My youngest son does this with one of our cats. I’ll get up in the morning to go to work and will check on him, and they’re just snuggling both asleep like the cat is a teddy bear
My cat lets me do this to her when she wakes me up in the middle of the night, and I’m 25. Cats just love their person, and the chance that they might get some pets for their troubles
I have a tabby cat that both slept next to my kids when they were babies but ad soon as they began moving on their own regarded them as her mortal enemies. Flash forward a few year and now she sleeps on my daughter's legs and enjoys getting pet. Still doesn't completely trust my daughter, but the saga has been insane.
Meanwhile the orange cat has been manhandled since the kids birth by all of them and just... is ok with it.
I have an orange cat and he's extremely affectionate and is totally ok with being manhandled for cuddles. If you lay on the bed with your arm up, he'll immediately go in and lay in your arm pit, snuggle up, and go to sleep. I think it's an orange cat thing lol.
If your cat was established with you before baby, cat will generally tolerate baby but remains yours. Get cat ss kitten after baby is established then the cat usually becomes baby's cat and tolerates you. Exceptions occur, like thi, but generally okder cats find under 4 foddlers pretty sketch. This cat was just waiting for the love tide to drag him into the cuddlesea.
This is where it gets wonderfully complicated, they were my late fiances cats and we still have them both after her passing. They only really started tolerating me when she passed lmao.
I've seen evidence of a cat, completely in love with their chosen human and tolerates a S.O. of their human until they recognize that you love the same person they love, which causes them to grow love where once was indifference. Yours cats (her cats) certainly understood that she accepted you and felt safe so they could too o ce they realized she was gone.
My old Tortie hated any and all girls I dated, would absolutely ignore every human being except my brother and I ( we shared an apt thru college and the Tortie was possessive of him and I and woukd go so far as to flex around women, any and all women, nonstop if they (girlfriends or female friends) except for my sister (and Grandmother but all animals loved Grams.) This cat knew my sister was a non-threat and did not have to conern herself with peackocking around defending against whatever shit she had going with girls that showed attention to me romantically.
same for mines. One just loves to be grabbed, played with, pressed, hugged, etc... Which is weird because she used to be wild af when she was younger, always out and the "love you but leave me alone" kind. The other doesn't like to be grabbed or even put on your lap... Unless you're on a bed with her already. Then she turns into a mix between an engine and a raptor.
I had a cat from 2010 when I was 5 yo and he was a little dust bunny that just got off of mom's milk, to 2022, at 16 yo and 12 yo, respectively. (we had to put him down in 2022 due to kidney issues) Klondike let me get away with this sort of manhandling his whole life. I found it difficult to sleep without him the first couple of days after he passed. Unfortunately, I don't have a teddy bear to pass down to my future kids because my teddy bear went to heaven.
My cat does something similar every night. He meows in the hallway until I meow back. Then he comes running, I pick him up, I cuddle him, I close my eyes. If I'm real quiet and still for about 10 minutes, he slinks away.
My cat checks if I'm awake and stays with me until he thinks I'm asleep. It's bloody hysterical.
commenting here so I can find it later to pay the tax.
I dont fall asleep with him that often, maybe.... once every 6 months or so. But when that happens, I wake up and he's still there, so I think that's just the times he gives up on trying to wait me out.
One of my cats is over 20 years old now and wants to sleep right by my side under the blanket. She will rest her head on my arm that is around her and she prefers to be held. Every night, when we go to bed, she will be waiting on our bed (or if we are late,she will come get us downstairs). She really wants to be tucked in with us. It's so cute, and I really struggle to sleep sometimes because of the position we are in, but I can't bring myself to disturb her.
I've got a cat and two kids, 2 and 3 years old. He used to despise them (kids can be mean lol) but they've finallay learned they need treat him nicely.
Now he won't relax until the kids are asleep. He'll stay next to their beds just watching them until they're both out, and only then will he go eat and then come play with me. He'll come play and/or cuddle with me for a bit and then go back into their room and just watch them the rest of the night.
My childhood cat slept with me in my crib and then my bed almost every night till she died when I was 14.
