by Tigers Mom (Texas)
cat after marching in place
My cat Tiger does this paw pushing thing, but it has an angry twist to it. On several occasions I’ve been laying in bed, watching TV, or just sitting around with friends, when my cat has gone to a soft object in the room and started marching in place on it. It is not the soft happy little knead like thing when they are on your lap and purring and massaging a blanket. My kitty cat’s pupils are quite large and he often looks at me and meows in a desperate manic way. This can go on for 20 minutes before he settles in, usually with his back towards me but his ears pointed in my direction. It’s like he’s ignoring me, but listening to me at the same time I have done countless searches on the internet about this and no one seems to have a definitive answer. I am not really scared that he will snap and attack the family or think his health is in danger, I just would like to know what the hell my cat is doing.
Another visitor with an angry cat
When my husband and I go to bed our cat jumps up between us and will start kneading feverishly with front paws and kicking me with hind legs in a frenzy. The first time this happened I thought he just loves me, but as this continues I get frightened. The first time this happened he actually came up to my face wide-eyed staring at me and bit my nose. I don’t understand this behavior. I even try to get my husband to divert our cats attention off of me, but he will try his best to make eye contact with me. What’s up with this.Opinion: This is not the first time I have heard of a cat showing aggression to the female human of the family. Some felines get a pack animal mentality when it comes to interacting and finding out their place in the pride. Even if the family or pride is a hybrid clan made up of humans and kitties. Seems that males are more likely then females to show this aggression but it applies to both. More on the marching or complex kneading movements can be found on our page about paddling and purring.
Comments for Angry Marching In Place
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Here’s your problem. by: Anonymous Hi everyone, I stumbled upon this page while surfing the web. Your problem is your cats are stressed out. Try playing with them or letting them release their energy every day and I think your problem will be solved. Worse comes to worst, push kitty off the bed when things start getting weird.
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nearly took him to the vet by: Anonymous Wow. So close to taking my 12 year old cat, which I only adopted a month ago, to the vet because of above. Like everyone else Acco starts kneading on me or next to me on the blanket intensely, staring at me, lets out a strange meow, bites my foot or leg, arm like he would a female when mating then licks himself. I kind of knew he was mating, but wasn’t quite sure. Saved myself some dollars by coming here. Well if it makes him happy 😊
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aggresive kneading and air humping by: Anonymous I’ve been having the same problem, my cat was recently neutered and he started acting very strange, he’ll sit on my lap and meow and then start kneading very violently with all four paws and he will meow and then sometimes he will start to try to hump, and he will meow in my face like something is wrong and when I try to pet him he keeps his position, but backs up while meowing, all with his eyes very dilated. I thought my cat was possessed, but now I think I can pass it off as poor virgin kitty sexual frustration, aggresive kneading and air humping.
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Male marches with all 4 feet by: Jade My sister and I adopted a neutered indoor only cat named Mikey when he was around two or three. His owner had passed away very unexpectedly and he was going to be dropped off at the shelter. Having already had 4 adult cats we gave it a shot to see how everyone got along. He was so shy and scared of everything. Fast forward three years later and he’s the fattest love bug ever without all of the fears he came into our home with. We noticed him marching with all 4 feet and thought it was adorable. He’d march with the front two a few times then stop and use the back feet a few times. He only marches on our beds, blankets & pillows. I noticed when he marches he dribbles little clear drops of an odorless liquid.I assumed it was drool or his nose dripping but it only happens when he’s marching with his back feet. He does kind of arch his back when he’s doing it. I now have to be extra cautious and make sure my pillows, blankets and everything is covered with a blanket. After he’s done, he will lay in that spot and go to sleep. What the heck is going on? He purrs while doing it and doesn’t have even one aggressive bone in his body. Any other male cats do this?
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Same Over Here by: Anonymous I hate to post about my experience without knowing a reason since as I was scrolling down all I was hoping was for an answer but glad that at least there are other people experiencing the same thing. This is all new with my male cat, started about a month ago and he had me worried that something was wrong. He used to knead on me and I was able to pet him while he did. Now he doesn’t knead on me at all but when he does knead on a pillow or blanket- he meows like something is wrong or like he is telling me to leave him alone. He did this to my husband as well when he tried to pet him while kneading on a blanket. So we stopped trying to pet him while he does this although sometimes he will meow on his own while doing the kneading. It seems like he does this behavior more when I’m around than when my husband is.I have a check up with the vet at the end of the month and this is definitely going to be one of the first things i mention since it is a major change in behavior. If the vet has an answer,t hen I will post for anyone else who stumbles across this post in the futures. My husband said growing up all his male cats did the same thing and none of the female cats did. I think it’s probably some sort of sexual behavior-even though he is neutered.
