aggressive cat
HI EVERYONE - just a wee bit of advice needed about my cat Alex.
Alex is 18 months old, he has been neutered from 6 months, and for the past few months he has been biting my childrens friends ( and sometimes my own children) when they come to the back garden (as we use the back garden as our front) he also swipes the back of their legs. I actually saw this for myself yesterday as I really didnt believe it before! He appears as if he is rubbing up against the person for a wee pet then he goes to bite them. All the neighbourhood children seem petrified of him and I am afraid that he is really going to hurt a small child. He is fed and watered well (4 pouched per day), he suits himself usually in relation to staying in or going out.
I am worried about his future if he continues to bite children as I cant control him when he is outside - when he exhibits this behaviour inside the house I make a loud noise or make a clap noise so he stops what he is doing.
Please help any advice would be great..
what i would like is advice please John Bull.
Thanks for the comment, I do hope you get what you need.
I would strongly recommend that the recognition of a little humour would make your life a lot richer.
My intention was to give you a laugh or at least a cracked grin, since your thread title has a great deal in common with my animated gif. But alas, it fell on deaf ears. Well, ya can`t win `em all can ya ? As they say - win some, lose some.
OK, here is John Bull`s advice, you asked for it.
I have had many cats over the years and reckon I know enough about them by now.
Cats are very independent creatures, different to dogs by a long chalk and they have a very different temperament. They make lovely family pets and are great to have about the house. But a high majority of them do not like being messed about, we call it fuss, but the cat calls it a nuisance and generally dislikes it. They certainly do not like being treated roughly, threatened or otherwise maltreated.
The cats reaction to anything it does not like being done to it either by animals or humans is to scratch or occasionally bite. Mostly scratch and their claws are very sharp. I have had many scratches on my hands and arms usually through playing or teasing the cat, drawing blood and enjoyed every one of them. On the other hand, children think that a tiny scratch is a wound worthy of being placed in Intensive Care.
We adults know all about these things and treat the cat with care and caution so that we do not incur the cats displeasure. Children however are not mature enough to recognise any of this precaution and respect for the animal and think it is another cuddly toy that can be treated any way they wish. NOT SO !
This is where conflicts arise and when the cat reacts to improper treatment by children, it is always the cat that gets the blame. We are extremely mentally blinded and think that little Tommy or Susie can do no wrong and that the vicious cat MUST be the offending culprit and thus gets all the blame.
So when we see a news article about a child being bitten by a dog or attacked by a cat, it is 99% certain that the child did something to provoke an attack, but we never get to hear the animals side do we ? Oh no, the poor kid that beat the cat with a stick or smacked it is held up like some little angel.
Cats do not go around being a threat to humanity, they never attack anybody if they are left alone or treated properly. So your cat is no different from anybody else's - it is a CAT ! Rather like humans really, we don`t exactly behave normally when provoked, I certainly don`t.
Before you take too much notice of anybody complaining that your cat has bitten or scratched their kids, make sure you find out WHY and what the kid did to provoke it. Such complaints have no foundation without knowing the circumstances involved. Cats simply do not do any harm, they are docile creatures that just want to get on with their own business and be left alone.
I have never heard of a cat being put down for aggressive behaviour and there is no Act of Parliament that covers dangerous cats. The whole thing is loony.
If it was my cat, I would need more evidence than some besotted irate parent yelling their head off about my vicious feline monster biting their kid. If they could not provide it to my entire satisfaction, then they would be told to bugger off and not come back.
If your cat rubs up against somebody and then for no reason bites them as you say, then you must have a very odd cat. Wild cats do this, but domestic cats do not and if they do, then it is a playful bite. No, I will not accept this at all. You say you have actually seen it happen ? I find the stated innocence of it very hard to believe. Has your cat got stripes ?
My advice is that there must be a major medical problem for your cat to act this way towards children, If you feel your cat is exhibiting aggressive tendencies completely out of the blue, (that this has not happened from birth) I would check with the rescue home then contact your veterinarian as there may be an underlying medical condition. If there isn’t one, then your vet may well have a behavioural explanation, or he/she can refer you to a behaviour specialist. Have you been to a vet?
Samsam,
I am highly suspicious of this whole thing. Where kids are concerned, it is nothing but a bag of worms, we never get the whole story.
I have never known a cat be aggressive without provocation. Cats simply do not do this. When they rub up against your leg, it is a sign of friendship or affection, but if you do anything aggressive yourself then they are likely to react, just as I would.
AND kids do act aggressively without knowing it, they swipe, kick or smack because they simply regard animals as subordinate toys. They even act aggressively towards their own parents - all the time.
Quite frankly, I think this thread is too obscure and I will not be back, it smacks too much of kidmania and lack of proper information. Typical of animal incidents.
I tend to agree, it is very unusal for a cat to be aggressive. I personally think it maybe that the cat has been provoked in some way. It sounds very much like your poor little kitty considers the chindren something of a threat at the moment. Have you considered getting your kids to feed the cat treats - not directly but by dropping them near your cat and creating a game.
children are very unpredictable... and therefore cats will be too. I nanny & childmind and often have different age children back at my house. Although all of my cats are absolutely fine with children I would never consider leaving them alone or even in the same room as my childminded children - because they dont know them, they have different smells etc. Imagine for a minute this was you. You are in your own environment and a complete stranger comes into YOUR home and starts playing with YOUR stuff. Wouldnt you feel a bit defensive (likely you'd call the police but this is not an option for a little kitty)....
what i would like is advice please John Bull.[img]http://www.filii.info/g.gif[/img]
I had a similar problem with a neighbors' cat and I certainly didn't tease it. He loved attention but as soon as I walked away he would launch an attack, wrapping all four sets of claws around my leg and sinking his teeth in. I have six cats at the moment and I know they all have their quirks. I don't agree that it may be due to teasing. I think the cat has got carried away with practicing it's hunting skills. Cats like to practice catching things and that is why it is important to play with them. A toy on a string works for them or there are food puzzles available that makes the cat have to 'hunt' for the food. It is possible that the cat realizes that he gets a reaction and has turned this into a game. I started wearing long boots when I would go out to the garden and after a while the cat realized that no matter how long he hung on he got no reaction. I know this isn't possible in your situation, unless the parents want to send the kids over in boots.
It's not just dogs that try to defend their property and family and the cat may thing that the kids are invading it's home. You could ask the kids to give the cat a treat when they first come in and play with it for a while. The treat should be something that he does not get at other times so he associates it with them. He does not get the treat straight after an attack. After an attack he should be ignored, don't reward 'bad' behavior. Make sure they use toys and not their hands as many people make the mistake of doing that when the kitten is tiny then complain that the cat attacks their hand with big sharp claws when they have grown. He's still young so stands a very good chance of being retrained. Please don't give up on him as he not a 'bad' cat just confused between what is acceptable and what isn't. I'm certainly not an animal behaviorist but have taken in, so called, behavioral cats over the years and without exception they have all turned into loving family members.
First though I would take him to get a check up and explain the situation to the vet, though I would be reluctant to give him any form of regular sedation as this is simply doping the cat and not retraining him . You may need the assistance of an animal behaviorist. Make sure they are qualified. Many universities run courses on animal behavior and it might be worth speaking to someone from that department as they may be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck to you and your kitty. Please post and let me know how you get on.
A freind of mine had a cat that was aggresive around children and she found it was the noise, when it was quiet, fine, but noise, the cat wasn't a happy chappy.
I think you may have to try techiniques so that it will ok around people and try and be less agressive. Mayb what a animal show?
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