Cats reverting to kittenhood?

Factual Questions
1

Any number of my cat loving friends insist that picking a cat up by the nape of the neck can ‘revert’ the cat back to kittenhood.

I have to admidt that after becoming a recent cat owner myself, my beloved ‘Z’ seems to enter an almost Zen state of affairs when I try the move on her. Somethings going on there, but what?

My friends seem to think that cats are born with this trait and have it until death.

I say they’re full of it -a cat will outgrow it like any other animal does. While I personally may drool at the site of a female’s nipple, I doubt it has anything to do with the child in me re-asserting itself.

So, what really is going on in my felines mind?

2

FWIW - One of my late, lamented kitties was a “kitten” from birth to his death 18 years later. He ALWAYS was surprised when biting his tail after chasing it hurt. He’d chase his tail while sitting on the back of a chair and fall down.

He’d suddenly tear from one end of the house to the other for no apparent reason.

my other late, lamented kitty (was 19 when she died), NEVER seemed to be a “kitten”.

The variations on kitty tempers and moods seem to be infinate.

3

I think LIFTING an adult cat by the nape of the neck would cause pain and/or damage. However, my Vet told me that if you grab the back of the neck firmly, MOST cats will hold still, as if they were lifted by their mother. Great for applying ear drops!

4

My cat is also still a kitten(4 years old). However, It can open closed doors, which is a pain when you have company over and are trying to keep her out of the way. Dragonlady is correct, lifting adult cats by the nape of the neck can injure them.

5

To those critical of lifting a cat by the nape- If you do it correctly, I believe it doesn’t hurt the cat.

I’ve done it myself a few times and the cat simple goes into ‘Zen’ mode. No whining, whimpering, trying to get away, etc…

So something’s going on. I’m just wondering what.

Does it really think I’m it’s momma point?

6

As I understand this response, it is not a behavioral response (like kneading) but is a reflexive response similar to your leg kicking when the doctor hits your knee with a hammer.

When the kitten is picked up by the scruff of the neck, it is almost completely immobilized. This is a useful trait in the wild where the momma cat has to move her litter quickly and doesn’t need a squirming kitten to contend with. Please note that the lack of movement does not mean that the animal isn’t being hurt - and that skin and connective tissue that can support a kitten weighing in the ounces may not support a full grown cat without some tearing.

However, fully domesticated cats do retain kittenish behaviors their whole life. Kneading especially is a remnant of nursing and therefore kittenish behavior. They will regard their human as a momma - after all, we remain larger than them, and provide food and shelter for them. Hmmm, I’ve heard of some humans who remain children most of their life for the same reason.

7

One characteristic of domesticated animals, especially domesticated carnivores like cats and dogs, is neotony, or the retention of immature characteristics into adulthood. Compared to their wild cousins, cats and dogs behave like kittens and puppies their entire lives. So it’s not surprising that some cats are seemingly kitten-like even as adults – it’s the result of thousands of years of selective breeding.

As to the OP, picking up a cat by its nape causing it to revert to kittenhood, IMO Zyada nailed it.

8 
Total agreement here. We now have the second cat that shows extremely kitten-like behaviors. He will sit on my wife's chest as she sits at her compuer, and lick/nuzzle her neck while "kneading" it's paws against her throat. This cat sometimes salivates heavily when doing so. It's nursing, obviously. I must say, she's encouraged this behavior from the day we adopted the kittens. She/we had a cat for 19 years that behaved similarly, and she missed it. ( Let us not delve into what that says about my wife, shall we? ).

Cartooniverse
9

[hijack]
Interestingly, most of the time, when a young child is mauled by a dog, it is around the throat area. Ifa child is acting out in a way that adog does not like, it will treat the kid as it would a puppy, grabbing gently with its teeth around the throat or nape of the neck, whichever presents itself more readily.

When a puppy is grabbed like this, it instinctively knows to stop whatever it’s doing, and go limp.

Humans don’t have this instinct, so the child squirms, causing the dog to adopt a firmer grip. So the child squirms more. So the dog tightens its grip, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah to the point where the dog has to be put to sleep, merely for trying to discipline an unruly pup.

Mind you, sometimes the dog just attacks due to sheer bloody-mindedness. I don’t want to give the impression that the “unruly pup syndrome” is the universal reason for brat mauling.
[byejack]

10

I think there must be some sort of ingrained “dominance” instinct or mechanism associated with this grip. Males when mating will often hold the female by the back of the neck with their teeth.

11

I’m happily surprised that this thread has made a comeback.

I was convinced after the first hour or two of starting it that this thread was incurring the wrath of reader’s fed up with cat posts. Nary a response.

A few days later and :: Emeril voice :: BAM!

