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For the past few days, whenever I am lying on my bed or sofa, my cat stares at me from a distance for about 30 seconds, then begins to move towards me slowly. Suddenly, she charges at me and slaps me on my face. She will continue to do so until I get up.

What should I do now to discourage her from this behavior? I am particularly concerned if one such slap lands on my eyes.

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    Just a quick question: you see that cat staring at you, wait for it to stalk towards you, laying patiently, until it pounces? Congratulations, you behave like prey ;). To put it differently: when do you realise your cat is doing it, during the process of sneaking up, or when you open your eyes because there is a sudden cat in your face?
    – Layna
    Sep 8, 2017 at 13:58
  • No I see the cat doing it, if I am just lying to rest. If I sleep she comes to sleep on my arms.
    – Sonevol
    Sep 8, 2017 at 14:34
  • In fact I cannot lay down and watch my cat. Immediately she will pounce upon me. Strange behavior. Only when I lay down and see her, not when I am reading some book, or sleeping.
    – Sonevol
    Sep 8, 2017 at 14:37
  • And yeah if I am reading some book she will then try to chew the pages of my book. In fact it is impossible to read a news paper when she is near. It will get torn into pieces.
    – Sonevol
    Sep 8, 2017 at 14:39
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    It's classic play behavior. Your cat is bored and decided to practice hunting - with you as the prey. If there was a second cat, it would use that as the prey. Unless the cat uses it's claws, it's all in good fun and you can probably make it stop by playing more with it or getting a second cat.
    – user12839
    Mar 27, 2019 at 10:58

3 Answers 3

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My cat does this very same thing to me. When I've described it to others (cat lovers and cat haters) I am met with disbelief, as if I am making it up. My 7 year old girl leaps onto my bed at any time between 4:30am and 7am when I arise. She lands within a few inches of my face. It startles me; I open my eyes and she lands a slap to my cheek. She also has the dilated pupil crazy eyes. I was horrified the first several time she did this and I reared up angrily and pushed her off the bed while hollering at her and closing her out of my bedroom. I was shocked that she would "attack" me while I was vulnerable in sleep.

It took me awhile to figure her out. She was trying to engage me to play with her. My solution has been to give her a whole lot more play time and attention during my waking hours. I play with her doing the same old games, but not quit at the first sign that she's done. I keep tossing toys and moving across the room until she gets worn out and bored. And I get a respite from the early morning cat slaps, maybe for awhile. I've accepted that this is her quirk. I'm glad she's with me and not someone who could have dumped her or slapped the crap out of her, as had been suggested to me.

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This is a universal answer about cat's behavior and how to change it.

Sometimes, the changes are small and easy to do. At other times, it is harder. But if your cat does what you want her to do, pet her and maybe offer some treats. It is all about teaching what you want or don't want her to do.

It is important to change unwanted behavior fast. If your cat finds that this unwanted behavior will get your attention then she will continue to do this.

You need to take the cat and put her on the floor and then IGNORE HER EVERY TIME SHE DOES THIS.

Also, your friends and family have to help you in this. Otherwise this plan will take longer time to succeed, or worse, not succeed at all.

When your cat finds out that she cannot get your attention by this kind of action she will stop doing it. She will change her methods to get your attention. With time, she will understand what you want and don't want.

How long will it take to change the cat's behavior depends on several factors, like for how long this has been going on, the age of your cat and how patient she is.

Your friends and family do have to help you and they might have to change their behavior, too.

Some cats are really stubborn, but all you need is to be more stubborn than your cat and you will succeed.

This answer is valid for several types of cat behavior (biting, jumping on table, and a lot of other things).

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  • Note that not reacting strongly, and thus not encouraging the attention seeking behavior, works on humans too.
    – keshlam
    Jun 29 at 2:23
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My cat does the same exact thing, I finally found an answer. When you pet your cat too much or pick your cat up too much ( which I do a lot ) that’s when they’ll slap you. That’s their way of saying leave me alone I love my cat but I can’t believe she slapped me in the face either. I almost slapped her back and put her on the porch lol. We beefing but I love her but it just simply means your cat doesn’t want to be bothered.

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