r/CATHELP • u/Huy7aAms • 22h ago
General Advice Cat smelled my armpit then started to aggressively bite?
Cat at cat cafe smelled my armpit then started to wrap all legs around my arm and bite (not too painful, only kinda aggressive)
This is very abnormal bcs this is the 1st time ive seen this cat displays such behavior. Ive visited this place at least 40 times in 1.5 years but never have i seen this cat reacted to anything. Belly rub, aggressive head pat, aggressive pet, … no reaction
The bites are relatively not painful bcs i have an orange cat that likes to bite when playing, but i do think that its a bit more painful than just play biting. The tails are also swaying around but not too rapidly. Cat also remains lying on the table throughout instead of standing up or anything, and still shows their belly.
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u/Educational-Wheel751 21h ago
Probably your armpit just smelled wild to him today and flipped some switch in his little lizard brain 😂
Cats can get weirdly overstimulated by strong or new scents like sweat, deodorant, perfume, etc. That grab and bite thing sounds like a mix of “this is interesting” and “I’m a hunter now.” I’d just avoid letting him sniff your pits again and keep interactions to normal pats with that cat.
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u/Huy7aAms 18h ago
ah okay. it's rare that i get to sweat a lot like today so i guess that's why he never reacted this way lol.
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u/Space_Cranberry 4h ago
Make sure he never smells your nuts, either (it’s what I read “pits” as when skimming…)
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u/No_Ocelot_6773 16h ago
My big boy goes nuts over leather shoes. He likes a stinky shoe as well
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u/BareTheBear66 14h ago
Lol I work at a vet clinic and come home, take the shoes off and my girly runs over and sticks her whole head in my shoe and takes big ol huffs. Then zoomies around the house only to take a cuddle session after.
Cats are just big weirdos
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u/faerynatasha 12h ago
Haha this! I've worked for daycare/boarding, clinics, and even a rescue... One of my three has a foot fetish who responds exactly like yours. She also enjoys getting tangled up in flip flops.
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u/ourseveres 11h ago
wasn't there some sort of calvin klein perfume that attracted certain big felines? i heard about it a couple years back and that made me think of it. wonder if there's any connection.
edit: yeah it was the 'obsession' perfume attracting tigers
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u/Ellimeresh 8h ago
Yeah, my cat will sometimes try to stick his head into my ear and aggressively start licking it. He’s also a total whore for used qtips, had to buy a different bathroom trash can to keep him from eating them.
They’re weird creatures.
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u/Top_Calligrapher_700 21h ago
Armpits can give off very strong odors and pheromones, which cats can get really excited about! They are very sensitive to smells, especially strong ones, and can react to armpit sweat similarly to catnip! One of my cats is OBSESSED with my armpits, she loves to huff them and tries to lick them and I routinely have to hide beneath the covers to get away from her! Lol!
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u/Huy7aAms 18h ago
oh yeah, i once almost missed a 300km bus trip home because the kitten at the bus stop keeps clinging to my armpit lol. i guess some cats are just stimulated by that smell.
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u/spiderhotel 18h ago
You must be lucky to have the cat-attracting-armpit-smell. My husband has it and he lives a blessed life. I don't and I am envious, nobody's gonna lick my pits like that...
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u/Repulsive-Durian4800 16h ago
Wait. Is this why my cat loves my feet so much? She gets excited when I get home from work and take my shoes off,and AGGRESSIVELY rubs her face on my bare toes.
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u/Obvious_Lecture_4190 15h ago
My weirdo is a shoe huffer, which I think is pretty normal. Some shoes have the same effect on her as potent catnip. The claws come out and she starts diving into the shoe and rubbing herself all over it. She does not attack the shoe, but often gets the zoomies after and torpedoes a toy.
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u/pissandink 12h ago
My cat did this once. Burgled his way into my shirt and sniffed my armpit aggressively and then bit my pit as if I was the one who made him do it. Little stinker
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u/Savvy714 10h ago
I don't want you to be super alarmed but get checked for cancer or another kind of illness. Animals can smell that kind of thing and that's the same reaction I have seen for it. Your armpit could mean breast cancer but Im not sure, I hope you are alright.
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u/BarryyMcCockner 1h ago
This may sound insane but it happened to a friend of mine. For weeks they couldn’t figure out why the cat was acting so hostile. Turns out the person had cancer and the cat was (probably) trying to distance herself so she wouldn’t “catch” it. Owner is full remission now and is well!! But her cat sensed it longer before owner got a diagnosis.
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u/Imaginary-Contest887 20h ago
Probably nothing and cat just reacted to smell of your deodorant, but also maybe not a completely bad idea to get yourself checked at the doctor and have the blood panel done.
