A lady friend of mine has...alot of cats. and has just had more kittens.

anyway, one in particular likes coming upstairs and onto the bed and purring at the same time...and i stroke her and she enjoys it then she starts to bite or be playful to some extent...but does scratch alot. today, i have a big massive scratch on the side of my hand at the bottom and blood was coming out of it.

why do cats do this? some purr and then others do this?

sometimes she, or another cat, is laying there on her back and im petting her around her face and she is enjoying it then i tickle her tum and they start trying to kick/scratch my hand using their back feet and then run off.

one of them likes to bite and be playful but the biting i dont understand. they are around 7 months old.

I get similar from my 5 year old cat. With younger ones, they don't quite know the difference between play biting and real biting. Mine mostly play bites, which doesn't really hurt, but occasionally she goes a bit far and I end up with marks on my arm. Likewise with the claws. Most of the time she is fine, but occasionally catches me (I currently have a deep scratch on my finger from this morning). Occasionally cats get over stimulated with stroking and lash out even though they are purring. The tummy is a vulnerable part of a cat, so it takes a lot of trust to be allowed to stroke there on some cats. Mine sometimes does the foot kicking too. I think it is part play and part 'don't touch me'. It takes time to learn to read the signs that a cat is about to turn from a contented little fluffball to a little horror. I used to be covered in scratches, but now, most of the time I deserve it due to going too far with the stroking on purpose.

Thanks mitten

Some cat behaviourists say that another reason why cats suddenly turn round and bite aggressively if that a part of them still have instinctive fears about being held down or confined.

Also, the more cats that live in a particular household, the more likely it is that a cat will feel insecure in its environment from time to time. Cats aren't social animals to the same extent that dogs are, hence why lions are the only cats in the world that live in proper social groups.

interesting. well these cats like playing along and running around etc... and when i saw them for the first time a few weeks ago a couple of them came to me on their own and "hung" around me

I have cats and i have one Guinness will do this too me. He paddles on my arm then washes me. He only does this if i give him permisson . He has always been like this too me. The kittens with only being 7months might be teething as mine who are 18wks also do this. They also might be going into adult hood and if females in heat and if males wanting a female in heat. Also if you have had anykind of bleach on your hands that can send some cats up the wall. I am not saying put bleach on your hands it is what it does to some cats.

Google "Petting/biting syndrome". It's a well known behaviour in cats.

One of my kittens is 6 months old and she will roll on her back so I can tickle her belly and then when I do she'll nibble on my fingers and playfully kick me away! She never scratches though, she seems to know not to go too far. Her sister however is a different story - she likes to play but always has her claws out! One of her favourite things to do is run up behind me and grab my ankle and hang on and have a nibble....hence my ankles are covered in scratches lol!!

That will be a lot less cute when she's a year old and weighs ten pounds

I wouldn't encourage biting or scratching and avoid those type games. A kitten may be cute but an adult cat can be nasty.

We learnt this the hard way with my second cat- he plays really rough and has to be locked away from visitors as still enjoys attacking feel and clawing those that stroke him. I honestly blame myself for rough playing when he was a kitten

Our cat does this and I can't stand it, particularly when she claws me for no apparent reason. If you speak to them in a loud, firm voice it can shock them and make them stop.

My cat likes to bite me while purring away loudly - he obviously enjoys it which is more than can be said for me! He jumped right up at me the other day and luckily I caught him but he left a huge scratch on my chest which huuuuurts!!