Why Is Your Cat Scratching And Biting You?

Why Is Your Cat Scratching And Biting You?

One minute your cat is playing with you or purring as you pet him. The next minute he's trying to bit or scratch you. 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. But aggressive behavior is part of their normal behavioral. Aggressive cats can be dangerous, however, with a little training cats can stop this behavior. But first we need to understand what their aggression is all about.

Play Aggression

Play in cats incorporates exploring, investigating, and predatory behaviors. Biting and scratching is often seen in young, active cats less than two years of age, especially if they live in one-cat household. The aggression is their way of practicing 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 behavior 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 gentle bites that don't break the skin. You may be attacked coming down the stairs, stepping out of the bathtub, rounding a corner, or have your feet attacked under the bed covers.

Your cats posture, when they're playing, resembles the posture a cat would show when searching for or catching prey. He'll freeze in a low crouch before pouncing, twitch his tail, flick his ears back and forth, and may wrap his front feet around your hands or feet while biting.

"Stop Petting Me" Aggression

It is not uncommon for cats to suddenly bite while being petted. The bite is the cat's signal that she has had enough petting. Cats vary in how much they will tolerate being petted or held. Cats generally give several signals before biting.

Signals may include:

o restlessness

o the cat's tail begins to twitch

o the cat's ears turn back or flicker back and forth

o the cat turns or moves his head toward your hand

Fearful/Defensive Aggression

Cats who are fearful may display body postures such as 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.

Redirected Aggression

This happens when the cat is aroused to an aggressive state either by a person or an animal. He then may redirect this aggression onto another person or animal. For example, if two family cats get aggressive, the losing cat may walk up and attack your leg.

Nancy Macdonald is an online researcher who specializes in finding information to make home life just a little bit better. For more information on cat training please see [http://www.cattrainingreview.com/]