Viciously attacks me!!!!

My kitty(almost 1 year) will attack me at random moments. It is not just a few bites and then runs away; he latches onto my arm and will bite me as hard as he can. Instinctively I toss him off of me and he'll come back and do it over and over. Other than these random attacks he can be very loving and cuddly and is playful. Help! I'm not sure where all of this aggression is coming from

When did the attacks start? If they are recent it could be a sign of a health problem. Have him checked by your vet. If your boy has been doing it since you had him, you need to teach him it is unacceptable. Tossing him off will not help but likely encourage more attacks. Here's a link to a thread that will help you http://www.thecatsite.com/t/20837/ouch-how-to-stop-cat-aggression-toward-people

I guess it has been within the last 3 months, but he has always played kind of rough and I haven't got him neutered yet so I will have to take him in to see the vet. Thank you for your advice and I'll follow up with the results.
Ps. I did lock him in the bathroom for a good ten minutes the last time he did this and when he came out he was very loving and sweet again. I hope that's an okay thing to do

Hi kelseyjomo.  Yayi has given you good advice, and the thread she has linked in gives you plenty to work on.  Hopefully getting him neutered will help along with everything else.  

'Time out' is appropriate if your cat is really hyper and aggressive and needs to calm down but I wouldn't use it otherwise.

Never pull away from him as he will almost certertainly misinterpret that as you responding with play - hence yeya's comment about him coming back for more. You need to freeze, gently push in towards him, freeze and either say 'no' if you want him to stop, or 'ouch' or 'aagh' or similar if he is hurting you.  It is best he knows these are different and he needs to stop right away when you say 'ouch'.  You repeat this firmly until he releases, and if he repeats the behaviour and doesn't calm down you go for the time out.  

It sounds like you play in quite a physical, interactive way with your cat and it can be quite confusing for the cat to understand the boundaries when you do that.  It also makes it more likely that your cat will initiate play / aggressive play in this way when his energy builds up as it is one of the ways you are interacting together.

If your cat has a high play drive and isn't getting a lot (and I mean a lot) of run around, hunting, stimulating play that exhausts him this is likely to result in the type of incident you describe. The bigger he gets the more likely you or someone else is to get hurt, but he can get hurt too.  Using wand toys, chaser toys, fetching toy mice, and close play with something larger like a Kickeroo toy between you (for the teeth and bunny kicking) is more appropriate, but still lets you play together, and runs off his energy.  If he wants to chew let him chew card and big toys but not you (or other humans).  You have to be consistent in the type of play that is not OK, and with the words you use together with the freezing response, or he is unlikely to learn how his behavour needs to change.

I have a very playful neuter boy who loves physical play in between his endless pampering sessions.  He has no idea that he's a cat and I'm a human, and the only other cat he ever played with was him mom who played rough with him and showed him who was boss between the two of them.  She didn't show him how hard he could or couldn't bite though.  Until my boy was about 1 1/2  I literally had to run him till he was laying down panting several times over in the space of half an hour, several times a day or he would be like a coiled spring ready to burst by the evening.  If he hadn't had all his energy run off each day he would try to initiate play with me by launching round my arm and then sink his teeth in, or jump up at my head whether I was sitting or standing!  I had really had enough of this almost fully grown muscly cat's fur-belly landing on my face with his legs wrapped round my head by the time I managed to stop him doing it. I was lucky as he never used his teeth when he was jumping at my head and he has never played with claws out.  Occasionally he will still wrap his teeth round my arm if I've ignored him for too long, or  see him posturing with that  look of 'I can reach your head'  in his eyes at which point  I have to stand up tall, and tell him 'no' really firmly.  He has learned he should not do these things, and is well trained to know what 'No' and 'Ouch' mean.  'No' he sometimes pretends not to understand but 'Ouch' he responds to immediately.

Good luck, I'm sure with a bit of work he will settle down.

Ummm… You need to get him neutered - he's trying to make out with your arm… 

Had the same problem with my cat until I got him done. They hold the female by the scruff when they're trying to get down to business. Because he knows your arm isn't a female, he doesn't quite know what to do, so carries on the attack and rubs on you a bit.

This is what my vet told me when mine kept doing it. He stopped pretty much after his hormones went away. He is a very rough player and I found feliway diffusers and the bathroom trick worked wonders.

He still tries to wrestle us like mad, but no biting or scratching.

Good luck!

This is SO helpful!!! Thank you and I will start doing the freeze and "no"/"ouch" thing. We did let him play pretty rough with our hands when he was a younger kitty(he'll be 1 yr in feb) and with him not being neutered that can't help because he is trying to "mate" with my arm! Lol...I will follow up and let you know how everything pans out and thank you so much once again! I've been through a billion websites without success

Just noticed your avatar, your critter isn't a Russian Blue is it?

I asked the same question myself. He doesn't have papers and I don't know his history but he certainly has some of the characteristics. I've had a couple of people chime in on my other thread and they had pointed out the similarities and differences. I also have more pictures posted on that thread.

I have added mine!   He's very cute by the way.

Thank you! )))

Update: So, my boyfriends brother, who
Just moved in yesterday, owns snakes and lizards. My cat is freaking out and constantly hisses and growls at him. I went and bought a feliway diffuser, but I think I'll need more than one! Dexter is in distress with this new change. I took your advice mservant and let him come and check out the bedroom where the reptiles are. He was hissing and growling the whole time while he checked it out. I really hope with time he won't be as stressed out and I hope he doesn't attack anyone! I also wanted to look into getting cat shelves for him so he can have a perch.

High viewing and safety spots are a great idea, the more Dexter cat can see his territory and feel safer than at floor level the more likely he is to settle.  He is feeling threatened and you are looking for ways to help with this. Does he have plenty hiding places as well?  Try to keep letting him smell and view the room and new things that have come in to his space.  It can be pretty scary when they walk around growling but hopefully it will settle. 

I had a horrid experience once when  had to move out of my apartment for a couple of months.  The day I arrived at the new house one of the girls I had at the time went and hid in a cupboard. The other one spent the entire day walking from one end of the house to the other: I was sitting on a sofa in the living room, in the middle of the house, so she would walk past me every couple of minutes and when she walked across the room and back I was in she eyeballed me the entire way, both directions.  She was giving out this guttural growl the whole time.  I was in tears by the time I went to bed.  Snowleopard being a cuddlecritter  had the cheek to climb in to bed with the minute I turned the light out!  I couldn't believe it.  I'd been terrified and not known what to do to settle her the whole day and then she switched off evil cat mode and snuggled in looking for reassurance.  When she got back to our usual apartment she walked round the whole place to check it out.  She was fine other than when she walked in to the two new rooms that had been created: she stood in the middle of each of these rooms and did that growling noise again and walked out.  That was her saying her peace, then she just got on with things again.  She was a funny cat!   She was a really soft cuddle most of the time but could show these really basic instinctual behaviours when she was scared and was totally unpredictable at those times - I just gave her space and let her come round in her own time.

Thank you for sharing that story with me. Whew! That makes me feel better...there is hope. Should I have my new roomie feed Dexter and play with him(with a long string to give him space) to build positive associations?

I love the idea of me being terrified of my cat and  in tears making you feel better!    Honestly, she was such a honey most of the time but show her a carrier - she'd think vet and turn in to an evil banshee literally running round the walls like a wall of death!  That day she was so out of it and I had no idea what she would do next, and that growl will stay with me for years.

Your idea of the new roomie giving food sounds great! I often introduce Mouse to new people by getting them to throw him his favourite fish snacks when they come in and that's a real winner for short term intro's. I'm sure adding your new roomie to the regular feeding rota would help Dexter realize he's not the terrible threat he thinks just now. And the play at a safe distance if he can get that far should also help.  Go slow like with a new cat being introduced and hopefully it will improve reasonably quickly.  No one is good with that level of stress for long.  Fingers crossed anyway. Who knows what's in our cats' minds sometimes.