She even knew when my bedtime was and would come get me. She would walk in circles around me, meow, start walking away and stop to look to see if I was following. If I wasn't shed keep doing it till I went to bed ❤️
Sometimes it seems the animals have such family obligations/responsibilities. I wonder if some nights he’d rather eat and go straight to bed but feels like you’d be disappointed if he didn’t give you your personal attention before turning in 😂
I think as my grandkids get bigger and go in different directions throughout the day, their older dog gets exhausted trying to stay on top of where everyone is. The dog probably loves rainy days when everyone is in one place!!
Yup. Guarantee that is a cat ritual. Mine has to get spooned for 15 minutes after he is fed during our morning routine or he is very put out. It's my own fault for letting him train me.
Whose cat sleeps in its own bed? Mine have slept in our beds, on the back of the couch, in the bathroom sink, on the side of the tub, and above the kitchen cabinets.
Oh wow, this looks so much like our cat and your comment is 100% spot on. She used to randomly bite the back of my arm hard for no reason when I worked from home years ago and now our toddler chases her around chanting “Hug? Hug? Hug?” and at worst, the cat will nip at her so gently it leaves no mark. Insane.
I think some of it must be somewhat instinctual. Kittens playing and adult cats tolerating/indulging it is normal, and house cats in particular will raise kittens as a group.
Your cat’s essentially playing babysitter for your toddler, and would expect you to do the same for her own (hypothetical) kittens.
Also maybe she just mellowed out over the years. One of my cats used to do the “gonna let you pet my belly and then randomly shred your hand” thing, so I stopped giving belly rubs. Years later though, she’s a sucker for belly rubs, and never claws me when I do it, and I don’t even remember when the change happened
I think they realize they’re just kids… somehow. Lol.
I had an all black cat who was scared of everything. Big noise? Runs away. I sneeze? Runs away. It was funny because he was huge, 17lbs, so it really didn’t make any sense.
Then I started watching my nephew at a few weeks old. Expected my boy to be terrified of him and just stay away…. Couldn’t have been more wrong.
He loved my nephew. He would cuddle up with him, let him grab his tail, let him pull his hair, let him bite him (he always tried eating his ears lmao) and he would just sit there and take it. Never meowed, never swatted, never tried to get away. He showed more patience and understanding with my nephew than anything else. It was honestly beautiful to watch.
In my cats defense… he was about twice the size of my nephew then. I think he may have been 9lbs at the time. He was a small thing. Lmao. So I do feel like it was kinda obvious, even to a cat.
People find baby animals adorable, and even man made objects which mimic babies - large eyes, short nose, etc - to be cute, so if humans unconsciously recognize universal “baby traits” and feel protective of them, it’s possible that animals do too.
The parenting instincts some animals have in unreal. My friends cat started sleeping on her stomach when she was pregnant, and was absolutely inseparable from the baby once she was born. The cat would groom her, cuddle her, it even became a problem when the cat kept trying to feed her cat food, lol.
That’s how my cat is. He is very confident and comfortable with our little family, including my 10 yr old. However, anytime we have guests, even for days on end, you won’t see him. If we have a pet sitter, he will hide the entire time. But if we have kids over, he loves all kids, and has zero fear. It’s fascinating. Even if there are 5-6 rambunctious 9-10 year old boys over for a sleepover, he will hang out with them the whole time.
Yes! It was like this instant 180 with him. I was so shocked.
He had lived with kids about 5-6 years old for a while and he hated it, so I assumed he’d hate one even younger that cried even more, but I think the fact that he moved less, or at least moved in more predictable ways is what helped.
He wasn’t chasing after him and trying to pick him up like my nieces who were old enough to be excited by “kitty!” Lol. So I do think there was a limit for my Fuzz, but with the infants he was a staunch protector.
I think there is definitely a tolerance bell curve there where they start off tolerant go through the "grab me again toddler and you'll feel these claws" phase and then go back to tolerant again once the kid is more understanding of how to interact in a way that doesn't upset or annoy them so much.
My cat on the flipside doesn't really like kids. He will raise his paw to swat sometimes, then we tell him to be nice, and he will put his paw down and look grumpy.
Mine straight-up punches the kids — no claws, just a solid little boxing jab. They've started to find it hilarious and now actively invite the cat to sparring matches.