I’ll never figure out this board…

Now then. Most people seem to believe that lifting an adult cat by the back of the neck is bad. I don’t know if I agree with this or disagree- I think it depends on the cat and the available skin present behind the neck.

With my cat (Z), and my neighbors (Meg), there’s quite a bit of skin to grasp. Gently lifting her doesn’t seem to cause her much harm, outside of a shake of her head and a look of ‘What was that for’. She regroups and then meanders off to get back to her business of chasing fantom mice around the apartment. My reaction? No harm, no foul.

My neighbors second cat (Pete), on the other hand, is pretty darn skinny and has little or no extra nape to grab on to. In his case, I can see how it could cause harm to lift him. In that case you’re grabbing tendions and whatnot in the neck that shouldn’t be pulled or manipulated.

Fair assumption?

Until I learn otherwise, and following the consensus so far, I’ll avoid lifting her. Instead I’ll only grasp her neck and make my point, ‘Stop shreading the couch!!’.

So, I’ve learned a few things about lifting the cat and what might cause this ‘Zen’ mode my cat, and others, apparently are responding to. While it seems far from a conclusive answer, the reverting to kittenhood as a natural, born reaction, to mamma cat seems plausable.

12

[sub]Hiya CnoteChris![/sub]

You grab your neighbor Meg by the skin of her neck? :eek:
:smiley:

13

well, that would make for quit an interesting bar-b-q now wouldn’t it?

14

Yea, and I ** hate ** it when my SO does that, too. :smiley:

15

Hiya Audrey-

Still the same smartass, I see. Where 'ya been arguing these days?

To answer your ‘Q’- My neighbors cat is named ‘Meg’. Her, the human, is Dawn and…

Ahh… Screw it!

16

I have a diabetic cat that we’re trying to treat with medication in hopes of avoiding the shots. Giving this cat a pill twice a day was leaving me with scars until I noticed one day that if I just grasp him firmly by the back of the neck (no lifting required!) he stopped struggling and I could get the pill-gun into his mouth with little or no resistance. Break though!! Maybe we’ll both survive this experience!!

MomCat

17

Oh, you know I’m the same sweetheart I’ve always been. I think I used up my lifetime’s worth of arguing mana debating Slug Signorino’s 'toon with you. :slight_smile:

Are you sure you want to give me that line to abuse? :stuck_out_tongue:

Heh heh. Yeah, I know what you meant. I’m just being silly.

So that this isn’t a total shameless hijack-- my kitty, a stray for 90% his short life, would go also into Zen mode when picked by the scruff. I took him out of a catfight once this way. It annoyed him a bit, I think. He gave me that patented feline f*ck-off look.

18

Audreyk-

I only know you from the Slug discussion. You may be a sweetheart, but you have some serious attitude on deck when you need it.

Why do I always attract this type?

Beautifull women who can metaphysically kick my ass at the drop of the hat. My luck.

I hope your feline didn’t depart this world as a result of your picking him by the back of the neck.

This thread has me seriously reconsidering that move. Since yelling at ‘Z’ has absolutely no effect on her, I’ll have to find something else to get her attention.

Maybe a squirt gun?

19

Only when I need it, though. :slight_smile:

If it’s any consolation, I found your “Stupidest thing I ever did” post in MPSIMS hilarious. :smiley:

Naw, he got his ass whupped by the resident bully tomcat. He had some very nasty cuts on his face the last time I saw him. He disappeared after that. My guess is that he died of an infection of some sort. My poor little tabby kitty. :frowning:

I’ve heard that works pretty well.

20

Uh oh… We’re not going to hijack someone else’s thread again and take it to… hey, hold on there, this is MY thread. I’ll do as I please.

Well, I’ll do as I please until some authority figure tells me to do otherwise. Kinda like my life…

You liked my peeing on myself story? Thanks. I doubt it qualifies for the literary hall of fame, but considering the time of day I wrote it, I thought it was decent.

So I decided to pick up a squirt gun yesterday. Kinda cool looking thing. Has some tubes and chambers on it that does God knows what. Where were these things when I was a kid? All I had was the stupid orange looking pistol that ended up dribbling out all over the place. I’d go to squirt someone and it would shoot sideways, if it shot at all. But I digress.

I think ‘Z’ can sense I’m up to something. She’s now acting all nice and friendly. She’s not pissing me off the way she used to. And now that’s starting to pissing me off. What fun is it having a squirt-gun with precision aim when I don’t have a reason to squirt her? I mean, I’ve had to resort to squirting my plants. Dammit all.

It’ll happen, sooner or later, and… then… BLAMMO.

Until then, my plants will be looking happy and refreshed. I fill you in when the time comes.

I’m sorry about your cat.

But hey! Look up. A babe from Hawaii won the Ms. America pageant last night. Someone who can give that God-forsaken, in-hospitable, barren tundra you call Hawaii, the recognition it needs. -smile-