Understanding Cat Aggression

Understanding cats aggression and learning to recognize the warning signs may help you deal with this unwanted behavior.
Sometimes, it may seem that an attack comes without warning, but there are plenty of warning signs if you learn to recognize them.

Warning signs to look for:

Wide open eyes

Ears pinned back

Tail swishing back and forth

Meows that sound like growling

Hissing and spitting.

Cat aggression is defined by type. The following are the most common types of cat aggression.

Fear-induced aggression

Sometimes, the cause of this is not obvious. Your cat may have experienced something traumatic in the past that makes it afraid of something that you don't know about..If a cat feels frightened or cornered they may attack. Most cats prefer to run away but if they feel oornered with no way of escape, then they may attack

Fear-induced aggression is also a cat's natural reaction to punishment. Cats do not learn from punishment that you might use with your dog - instead of changing the misbehavior, the cat is more likely to become afraid of you and react aggressively.

Redirected Aggression

An example of this would be - Your cat is sitting by the window and suddenly sees a dog or another cat. Your cat becomes agitated, but, being confined indoors, cannot do much to deter the perceived danger. Then when the cat is focused on the threat outside, you walk by and pet its head. No wonder the cat suddenly lashes out at you. All that pent-up aggression is suddenly released in what may seem to you like an unprovoked attack.

Whatever the trigger may be, when cats are not able to retaliate against a source of aggravation they may redirect their response to the nearest person, or other animal (the family dog, for instance).

Pain Induced Aggression

This is very easy to understand. Your cat is in pain, so it seems natural that they will be confused and try to attack anyone who is around. Your cat will lash out at the vet for a painful procedure. Since they don't understand it is for their own good and naturally defends them self from pain.

Sometimes, it is more difficult to ascertain that pain is the cause of aggression. You may accidentally hurt a cat while picking him up or during a grooming session. Cats have very sensitive skin and may react to pain that we don't even realize we have caused.

Petting Aggression

This is an event cat owners are very familiar with. You are petting your cat and he is purring away and then without warning the cat grabs your hand with its teeth and claws. This is a well-known behavior pattern, but it's hard to tell why some cats are more sensitive to petting than others.

What can you do to get help with cat aggression issues?

First you should check with your veterinarian to make sure there is no medical cause for the aggressive behavior. Cat aggression problems will not go away by themselves. You could get in-home help from an animal-behavior specialist.

I hope you found this article helpful. You can find much more information on cat behavior and how to deal with cat aggression by clicking here http://cataggression.blogspot.com