I was just looking for a bit of advice as I'm unsure to visit the vets about this or not.

My 7 month old female Bengal has been the most loving cat since I got her when she was a kitten. Every single time I've gone to fuss her she purrs, when I'm playing with her (sometimes with my hand) she pulls her ears back sometimes which I love and we'll both softly pat each other's paws (my case hand!) like we're both cats playing. And afterwards she'll rub herself on me to show she loves me and was playing.

Today she was on the stairs and I put my hand through banister to tickle her and play with her like we always do. She was playing the same as normal- starting soft then getting in to it and pulling ears back, she then started making noises, those deep low growling noises. I found it quite funny even though it's the first time she's done it and thought she was just getting into it. She then wouldn't let my hand go and had her claws right out. When I managed to pull my hand back she darted for my face and swiped her paw out right for my eyes. She looked genuinely aggressive. I could tell immediately she wasn't playing then and was being very defensive. I had s deep scratch right under my eye. It was bleeding and swollen.

I tapped her on the nose a couple times with a finger, know you shouldn't be physical but my immediate reaction was to stop this behaviour.

She was ok afterwards, been just as fussing and putting as before. But when I woke in the night like I often do she's decided to sleep out in living room rather than with me, and when I went over to stroke her she suddenly got pissed off and irritable and ran off.

I thought maybe she was hurting and I'd touched an area shed perhaps bruised. But 2 mins later she comes over for fuss and let's me touch her all over!

Has anybody else noticed anything similar? Anyone aware of what it could be?

She went to the vets day before and had Advocate administered by the nurse accidentally even though I'd given her some advocate 2days before. So she's had double the dose she should. I also had to push quite hard to get her back in carrier.

Doesn't sound like a massive deal but sudden change is weird. Maybe she's going through stroppy teen stage at 7 months?! Can that happen?

You've been training her to do this through badly misguided play efforts. It's cute when a kitten bats your hands, but not so cute when a nearly full grown bengal does it. And an adult bengal can probably bite your finger clean off if she wanted to.

Right now, you need to go out and buy some appropriate toys for your cat. Dabird, flying frenzy, neko flies. Look them up and get some. Then next time, and from everytime forward, always always always focus your cat's attention on the toy, and never your hands.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your cat. You just have a very energetic, playful cat who is now confused as to what appropriate play is, because she's been taught wrong.

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The little monsters 3

It's always cute in the beginning, playing with a kitty with your hands, but if your truly value your hands, you'll replace them with appropriate toys for the kitty! I think we've all done the hand playing and we've all gotten scratches and bites. Was your vet concerned with your kitty getting double the dose of Advocate? Who knows for certain that it caused the reaction you got. Perhaps your kitty was not feeling well from all that poison in her system. Keep an eye on her and if she has a bad reaction, you'll have to get her back to the vet. You may just have to let her be for the month until the stuff gets out of her system. In the mean time, do play with her but with toys that she will enjoy.

http://messybeast.com/cat_talk2.htm - CAT COMMUNICATION - BODY LANGUAGE by Sarah Hartwell of Messybeast.com

Great reading, Elaine. Thanks for sharing with us.

It's cute when a kitten bats your hands, but not so cute when a nearly full grown bengal does it. And an adult bengal can probably bite your finger clean off if she wanted to.