cturtle, Welcome to Pet Talk; My Blue-Czarina is also the same way. She hates to be picked up, for any reason. The only time I can give her scritchies is when she is up higher than I am, and then she must have all 4 paws standing on something, such as a ladder, or refrigerator. tiger is also the same way, but not to the extent as Blue. This morning, Tiger did lay in my lap, for the first time in many weeks. Such behavior has much to do with the personality of the cat. When I go to shelters to rescue a cat, there are certain things to check out to find how affectionate the furkid is. BTW how old is your cat?

........wayne.