Cat Aggression toward People

Fiendish Cats?

Watching an enraged cat can be daunting. If you haven't seen one up-close, you've probably seen the image in some scary movie. A snarling cat with sharp teeth showing through a wide- open mouth, ears flattened backwards and eyes wide open with dilated pupils. The soundtrack of growls and hisses is not very pleasant either.

Understanding the reasons for the different types of feline aggression and learning to recognize the warning signs may help you deal with incidents of feline aggression.

Warning Signs

Sometimes, it may seem that an attack came out of the blue, but more often there are plenty of warning signs. Knowing these signs and learning to recognize them can prevent some painful bites and scratches. Some of the physical signals that an aggressive (or potentially aggressive) cat may present are:

• Wide open eyes.
• Dilated pupils (in case of a perceived threat), or very constricted pupils (as the cat tries to threaten back).
• Flattened ears.
• Tail lashing or straight tail with bristled fur.
• agitated meows that turn into growling and snarling.
• hissing voices and sometimes even spitting.

Behaviorists often categorize aggression toward people according to the source of the aggression. This allows for a better understanding of the underlying causes to the cat's behavior, which, in turn, can hopefully lead to a better resolution. Following are five types of aggression that cats may exhibit.

When cats are frightened, their "fight-or-flight" response mechanism is activated. Most cats prefer to run away from danger (real or imaginary), but if they feel cornered or unable to run away for any reason, they may attack. Even shy or timid cats will strike out if left with no way to escape.

Fear-induced aggression is easy for us to identify if we can recognize the cause of the fear. Sometimes, the cause is not obvious. Timid cats may be afraid of all sorts of imagined threats, even sudden sounds or movements. Your cat may also have experienced something traumatic in the past that makes it afraid of something particular that you are not aware of.

Fear-induced aggression is also a cat's natural reaction to punishment, especially physical punishment. Cats do not learn from any of the kinds of punishment or rebuke that one might use with dogs or children - instead of changing the misbehavior, the cat is more likely to become afraid of you and react violently.

Redirected Aggression

Whatever the original trigger may have been, cats that are not able to retaliate against a source of aggravation may redirect their response to the nearest person, cat, or other animal (the family dog, for instance).

Your cat may sit by the window and suddenly notice a dog, a raccoon, or another cat. The cat becomes agitated, but, being confined indoors, cannot do much to deter the perceived danger. That very minute, when the cat is focused on the threat outside, you casually walk by and pet its head. No wonder the cat suddenly hisses and lashes out at you. All that pent-up aggression is suddenly released in what may seem to you like an unprovoked attack.

Pain Induced Aggression

For us humans, this is perhaps the easiest type of aggression to understand. Poor Kitty is in pain, so it seems natural that she will be confused and try to attack anyone who is around her. We usually sympathize with our cat when she lashes out at the vet for a painful procedure. After all, she doesn't understand that this is for her own good and naturally defends herself 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.

Aggression Triggered By Petting

This is an event some cat owners are well familiar with. You cat is lying contentedly by your side asking for some petting and you begin to gently stroke the cat. At first the cat is purring away, but within a few minutes the purring slowly stops, the tail begins twitch and then suddenly 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. It may have to do with early socialization with people, or with genetic disposition. Either way, it looks like some cats become over-stimulated and feel threatened when petted too long. Exactly how long is too long differs from cat to cat. If you live with such a sensitive feline, you will usually learn pretty quickly what it considers to be too long.