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antipodi
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Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:17 pm
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Cat Aggression
EXPLAINING CAT AGGRESSION TOWARDS PEOPLE
Cat owners sometimes have difficulty understanding why their cats, who seem to be friendly and content one minute, may suddenly bite and scratch them the next. Aggressive behaviors are part of the normal behavioral patterns of almost any animal species. Some of the many reasons why cats direct aggression towards people are because they:
1) are fearful and defensive,
2) are redirecting aggression which was stimulated by something else (e.g. a cat outside) onto their owners,
3) are playing,
4) do not want to be petted any longer, and/or,
5) view certain people as intruders in their territory.
Cat bites are seldom reported, but may occur more frequently than do bites from dogs. Aggressive cats can be dangerous, so attempting to resolve a cat aggression problem often requires assistance from a professional who is knowledgeable about cat behavior. This handout will discuss only play motivated aggression and the "don’t pet me anymore'" type of aggression because these types are generally more easily resolved.
PLAY AGGRESSION
Play-motivated aggressive behaviors are commonly observed in young, active cats who are usually less than two years of age, and who often live in one-cat households. Play in cats incorporates a variety of behaviors such as exploratory, investigative, and predatory behavior. Play provides young cats with opportunities to practice skills they would normally need for survival. For example, kittens like to explore new areas and investigate anything that moves. They may bat at, pounce on, and bite objects which, to them, resemble prey.
Aggressive behaviors can be identified as play based on the type of situations in which they occur, the cats' body postures, and the types of behaviors displayed. Playful aggression often results in scratches and inhibited bites which do not break the skin. Playful attacks often occur when an unsuspecting owner comes down the stairs, steps out of the bathtub, rounds a corner or even moves under the bedcovers while sleeping. Play which involves aggression can be initiated by the owner or by the cat. Owners may inadvertently contribute to this problem if they encourage kittens to chase after or bite at their hands and feet during play. The body postures seen during play aggression resemble the postures a cat would show when searching for or catching prey. The cat may freeze in a low crouch before pouncing, twitch its tail, flick its ears back and forth, and/or wrap its front feet around a person's hands or feet while biting. These are all normal cat behaviors, whether they are seen during play or are part of an actual predatory sequence.
How to Handle Playful Aggression
1. The first strategy is to provide many opportunities each day for your cat to play in an acceptable manner. Active, playful animals must be given outlets for play.
2. Have toys available that are interesting from you cat's point of view and allow your cat to show her own individual style and favorite ways to play. You may need to experiment to see which toys your particular cat prefers. It also is helpful to provide new toys (or at least rotate the availability of the ones you have) once their novelty wears off. Some examples of toys which many cats like are:
* toys that dangle from a fishing-rod type of pole
* toys on strings that can be wriggled or pulled alone
* an empty spool of thread
* open paper bags or boxes that can be explored
CAUTION - DO NOT ALLOW YOUR CAT TO SWALLOW STRING, RUBBERBANDS, RIBBONS OR SHINY TINSEL WHICH ARE IN SOME TOYS. THIS CAN CAUSE LIFE-THREATENING DAMAGE TO YOUR CAT'S INTESTINES
3. Owners should avoid wrestling or using their hands and feet as toys for playfully aggressive cats. This type of play only encourages the cat to grab and/or bite your flesh as part of its normal play. It is better to use a stuffed sock or one of the toys mentioned above to play with your cat.
4. Remote forms of punishment may be used as a means of discouraging inappropriate play only if the cat also has opportunities for acceptable play. Ideas for remote punishment which startle the cat but do not involve you physically interacting with the cat include:
* using a squirt bottle filled with water
* using noise making devices such as horns from a bike or boat
* giving the cat a puff of air in the face from a can of compressed air
HITTING, SLAPPING, OR SCRUFFING A PLAYFULLY AGGRESSIVE CAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.
This approach seldom corrects the problem and can have some nasty results. Your cat may become more aggressive, afraid of you, or both. Punishment alone is never an effective treatment. Resolving play-motivated aggression problems must include encouraging the cat to play appropriately and may include remote punishment techniques designed to discourage the cat from showing undesirable play behaviors.
"DON'T PET ME ANYMORE" AGGRESSION
It is not uncommon for cats to suddenly bite while being petted. This behavior is not well understood, even by experienced animal behaviorists. For whatever reason, petting which the cat was previously enjoying apparently becomes unpleasant. The bite is the cat's signal that "enough is enough". Cats vary in how much they will tolerate being petted or held. This type of biting seems to occur more frequently in males than females, although this has not been well documented. Although owners often describe cats as biting "out of the blue" or without warning, cats generally give several signals before biting. Owners must become more aware of their cats' body postures, and cease petting or stop any other kind of interaction before the bite occurs. Signals owners should be aware of include:
# restlessness
# the cat's tail beginning to twitch
# the cat's ears turning back or flicking back and forth
# the cat turning or moving her head toward your hand
When you observe any of these signals, it is time to stop petting the cat NOW and allow him to just sit quietly on your lap or go his own way, whichever he prefers. Any kind of physical punishment almost always makes the problem worse, as it makes the cat more likely to bite either because he is fearful and/or because petting becomes even more unpleasant if it is associated with punishment.