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The song of their people by: Anonymous I believe that cats have inborn traits and movements that other cats are receptive to. As I watch the other actions that accompany the stamping, I see that it is an orchestra of movements and sounds that are akin to a performance to allure or a fit of self expression. I believe it is the song of his lost tribe. His people are obviously highly communicative. He is an indoor cat and I feel as though I have extended the calendar days of his life but reduced the experience value by keeping him inside. I also feel that the song of his people is better than the sterility of the protected life he lives indoors. Whatever, he’s my bro. I enjoy watching him stomp on his favorite toy and “squawk like a camel,” as my daughter says.
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I have a she cat by: mumford my she cat does this with her back legs and her body stands tall and she stomps up and down and her back end shakes! she does it in the same spot in living room near me chair only! I thought she was marking her territory and i thought they do this with pee but she never peed but I have seen male cats do this behavior in my garden so may be its a territorial thing like marking there home!
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cat dry humping toy by: Anonymous Wow thought my cat was the only one that did this, he only does it in bed. every night without fail he will come to bed with me, it started a few months ago where he would march on my foot with all four legs, and dry hump my foot. we then put a soft toy on the bed for him and every night he will meow at me until i put it on the bed. He’ll then do his marching and humping for about 10 mins whilst staring at me, roll over and lick his willy and go to sleep lol. if i try to touch him he’ll scream at me until i stop. its really weird! Hes not been neutered and always been an indoor cat so never had sex either. we also have a female cat but he never tries to mount her or anything.
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angry marching by: Anonymous At our house this is called, “The forbidden dance of love”. Oh, the shame, kitty, oh the shame.
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Cat marching in place by: Anonymous My 15 yr old boy cat (indoor, fixed) has done the arched looks like trying to poo walking while dragging his favorite toy & meowing for many years (can’t recall him doing it as a kitten but he did play fetch with pom pom balls) Often he does it when I’m gone because I find the toy somewhere new when I get home. Or if I go outside for a while and come back I sometimes find him dragging his toy. To me it seems part play/hunting behavior and partly for comfort. Only more recently does he sometimes do it without meowing as a kind of kneading on the blanket at the foot of the bed before laying down. kind of nice to know it’s not just my cat. His sister & litter-mate does not do it.
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Daughters toys all look ASHAMED by: Anonymous My 5 year old daughters toys all look ASHAMED. I have a crazy boy too. He especially “loves” furry bears. I had never seen it before him, I got him fixed a month ago, and last night he started again, I yelled at him and he dragged the bear behind the couch. I hope he will grow out of it, or at least do it in private 🙂
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Marching Cat by: Anonymous My cat has done this a lot. He is actually doing it right now. He was sitting in his bed, asleep, and he woke up and started making a panic-like meow. Now he is marching, and staring at me. He usually does it when my other cat is around. When I try to pet him, he only makes that panic sound. He usually does it for 10 minutes straight. My other cat, who is a female, has never done this before. He always stands really close to either me, or my other cat while marching.
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Strange Cat Rituals by: Anonymous I was so glad to find this article. My three cats all do the “kneading” or “marching” but in slightly different ways. All are fixed and fairly young. My little girl Libby just kneads like a kitten when she gets on one of our fleece throws, then she just curls up and lays down, but her year old brother Oliver does the weird trance-like marching when he gets on fleece, arching his back and sometimes scratching with his hind feet. He looks at me like he doesn’t know why he’s doing it either, if a cat can actually have a confused look on its face! Then he immediately cleans his privates after he’s done. Their two year old brother Mosby does something a little different. He does not knead exactly, but he drags a long belt from a terry cloth robe very slowly and ceremoniously through whatever room we’re in, stopping to arch his back and tremble. He wants me to WATCH but not TOUCH and acts very proud and serious. He keeps looking to see if I’m watching! So I’m careful not to laugh at him because you can see this is something very important. When he’s done, he just drops it and walks away. He never plays with his belt otherwise and won’t let the kittens play with it either. We find it all over the house laying in various and interesting configurations. We just shake our heads and figure it’s his girlfriend. After all, it is pink.
