by Nicole (Hagerstown,Md.)
Cat Tapping with His Paw
My cat is tapping with her paws? I woke up this morning to feel a tap-tap-tap on my arms and legs. I thought possibly it was my fiance, but awoke to find my 8 year old female cat tapping away, just like a human would do. It was not your typical kneading, but in fact a tapping with her paws. She was also tapping on my fiance when she finished coming over to me. I can’t find anything about this strange behavior on the internet. Can anyone recommend some good sites with information or advice on this issue? The DVman talks about why his kitty face taps him every morning.My Kitty will wake me up by tapping my forehead and crying for my attention. He usually does it just after the alarm goes off or at sunrise. I tell my co-workers that my cat wants to discuss the amount and quality of food remaining in his bowl. Even though I have learned to fill his dishes at night he would still like a freshen up in the morning. For the most part Kitty gets me up so I will follow him. As we walk together he cries all the way until we get to an open space, where he turns on his back and he allows me to scratch his tummy for a few minutes.When he gets bored with making me do stuff he lets me go back to sleep. It is strange, but on weekends he often lets me sleep until about 9-10 before he wants to wake up for good. Well at least until the early afternoon cat nap time rolls around.Does your cat perform this unusual activity? Tell us about it in the comment boxes below. And thank you for participating in the conversation.
Comments for Cat Tapping
Average Rating 
Rating
Tapping by: Levi My cat Levi likes to open my eyelids while I’m sleeping. He also likes to Pat My face and my lips very gentle, but completely annoying.
Rating
kitty taps by: twelvemonkiesj My Miggie taps me when I get on the computer. He jumps up on the ottoman behind me and gently taps my shoulder/back. He jumps down and I follow him to the same area in the living room. He drops down and I give him a vigorous rub down and he flips to his back and I scratch his belly. It’s funny…always on the same spot on the carpet. around 8:30-9:00pm he does the same thing. this time it means it’s bedtime. He is so smart and loving.
Rating
Tap tap tap by: Anonymous I just looked this up to see if it was something that other cats have done. This only happens while I’m sitting in my recliner though. My one cat Jesse (Bengal/Siamese) stands on his hind legs, grabs my arm with one paw and lightly taps my arm with his other paw. He will keep doing this until I pet his back, and he then rolls onto his belly. After you pet him, he’s fine. However, my other cat Walter (Siamese) he will stand on his hind legs, tap my arm, then very slowly lower himself back onto all fours, sit there for a second, then walk away. It feels weird, because he stares right into your eyes as he lowers himself down. Not sure what’s going on in his head, but it was weird the first few times. Now, I figure that it’s just his way to remind me that he’s there. I love these cats!
Rating
tapping by: Jeanne My cat will walk up to my chair, stand on her hind legs and tap tap tap me with her paw. I figured she wanted to be petted so I went to pet her and she walked away from me. So as soon as I sat straight up, she again came up… tap tap tap again… again I tried to pet her only to watch her walk away. She is my first cat, so I haven’t a clue…lol Otherwise, she gets plenty of attention and has toys and exercises etc. I just don’t know what she wants when she taps and then leaves…lol
Rating
cat tapping by: carolyn I notice that when Tia wants my attention,she will follow along behind me and tap on my ankle. This is a habit that is begun in kitten hood. Kittens do this to get their mother’s attention,I think. Usually it’s because she wants to play, more than likely.
Rating
TAP-TAP-TAP by: lOKITTY My cat, Loki, (believe me he is aptly named) wakes me up a couple of times a night tapping on my arm. If I don’t pay attention, the tapping is done on my face or my mouth. If I STILL don’t pay attention, the little claws come out with the tap. You WILL pet Loki or you will NOT sleep. And, you WILL pet Loki until Loki is done. I just love the little bugger.
Rating
cat taping also by: Anonymous Hi my cat does the same thing its 1 year old and as soon as my alarm goes off it starts tapping me on the chin with its paw. Maybe because i don’t hear it the alarm it’s trying to waking me up.
Rating
Cat Advice by: Anonymous I have advice – pet the cat! She’s just bored and wants your attention. I’ve known many cats that do this.
Rating
My Cat Taps Too! by: maredo55 Hi all, I’m happy to find other cat owners who have tapping cats. Our youngest cat, Sauron II (Sauron the second) taps plant leaves, papers piled on my desk, bed sheets that are in a pile and other things that are about his eye-height. I’ve not seen much on this on the internet, and when searching it just seems to bring up ‘cat kneading’ which is a totally different thing.I’ve posted a (not so great) video to YouTube: if you search SauronII tapping Office you should find it. I would be interested to know if this is the sort of behavior others are witnessing.Thanks!(omg… he’s tapping papers on my desk as I’m writing this!!)
Rating
kitty tapping by: Anonymous One of my cats does the same thing! I was at home alone the first time it happened,sitting on the floor putting on makeup- and I felt a tap on my back and I almost had a heart attack. It felt like a finger tapping me, but it was a kitty 🙂 He does this all the time now whenever he wants to be pet.. which is ALL the timeIt’s adorable!
Rating
Tapping cats by: Charlotte My cat Tiger started doing that to me this morning at 4.30am for half an hour! I had left his treats in the kitchen with the puppy so I couldn’t get him anything! He eventually gave up! It did make me laugh! When I looked at him he had these big gooey eyes as if to say feed me! 🙂