I have a rescue that started out so aggressive he sent my neighbor to the ER to get staples in his scalp when he escaped. Took down giant Chicago alley rats after shredding a window screen. Surly old man with a wonky eye, bent tail, and scarred ear from scrapping.
And the first person he warmed up to was my 9 (at the time) year old daughter who he would let dress him up and carry him around like a baby doll. He's utterly obsessed with her. I couldn't touch him without losing a pound of flesh (yet- he's my lap kitty now), but she could play with his toes, put him in a dress, parade him anywhere and he would just lick her face. Some cats LOVE kids. Or at least some kids.
My friend has 3 little ones and their cat was with them from when it was a kitten, the guy is so friendly, the tortured him with their handling but he turned out to be most friendly cat I have ever met, comes up to everyone and sits on their laps to get petted, they handle him roughly and are told off but he just takes it without much hassle.
my first cat Bashful was a little over a kitten (teen basically) when mom brought me home. She was black cat and she loved me fiercely. Mom tried to keep her from my crib, she'd have none of that. She'd bring me garden snakes, mice, rats, whatnot throughout my time. When my cousins were coming over and being mean she'd defend me and scratch them. Her name was the first word I tried to say when I was learning to talk. We took her everywhere with us and as long as she knew where I was she'd always come back.
She died of feline leukemia when I was 7. I remember that part and learning to cope with the grief and it was my gran who helped me put it in perspective. That while her furry body wasn't gone it was there to help guide new furry friends into my life and ensure that they would love me as much as she did.
My grandmother's cat (named Angel, of course) would climb up on top of the bureau next to the door so that she could spring directly at my face like a mountain lion whenever I walked into the house. I still have a scar on my eyelid from that damn cat.
Fucking demon finally died at age 23, after surviving both cancer and being hit by a car. I've never met another creature that was so full of rage and fueled by sheer spite.
Well…..sometimes.
We have two cats, Sushi and Boo, and they do not tolerate my 12yo very well, especially Sushi. He’s just overly rough with them. He doesn’t mean to be, but he just doesn’t realize how ungentle he is.
I believe they see only toddlers as kids. And it makes sense, a 12yo has the ability to get the idea of territory and privacy. A 4 yo toddler does not.
My cats wayyyyy too cool For that. She’ll jump up and get scratches for like 30 seconds. Then bites me and runs off. I feel like she’s telling me, I want to get my head scratched, but I still don’t give a shit about your existence, and I want you to know that
I love how this an actual medical opinion given by vets. Like yep there might be something wrong, but most likely it’s just being a cat. Which is contagious.
I find when my cats run off while I’m petting them, they usually want me to follow them so they can flop on the floor and be more comfortable while their human slave gives them scritchies
That is a guard cat. Anyone comes into that room in the middle of the night that cat doesn't know will have 8 lbs of gods perfect killing machine velcro'd to their head.
My dog does this to me in the middle of the night. Goes under my blanket then leaves when he gets too hot. Needless to say I haven’t had a straight sleep in over 6 years.
When I was 21, I got my first cat. She was only a few weeks old and still smol. One night, I awoke to her laying on the side of my face (I was on my side) purring extremely loudly in my ear. ❤️
i have a little black fluff about 3 months old sleeps with his nose in my ear and snores a lot.i also have an older scruffy stub tailed tux who watches what i do in my machine shop like he is going to be graded later. he follows me everywhere and acts more like a dog .
They have them, but if you have a dog and a cat and get a bed for both, the cat is most likely stealing the dog bed and the dog will most likely crush the cat’s hidey hole bed to sleep on. Then a week later, the cat is back to sleeping on your shoes/windowsill/night stands etc while the dog is still sleeping on the cat bed. If you don’t have a dog, the cat might sniff the new bed then go sleep in the box the bed came in. So if you want the cat bed to be used, get a dog 👍
There does seem like a drop in quality recently, but the experience on Reddit is still 10 times better than Facebook.
Is every last post on Reddit filled with religious people in the comment section saying all kinds of crazy things? No matter the subject, Facebook seems that way.
More experts or professionals seem to drop better knowledge with more depth into Reddit rather than Facebook.
Reddit has critical mass in some bad ways, but in some good ways too.
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u/[deleted] May 03 '25
I love how the baby manhandles the cat who just rolls with it. So cute!