If you want to try to prolong the amount of time your cat will tolerate petting, use some food rewards. When your cat first begins to show any of the behaviors described above (or even before he does so) offer him a special tidbit of food such as a tiny piece of tuna or boiled chicken. At the same time, decrease the intensity of your petting. Continue to lightly pet your cat for a short time period while offering him tidbits. In this way, petting will come to be associated with more pleasant things and may help him to enjoy petting for longer time periods. Be sure to stop the petting before he shows any aggression. If aggression results in the petting being stopped, then this unacceptable behavior has been reinforced. Each time you work with your cat, try to pet him for slightly longer time periods using the food.
OTHER TYPES OF AGGRESSION
Defensive, territorial, redirected and idiopathic (meaning the cause is unknown) forms of cat aggression can be quite serious and usually require professional help to resolve. You should never attempt to handle a fearful or aggressive cat. Cats who are fearful may display body postures which appear to be similar to canine submissive postures - crouching on the floor, ears back, tail tucked, and possibly rolling slightly to the side. Cats in this posture are NOT submissive; they are fearful and defensive and may attack if touched.
Any cat who suddenly becomes aggressive should be taken to your regular veterinarian for a complete checkup. Certain kinds of diseases, illnesses or physical conditions such as abscessed bite wounds can cause cats to show aggression. Medical causes for the behavior should be evaluated before the problem is assumed to be behavioral. If the aggression is due to a behavioral problem, ask your veterinarian to refer you to a professional who is knowledgeable and experienced in working with cats.
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jsqueek
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Joined: 24 Feb 2006
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Mon Mar 06, 2006 4:07 am
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thanks Anti, reading this has helped me think what i will do, and i used to squirt him with a water pistol when he sratched the furniture some years ago. so if he persists i will have to dig my sons toy water pistol out again.
my cat is not a kitten, his going on for 12 now. you think he would have grown out of this attacking, claws out, biting behaviour by now.
he is a very agile cat and runs round the houselike a maniac. 
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jsqueek
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Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:17 pm
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another problem we have with this cat (Gizmo) is that he attacks the other one in the house (muffy), muff lives in the annex with my mum, sometimes the cats accidently meet up. giz goes for muffs throat, and fur flies. one day muff will get injured if we're not care ful.we have to keep them both separated.
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antipodi
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Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:49 pm
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With some animal behavior sadly we just have to take steps to avoid trouble , especially if the animals are a bit older and set in their ways ..The best thing you can do is show both an equal amount of love ...Our Guinea Pig males always have a big stouss when the see each other ...They rumble and sometimes they will physically fight..The females however are so different , once the have established the hirachy they settle down and accept each other ...Sometimes I wonder if Its not the same in Human circles...
Maybe someone will read this and comment on your dilemma ..who have had a similar problem or know of an answer
Antipodi
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jsqueek
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Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:07 am
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recently we have been moving the furniture around, and this seems to affected Giz, so i bought some stuff called feliway, and it seemed to work, he is much more relaxed, who knows in time maybe it will help the other problems.
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js
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antipodi
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Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:22 am
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The big one I suppose ALL animals understand the love between them and their human...and when changes occur ..maybe thats his way of telling you he didnt like the move...after all cats are only human
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jsqueek
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Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:42 pm
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exactly, mine are a little posh with it too, being persian they are complete snobs
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nellie
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
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Location: Plano, TX
Thu Aug 31, 2006 6:36 am
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Wow! Persian cat  They could be mean if they are not use to you. My friend has one and she bites me but it was not bad at all.
I just touched her but maybe on the wrong side of her body. Cats don't like human to touch them on their back especially on the lower extremitieI am just wondering.
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nellie
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jsqueek
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Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:56 am
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do you know what type it was, i say this cos i have 2 here, one is a blue colour point (giz) his the mean one, his breed incorporates siamese.thats how they get the coloured points, ears face/nose area, tail and legs/paws are darker (blue) his coat white. i used to have a seal colour point (tuffy) his points were dark brown.
the other a black and white bi colour (muffy) he is so sweet and friendly and wouldnt hurt a flea. theres no siamese in his breeding. he is my mums i got him when her blue persian (tikky) died. my mum lives in the annex.
both cats are on my website,giz and muff.
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js
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jsqueek
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Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:59 am
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oh and tikky was very friendly too and there was no siamese in his breed.
