Hey there everyone! I'm new here, just found this site today. Anyways, I have a 2 year old male bengal named Dexter and lately hes been playing kinda rough with me. Hes usually a pretty independent cat, doesn't ask for attention much just kinda stays to himself. He has this box he likes to chill in, every now and then i'll go over to his box and pet him and he purrs and thats that but lately when I go to pet him he purrs like usual but he rolls upside down for belly rubs.. I rub his belly for a bit and hes still purring quite loudly but all of a sudden he latches onto my arm with all 4 of his paws and digs his claws in and proceeds to bite at my arm but the bites don't hurt, they're just play bites and i don't think he means harm because the whole time hes doing this hes purring. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had their cat do this? any ideas on how to maybe stop him from latching himself onto my arm? I'm not going to de-claw him as i think that's one of the most cruel things you can do to a cat

Welcome to the forum. If Dexter does this only when you're petting his belly, it means he doesn't want his belly touched. The majority of cats do not like having their bellies rubbed, but ... the majority of bengals DO, including mine. He rolls over constantly and meows so we run over to him and give him a belly rub. Play biting is pretty normal for cats, especially kittens. There is such a thing as overstimulation in petting cats and that's usually how they react. Have a toy in your hand and when it appears he is ready to latch on to your hand, give him the toy instead and see if that helps.

Yep one of mine does this. If you pet his tummy for a bit, he purrs but then he starts to get a bit excited and he will bunny kick you/grab you/bite you. It's just play. He doesn't do it if he is particularly sleepy.

My husband only pets his back now, as he doesn't like the biting. I don't mind it, so I continue to pet his stomach.

If you don't like it, just stop engaging him in the behaviour.

(We did spend a year telling him off for it, which never achieved anything).

_________________
The little monsters 3

If he likes having his tummy rubbed then just do it for a little while. Watch the pupils and his tail and that should tell you when he is getting overstimulated. Stop before he gets to this point and all should be safe!

_________________
Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

This black and white cat I'm feeding loves to expose his belly to me. I can rub it for a split second and then he grabs for my hands. I know when to pull away from him. He has the sharpest claws and they can do some real damage if I let him.

You need the reflexes of a formula 1 driver to extricate your hand from the claws sometimes!

_________________
Melissa

UK
Oscar - Rescue (Rascal!!!) Bengal

But, if you try to pull really quickly and the claws are already there, you are in for a LONG scratch!

I have stuffed animals for my girl when she does that. She's outgrown any vicious hurtful biting but she has a few bears and a small pink unicorn she'll go into if she's ever in that mood. I don't think he wants you to scratch his belly so much as he wants to expose it to show you he trusts you.

Most cats love to wrestle or bunny kick and I have toys for that to save my hands.

Got a pair of biters here too.

They are extremely affectionate kittens and part of that appears to be the constant nibbling of us humans but they never use full force and I think in our case it's just them showing affection.

They have lots of kicker type toys to take their full aggression out on.

They both love tummy strokes too.

_________________
Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie