Ok, so what do you do with a fierce cat?

Hi! My kitten Konnie is rather fierce sometimes, especially when we pick her up or touch her. I have read lots of pages on this site and others about this, and have found lots of different reasons for this. I think that her problem falls into more than one group.

1. Play-fighting - Konnie loves to play indoors, and we have lots of toys for her. Unfortunately, she doesn't seem to realise the difference between her favourite cuddly toy, and our hands when we play with her. She will catch our hands in her paws, and put them in her mouth. She does bite, but not hard enough to hurt. I don't think she is trying to hurt us, because she never has her claws out when she catchs or fingers.

2. Bad Temper - Konnie has not always been fierce to humans. She was abandoned by a feral cat in our garden, and was very pleased when we found her. At first, she just purred all the time, although she was a little scared of new things. She was never aggressive, but I think that maybe having been brought up by hunmans from 2-3 weeks my have contributed to her fierceness.
She still doesn't really hurt, unless she is in a really bad mood. She hides the furniture when she doesn't want to be caught,a nd will bite and scratch anyone who trys to get her out. Sometimes we have to resort to wearing gloves when we have to reach her out!!! She has never really caused any harm, I mean, no one has been seriously injured, but she is only a year old, and is still very small, so it is possible that when she is older, she will be dangerous without meaning to be. I know that my other cat, who is fully grown, could do some serious damage to someone if he wanted. Fortunately, he has always been very well behaved and never bites anyone.

I am pretty sure that she is not unwell or injured, because she can be really good and gentle, and she always runs about loads when she is outside. It maybe that she is just rather a bedtempered kitten, and will grow out of it, but if anyone has any sggestions as to how to calm her down, I'd be interested. Thanks for your help! Bye!

Originally posted by Maryxx

She hides the furniture when she doesn't want to be caught,a nd will bite and scratch anyone who trys to get her out. Sometimes we have to resort to wearing gloves when we have to reach her out!!! She has never really caused any harm, I mean, no one has been seriously injured, but she is only a year old, and is still very small, so it is possible that when she is older, she will be dangerous without meaning to be

Click to expand...

Hi! I can't give you a lot of help, but I just wanted to say that at my house we have always allowed our cats to remain under or behind the furniture when they have gone into hiding, and the cats come back out when they are ready. There's a reason for this behavior, and it's possible Konnie still gets scared sometimes and just wants a safe place where she can hide for awhile.

Hi- there are several holes in your theories, so let me just take them one at a time:

"She was never aggressive, but I think that maybe having been brought up by hunmans from 2-3 weeks my have contributed to her fierceness."

Having raised orphaned ferals for many years, I can attest that when they are brought up with bottle feedings and kind hands, they do not get ferocious, they do maintain their independence, they keep thier distance and sometimes they cuddle on laps. But you need to let them make the call, and not you. Ferals respond 100% differently than house cats. This is partly because of their wild instinct still coming into play, and partly because a great deal of them don't trust humans, except for the ones who brought them up with love. If while she was a kitten, you played the finger games with her, or the foot under the blanket games, that triggers her prey instinct and keeps it strong, and can cause problems as she grows. You need to withdraw your hands from play with her- use a toy on the end of a fishing pole instead, so she can bite and chew on that instead of your hands.

"She hides the furniture when she doesn't want to be caught,a nd will bite and scratch anyone who trys to get her out. Sometimes we have to resort to wearing gloves when we have to reach her out!!! She has never really caused any harm, I mean, no one has been seriously injured, but she is only a year old, and is still very small, so it is possible that when she is older, she will be dangerous without meaning to be."

She is hiding to be safe, because she is scared or stressed, and the worst thing you can do is pursue her. When you do peek your head under the couch, although your intentions are "Kitty are you okay?" She sees you quite differently, here she is in a safe place and her "friend" is now chasing her. You go from friend to threat in a matter of minutes. If you are sure she is not injured, leave her alone, ignore her and she will come out and be with you soon enough.


"It maybe that she is just rather a bedtempered kitten, and will grow out of it, but if anyone has any sggestions as to how to calm her down,"

Konnie is not a bad tempered kitty, she is a kitten and she will play as such, and part of their playing is wrestling their littermates and growling, scratching even rabbit kicking. A bad tempered kitty is one that will launch itself halfway across the room and aim for you face- now that is a bad tempered kitty! Just have patience with her, give her space and don't press her to be something you want her to be. Not all cats are destined for our laps and to be purr partners. Out of the 20 socialized ferals I have here, only 3 are lap kitties. One, hates my lap, but loves to climb up my leg, crawl up my chest and wrap his paws around my neck for a daily hug. I just know when I go outside to feed the horses to wear a thick shirt, because if Kabota doesn't get his daily hug, he is quite miffed at me!

Thanks for the help everyone. I'll let her stay put when she hides from now on, and maybe I should get her some new toys, which I can play with her with from a distance, so she doesn't get the wrong idea! Thanks again!

Bye!

I have a feisty girl about the same age ( a year and a half) whom I've had for about a month. She used to go into prey mode (grabbing my hand and biting it while rabbit kicking my arm)about half the time I tried to pet her.

I've found that if I gently place my hand a couple inches in front of her face, she will lick it, and then usually allow petting without any incident. The times that she does grab on, if I keep my hand limp and perfectly still, she will usually lick instead of biting and then release it.

I hope Konnie and you are able to work something out!

Thanks for your help antaraxia!