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Shaking/spasm: just excitement? or connected to my cat’s diarrhea? by: Anonymous Wow, there are very few forums I could find on this topic. My cat ritualistically does a similar thing every night when I go to bed. He kneads forcefully on my comforter, and occasionally spasms/shakes his back — sometimes it looks like he is dry humping — when I try to touch him or look at him he meows loudly.I’m actually posting because I’m wondering if this has any relation to his diarrhea. I’ve had him for almost a year (he’s 5 y/o), and has had diarrhea most of the time. Apparently, he also had diarrhea a lot in the animal shelter. IS THIS SHAKING BEHAVIOR DURING KNEADING JUST EXCITEMENT?SO FAR:-He’s caught up on all his shots-Tested for kidney function, worms, diabetes, parasites, etc…-He hasn’t lost any weight & never looses his appetite-Drinks clean, filtered water-Thought he might have Inflammatory Bowel Disease, but the steroids aren’t working-He’s been on Hills I/D food, and it seems to be slightly better-No changes in environment, not a stressed-out cat-We’re going to put him on a duck/pea diet this week. Fingers crossed.
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Cat Marching in place by: Anonymous Whew! I was afraid our cat Moose was the only one who marches and MEOWS. Same as some of the descriptions (different than kneading, he does that too, but he’s all mellowed out when he’s kneading), his favorite objects are the dog’s plush squeaky toys, and he meows loudly when he’s doing it. Often in the quiet of night off in a distant room where he can freaky with Squeaky alone. Appears to be some type of sexually frustrated behavior, but he’s been neutered; is it possible he wasn’t neutered completely AND he’s severely myopic?
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Oh my god!! by: daria I was actually going to post this separately but re-read the list and realized this is exactly the behavior that so confused us all when my mom’s cat turned 17 or so. His version was to drag his feathers-on-a-wand toy into the living room right in front of the tv (while we were watching). Then he would drop it, kind of hover over it while making angry, cat-in-heat type loud meows, stomping/kneading the ground around the toy, and arching his back. He would fluctuate btw this and picking up the wand and rotating in a circle, still “kneading” and meowing through a mouthful of feathers while making extremely – er – sexual gestures! My mom found it very disturbing. I found it hilarious – it seemed the obvious sexual frustrations of a slightly senile virgin kitty. A bit sad considering he was such a dignified gentleman his whole life! 🙂
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weird marching cat behavior by: Anonymous the first comment on this page described exactly the reason why I was searching this site. My male cat started doing this recently and I’m not sure what it is. It’s not just kneading, I know what that is. But when he kneads, his pupils get big, and stands like he’s going to poo and then shakes his butt and marches in place. It looks a lot like the way he looks when he’s pooping except nothing comes out. But he is going to the bathroom in his litter box, so its not like he’s constipated or anything. I have no idea I cannot figure it out. I’ve only seen him do this on my bed. Sometimes he faces me, and sometimes he turns around. It kinda looks like he is humping, except he’s elevated, not rubbing against the ground. Also, I thought that he was doing it for attention or maybe because he was in pain, so I tried to pet him and calm him will he was doing it and he doesn’t want me touching him when he does this. He backs up while retaining his formation and turns his head away from my hand. Does anybody know why he is behaving like this?
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cat marching trance by: Anonymous my cat does this also. not the calm, loving, kneading but he is hunched over with wide eyes and his back legs are shaking almost like a seizure. when i pet him he is startled like he didn’t know i was there. i don’t know what it is but it creeps the hell outta me.
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Kneading Cats by: Anonymous I think its a way to comfort themselves because it reminds them of kitten hood. (Kittens knead their mamas teat while nursing) My cats do this trace like kneading (sometimes drooling) when they’re sleepy and about to pass out. In my opinion, it is relaxing and comforting.
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Cats marching in place by: dust Both my boys and girls do this when they WANT love. After they get love then they do a soft kneading ( and mine drool like a waterfall too)
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Cat Marching Inplace by: Anonymous If your cat is a male, it is probably a substitute for sexual activity.