hand feed Trubble for weeks<<

I thought that was a brand of cat food .

One cat we had hated having its ears stroked. I have seen others that love it. I mean really running your hand quite roughly over their heads, bending their ears back.

Perhaps first cat was scared to be cut of from being able to hear - if only for a split second. Although, on second thoughts, how was he to know it would only be for a split second? He obviously didn't trust us!

I can perfectly understand dogs turning round before sitting or lying down. I sometimes feel the urge to do it myself.

Woof.

Chaos (still a kitten, just) loves to flop down on her side then roll onto her back and be stroked quite roughly from chin, all the way down her chest and belly, to her inner hind legs (and back up again, rubbing the hair backwards). She doesn't like having her legs stroked, but in under her elbow is also one of her favourite places for a rub/scratch.. She also quite likes a firm touch on and between her pads, but if you're too tentative she'll pull away. She seems to quite enjoy a gentle foot massage

Her mum, Badger, is a funny one. she loves having her head rubbed but sometimes she gets mardy and miaows and scratches out of nowhere. She's a padding dribbler though, she was taken from her mum too young. The pair of them also lick each other's heads quite a lot, when they aren't stalking each other or giving each other dirty looks from across the room...

Trubble says "Touch my tummy and I rip your face off"

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r166/swl_album/kitty.jpg

My cat is learning to cope with me touching her feet, she does give me a look saying 'why?' though. Same with chest, she is learning to cope with it but wonders why I bother.
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As to scratching, my cat loves a really hard back scratch complete with nails. Between the ears and on ears is good too. However if you scratch her on side of head, particularly on side where leg is missing, she will be in cat heaven, push hard against your scratching hand and have an orgasmic look on her face with eyes wide open, no kidding, lol!
She absolutely loves side of head scratches realy hard.
Apart from that, strokes, strokes and more strokes are the order of the day. What I wish is she would sit still and be strked more rather than none stop figures of eight. She does it less nowdays but still does it. I understand figures of eight are to show submission and since she is very timid and nervous it comes s no great surprise.
Don't know about padding as only having 3 legs reduces jumping, although she can jump up on sofa if wants to. She hates being picked up and will run away if try. I did start to work towards being able to pick her up but since it doesn't really matter stopped trying as distressed her and don't want to lose her trust over something unimportant.
She is a sweety though!!
She was a rescue cat and don't think many people were looking for a disabled cat and since she was a very nice cat according to staff I took her. She had been a totally indoor cat which suited me so has stayed the same.