What would cause your cat to put his claws out and scratch you?

It’s not necessarily aggression. Depends on what you are doing. If you are taunting a cat, they are perfectly within their rights to respond with their claws.
They might scratch you when they’re overexcited. I’ve noticed that many cats get overstimulated if you tickle them enough in a particular spot, and they just can’t help grabbing you or swiping at you with their claws out.
Cats swipe at each other all the time, and it is often a matter of playfulness. They have much looser skin than we do, and their fur protects them as well, and so they don’t understand that we poor naked humans don’t have such defenses.
Sometimes it’s for attention. I had a feral rescue who used to sit on her scratching post and swipe at me with her claws extended every time I went by. The only way to train her out of it was to completely ignore her every time she did that.

If the cat/kitten does not feel secure they will tense up and extend their claws.
Picking up a cat that does not like being held/picked up might cause them to extend their claws and tense up. It is a reflex, if they were to fall they would grab at whatever they could to cushion the fall, just like we do when we stumble or trip, we tend to fling our arms and hands out to try and catch ourselves.
My female Siamese does not like to be held and cuddled and when I pick her up she always tenses up and extends her arms in a sort of grappling manner.

Cats are like supercars during high speed cornering. The down force holds up right up to the edge, but get one ioto over it, and bam!, it bites your head off and you land in a ditch.

Irritation, annoyance, but in general it is bad timing. There are clear indications in Milo’s body language (ears, pupil size, tail behavior and posture) when he might swipe me with a paw or jaw. It often means we need some rough-and-tumble play time.

It might also mean that I must stop whatever I am doing to him and relocate myself.

At other times, as the experts above have mentioned, it is simply a reflex to improve his purchase. If he is sitting on my lap, relaxed and happy, and I shift slightly, he will extend his claws in order not to slide off. He is oblivious to the fact that his razor-sharp nails extend through the fabric of my jeans and into my skin.

I don’t think it’s aggression in kittens. For adult cats, it could be, but not always.

I’ve had my cat since she was a kitten and all of the scratches I received from her then were from her being playful and just being a kitten. Similarly, puppies, even before teething begins, bite and growl when they play. This isn’t aggression. Now that my cat is an adult, I’ve never been scratched by her. She kneads me and her nails will come out, but she now only bites when she plays – no scratching. Her way of showing us she’s scared or pissed is hissing. She never hissed until we brought a puppy home. She hissed at both the puppy and me during this time. Now, she keeps the puppy in check with hissing and “slapping,” but very rarely scratches and has never broken the puppy’s skin, even when it’s obvious the puppy is really pissing her off.

Cats scratch out of fear, to play, to show dominance, and/or to mark their territory. They also scratch because they’re mad. It’s hard to tell, but don’t get your feelings hurt when they do this. They may seem human at times, but they’re just animals and they don’t experience emotions in the same way we do. They love us because we feed them and pet them and are nice to them, not because we’re good people, so a cat lashing out at you is no threat to you as a person. NEVER discipline a cat for scratching – they’ll only fear you more.

@Coloma A kitty that doesn’t like to be held? That makes me sad for some reason. My cat lets my husband and I cradle her like a baby with her paws facing up. She’s a little cuddle-bug.

MIlo just came, stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the chair where I am now sitting and gently put his jaws around my right forearm, twice. That’s pretty clear.

I got up and threw him outside for a while. He’ll run it off and then notice, suddenly, that it is 43˚ and find a place where I can see him staring inside. So I’ll get up and let him in.

I repeat this many times.

My hands are generally pretty cut up from my cat. It’s never aggression I just play with him a lot so he gets into it and will bite or claw at my hand, especially if I’m rubbing his belly. He never bites/claws hard but still, ya get nicks from time to time. Based on the animals he hunts (he brought home an adult rabbit a few days ago) I know that if it were out of aggression I’d have more than a few cuts on my hand lol

Which brings me to my favorite subject; nail clipping.

When Milo has his nails clipped, the amount of bleeding and scarring that I suffer diminishes. But I still haven’t figured out how to do it. Occasionally I can surprise him when he is dazed with sleep, but most of the times, he seems to sleep with one eye and ear open.

Any new tips?

@gailcalled Like this. I’m hesitant to clip Itzamna’s nails too much though because of how often he goes out and hunts. I’d feel pretty bad if he got into it with a larger animal and wasn’t properly equipped for the fight :P

My vet says that clipping off the pointy sharp ends will not impede a cat from running up a tree or defending himself if necessary.

How about trying that trick with the clip on Itzamna and letting me know the result? I’d need two strong guys simply to attach it. (And if I have two strong guys here, they can clip Milo’s nails.)

@gailcalled they make clips that go on much easier as well.

I’ve never used a clip like that or like in the previous video, but when I do nape him he pretty much goes limp so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work out.

What I need to do is figure out a way to give this damn cat a bath without having to take a trip to the emergency room for all the wounds I acquired during the whole ordeal. One time when it was cold out I tried to blow dry him…..horrible idea lol

The fact that cats are evil bastards is reason enough.

@uberbatman Haha! The cat in the second video looks totally unaffected by that clip. It’s plainly not bothered by the nail clipping; they should have chosen a less docile subject for illustration. “Scientifically developed by veterinarian scientists” indeed.

When clipping my cats’ nails, I would usually hold them firmly in place using my left arm/elbow, in such a way that the cat was facing in the same direction as I was, and my hand would come up under their body. Then I’d use my left hand to hold the paw, and press gently down on the top with my thumb to extend the nails. Then I would clip with my right hand. I wouldn’t start until the cat had accepted that he or she wasn’t going anywhere. Sometimes the process had to be repeated for the back paws, for better positioning.

@uberbatman: Looks tempting but note the advisory:

” It’s also very important to reiterate that calm, quiet cats respond much bette*r to Clipnosis than do *agitated cats. In the clinic, application of Clipnosis should be done before attempting any procedures, and not as a last resort. Arouse cats are less likely to respond positively to Clipnosis.

If i were dealing with a calm, quiet cat in the first place, I wouldn’t have this issue, would I?

You also have to buyt them in bulk. I wonder whether two wooden clothespins might work?

Why are you bathing your little guy? Doesn’t he wash himself twenty times a day. (The few times that Milo has soiled himself from getting carsick in the carrier, in the car, I wiped him down with a warm, damp towel. He was docile and relieved to have the mess cleaned up.

@gailcalled lol I didn’t even bother to read the site, after reading that it seems like a waste of money.

I bother to wash my cat cause god knows what he does while outside but he tends to get pretty smelly after a couple weeks.

@uberbatman: “After a couple of weeks”? He doesn’t check in for his daily self-administered bath from time to time?

@gailcalled
You can get a cat washing machine for that.

@uberbatman: What not to do

@glacial: Your cats don’t turn into ravening beasts when you use that technique? The jaws and the paws don’t start flailing?

I wouldn’t start until the cat had accepted that he or she wasn’t going anywhere. Hahahaha.

Milo is sitting on the keyboard having his own quiet chuckle.

I’ve never had a cat who wanted to sit through the process; when I held them firmly, they would squirm for a bit, then settle down. Sometimes with a resigned sigh.

I don’t have any cats at present, though I’ve had several in the past.