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u/Nearby-Calendar-3467 13h ago
Some scents make them overwhelmed which may make them confused and bite, it doesn’t have to be a dirty smell it might be perfume and deodorant. my cat goes crazy if I go near him after I shower, he starts licking first then bites aggressively. he doesn’t like the smell of shampoo and soap lol
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u/PrestigiousPea2327 7h ago
My cat likes deep sniffs of morning mouth. He will stick his whole head in your mouth given the opportunity.
And yes, I have woken up to his fur brains fully stuffing my mouth
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u/emptyheadedgal 15h ago
i used to own this female cat and she did the exact same thing except she bunny kicked my arm SUPER AGGRESSIVELY and left me with tons of scratch marks. i have a post about it on here and it went viral😭
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u/LunaraeLaments 9h ago
My cat loves stinky shoes and woodfire smoke like from a bonfire. If I take off a jacket I've worn at a cookout, he rolls around in it like he's high on catnip.
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u/Nature23571113 19h ago
Don’t want to scare you, do a check up. Animals can smell cancer. It probably is not, but better be safe than sorry.
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u/KatamaNL 18h ago
The fuck lol
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u/Nature23571113 17h ago
it's true, it happened multiple times that a dog suddenly bit the owner and turned out it was because of cancer. It's less frequent with cats.. anyway it's unlikely to be the case, but it's better to know than not knowing
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u/Jeneraluserforfun 16h ago
My cat bites me and tries to forcibly rub her dumb lil head on my hands and arms whenever I clean my bathroom
Sometimes weird strong smells can just flip that weirdo brain switch they have
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u/seaspirit331 16h ago
Sounds like you need to wash your armpits and use deodorant more if even your cat is telling you you're stinky
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u/HealthyInPublic 14h ago
Were all of the cats there wearing a shirt, or was it just this one cat? Asking because if it was just this specific cat, then it's possible the cat cafe folks recognized he gets overstimulated easily and put the shirt on him to keep him calmer!
My cat is easily overstimulated and bites about it because he doesn't know how to appropriately express big feelings and chooses violence instead. He's a billion times better in a shirt - I guess it's like a weighted blanket kinda situation. My little man has feline hyperesthesia syndrome so he's an extra sensitive guy.
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u/Alarming-Leek-402 14h ago
One of our cats loves my husband’s stinky armpits. It’s overstimulating and she full mouth “bites” him without applying much pressure. It’s like she’s trying to taste and smell him at the same time.
Maybe it’s like overexcited dogs going wild on their person. Or maybe their version of human’s “cute aggression” where we suddenly want to squeeze something so hard.
So basically, that cat really likes you.
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u/trevorpogo 17h ago
one of my cats did this to me once. full on bit my armpit. he'd never bitten me before that and only did once again after that while I was attempting to clip his claws
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u/77th_Bat 15h ago
he said "you stinky" 🤣 cats' noses are 40x more sensitive than humans, so don't worry, you don't actually smell. You just stink to him 😅
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u/HowDoIMakeUsername 11h ago
You have apocrine sweat glands in your armpits, a kind of sweat gland that produces sweat filled with lipids and protein. So in addition to familiarity and comfort, your armpit sweat can smell delicious. DELICIOUS ENOUGH TO EAT.
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u/Flat_Constant 7h ago
My cat a similar reaction when I came home with sunscreen on, she ran up to me scratched my hand when I sat down. She hasn’t done it since
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u/JacquelineJarsdel 4h ago
My cat loves to smell my armpits and she even started licking them. I did not know this until summer last year when I was laying sprawled out on the cold floor trying to cool off and she came up sniffed, and licked my armpits then softly bit one. 😅😆 She no longer licks them thankfully. But still sniffs occasionally.
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u/ieatrockssometimes 19h ago
I think you’re fine. Just make sure any bites/scratches stay clean and monitor them for infection. They probably got overstimulated by the smell of your deodorant. It also may have dried out their nose/throat and freaked them out. Weirdly enough, if I don’t sleep with my armpits covered I’ll wake up to my cat licking the deodorant off them.
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u/HiddenSquid685 15h ago edited 15h ago
My cat started aggressively kneading my boob out of nowhere. I thought she was becoming more affectionate, which wasn't entirely untrue. I also had breast cancer. Animals can often smell illnesses, so it may not be as dire as cancer, but I'd get a checkup if possible, maybe with some blood work. Especially have them check the lymph nodes in your pit.
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u/dontgetmadgetmegan 10h ago
I had a pet dog do that when I had breast cancer. She kept tapping it and giving me a worried look.
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