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nellie
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Location: Plano, TX
Sat Sep 02, 2006 3:49 pm
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Oh, I am so sorry. I was talking about a Persian cat that my friend had back in Israel long time ago. What I was referring to is a Siamese cat with blue eyes and her color is somewhat light beige and a dark nose. It was a cat of my friend's friend. I didn't realize how mean cats are sometime, so I touched her head and wham! OUCH! I never go to that place anymore. A friend said that she is jealous 
Tonight, I was watching TV and I elevated my legs on the armchair. Mitri claimed my spot and I let her because I love her and she is a good cat. Man, I fell asleep again and suddenly, I dropped my foot on her chair. She bites me on my toes...ouch! I screamed and before I got up, she already ran away and hid under my bed. So, I ignored her for a while and she came back but I told her she can't have my chair. Now, I feel so bad and I was calling her name in a soft loving voice but she will not answer.
I trimmed Enzo mustache and it looks so bad. I will make an appointment tomorrow for his monthly grooming. HA HA HA!
I'm insane!
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nellie
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nellie
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Sat Sep 02, 2006 4:03 pm
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Antipode-Thank you for posting about cat aggression. I knew it has been up there for a while but I just didn't have much time I'm glad I read it, now I can apply it to Mitri the spoilt rotten kitty kat
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nellie
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antipodi
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Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:46 am
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Thats Ok Nellie its fun reading about our dail adventures with your animal friends ..Tomorrow we have a great da line up ..cleaning out at least 10 Piggy cages and the marathon piggy shampoo..Im looking forward to all the wheeting and fun we will have..not..oh well ..they look beautiful after a nice wash...Maybe I'll take some photos...
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Antipodi
May one day man and Animals live together in harmony and peace
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jsqueek
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Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:33 am
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| nellie wrote: | Oh, I am so sorry. I was talking about a Persian cat that my friend had back in Israel long time ago. What I was referring to is a Siamese cat with blue eyes and her color is somewhat light beige and a dark nose. It was a cat of my friend's friend. I didn't realize how mean cats are sometime, so I touched her head and wham! OUCH! I never go to that place anymore. A friend said that she is jealous
Tonight, I was watching TV and I elevated my legs on the armchair. Mitri claimed my spot and I let her because I love her and she is a good cat. Man, I fell asleep again and suddenly, I dropped my foot on her chair. She bites me on my toes...ouch! I screamed and before I got up, she already ran away and hid under my bed. So, I ignored her for a while and she came back but I told her she can't have my chair. Now, I feel so bad and I was calling her name in a soft loving voice but she will not answer.
I trimmed Enzo mustache and it looks so bad. I will make an appointment tomorrow for his monthly grooming. HA HA HA!
I'm insane! |
my giz is jealous of muff, but i havent heard of cat jealousy to a human before, sounds like that cat had a problem.
hope enzo's tash grows back nicely again nellie
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jsqueek
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Sun Sep 03, 2006 3:35 am
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| antipodi wrote: | | Thats Ok Nellie its fun reading about our dail adventures with your animal friends ..Tomorrow we have a great da line up ..cleaning out at least 10 Piggy cages and the marathon piggy shampoo..Im looking forward to all the wheeting and fun we will have..not..oh well ..they look beautiful after a nice wash...Maybe I'll take some photos... |
aww good luck with bath day 
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nellie
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Location: Plano, TX
Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:02 pm
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Oh, clean up! How I wish I could help ya! Oh, please send some photos. I don't have any piggies but when I have a house next year, I want to have one or two just for a try on how I react to them vice-versa.
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nellie
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nellie
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Location: Plano, TX
Sun Sep 03, 2006 1:07 pm
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jsqueek
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Mon Sep 04, 2006 12:42 pm
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yeah how can i forget, im living it every day, nellie can you pass it on where ever you go, we only have 2 weeks to get 80 more MEP signatures.
thanks
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dB
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:37 am
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Thank Antipodi, a very interesting read
I treat cats like little hypersensitive children, they need attention, love and care just like any child needs.
Sara and I have always had toys for our cat (Bud) the wiggly toy is fun I enjoy playing with Bud, but he also loves to play with his little toy mouse that is filled with catnip, it sure does works wonders too
Being responsible and educated about cats is important! I think all owners of cats need to be educated more, we all need a licence to drive a car don't we? so why not have a training course, test and licence to own a pet? I think it should be mandatory 
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antipodi
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Fri Dec 15, 2006 4:45 pm
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I notice our local vet has a Puppy training school ...maybe we should also start up a Kitten Training school ...it would be a bit more of a challenge but maybe it might just work and help inform those inexperienced owners who have just ac quired a new friend...
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Antipodi
May one day man and Animals live together in harmony and peace
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