Kitty Scratch Fever

My personal dictionary defines this phenomenon as when the kitty has taken you in and you are totally confident that this kitty loves you and are totally sure that he/she is enjoying your friendly rubbing gesture and then when you are totally off guard: wham!!!! Attack of the KittyScratchFever!!!

Most kitty training has proven that if someone breaks them of this cute habit (as it is when they are cute little kittens) then most of them will grow up to give you a lifetime of pleasurable company and they won't destroy what you have lying around or draw blood from your hands or your arms!

I have a friend that lives close to me, and he has this jet black cat named Brian. The first time I petted Brian, he rubbed up against my hands and my arms full on like a cat that normally rubs against things. He kept doing it for a little while, like 10 or 15 minutes or so, and then when I was comfortable with him and assuming that he was really into this, he latched onto my wrist with his teeth, and just looked at me. As he was looking at me, he started tightening up his jaw, until there was pressure and I knew exactly what he was doing, and he actually broke the skin and drew blood.

So then my friend decided to tell me the story behind Brian and how he came to wind up with him. He was handled roughly by his original owner and he learned to defend himself, but now goes on the offensive with new people to keep from getting treated harshly. I guess I couldn't blame him for that.

So we see that there is a great parallel here with the way that quite a few people have learned to go on the offensive to keep from getting hurt. Over a period of time of being handled roughly they have come to the point of pushing others away, and do not realize that they are doing that and that it hurts them as well as the ones they are pushing away. When we realize someone is doing this, it is given that it is up to us to gently let them know that this is what is going on and that we need to have a great amount of patience to wit.