10-month old "recovering" feral smacking/slapping me when unhappy... help!

Jackson "found" us (my partner & myself) at about 3 months old and lived outside until he was 6 months old.  He has been living inside for going on 5 months now and making really good, if slow, progress with socialization.  When he lived outside we could barely touch him at all, but by now he is coming to us to "ask" for affection (petting; he still won't allow us to pick him up), and has even started to rub up against our legs.  Overall, he seems to be a happy little guy who has come a long way in terms of trust.

However... as he is losing his fear of humans, some problematic behaviors are emerging at times that he never would have dared to do in the past.  He frequently smacks/slaps our legs when A.) he wants food but it isn't yet his meal-time; and B.) when he is getting affection and we try to walk away before he is "done".  This behavior almost always happens when our backs are turned to him and/or we are walking away.  It definitely seems to happen the most when he wants food before his meal times.  Tonight it happened with such vigor that I had to yell and clap my hands to get him to back down and stop slapping (he cornered me when I tried to walk past him), which I hate to do... especially with a formerly-feral kitty who is still learning when it comes to humans.

Major caveat here is that he has been dealing with a stubborn, raging case of roundworms that is proving very hard to treat.  We are doing everything possible to address this, and it does seem understandable that he could feel some desperation around food/hunger in light of this... not to mention in light of his feral "childhood" where competing for food was what he knew.  But the slapping behavior is clearly not acceptable.  We are trying to make his meal times and routines as consistent and as predictable as possible so that he doesn't have to "wonder" or have anxiety about when he will be fed.  But even with this in place, he tends to slap the backs of our legs as we are washing his dishes and getting his food ready, as if to say, "You're not doing it fast enough!".  And when we occasionally/inevitably have to slightly adjust his meal routines due to realities of human schedules, this behavior most definitely shows itself. 

He also has daily, interactive play times that he seems to enjoy, and plenty of space that he can and does utilize to run around and "burn off" some of his kitten energy.

What am I missing here?  Is there anything else I can do or not do to help him past this maladjusted smacking behavior?

Thanks for any/all feedback, especially from people who have successfully dealt with this type of kitty behavior!   

That's a really interesting story!  I don't have experience in exactly that, but my 'what would I do if..' hat has been on, and I think I might try redirecting him into a different mode of 'asking'.

How is the question, given you are not able to pick him up?

I can outline the principle of redirecting in any case, before we look at might work for you.  Essentially, you don't want to respond to the 'bad' way of asking.  If the 'bad' way of asking means he gets food - or attention - then that method works, and he will smartly keep using it.  Our cats want to 'hurry up' the food process and jump on the benches where I'm preparing.  So each time, I pick them up (even if it is 15 times!) and reposition them to an acceptable place - note it is still a good place from their perspective because they can see and are very close - but just far enough away not to be able to touch (that's the bit I want!).  I will also talk to them and give them a few tidbits while they are in that spot, until the food I'm dishing is ready to serve.  Pretty soon, they work out that they should go to that spot to ask.  In fact, Kato regularly tells us he is hungry in a most acceptable form - he goes and sits on his ledge in the kitchen.  We reward it with food every time.  (Ava is still a kitten, so she is still in the learning phase, with ravenous kitten hunger!)

In your case, I think I might make a particular sound 'Ah' (or whatever comes naturally as a cautioning sound) AND walk away each time he bats your legs, to put myself into a room with a closed door - shutting him out.  Shut yourself away for just 30 secs. Then come out, talking gently so he knows he is heard,  and go do the thing he wants.  If you don't get to do it before he bats you again, simply repeat the process (noise, shut yourself away).  Theoretically, in time, all that will be needed is the cautioning sound.  Lots of praise as soon as he stops himself, lots of praise whenever he is NOT batting you!  He may come up with a variation on the batting all by himself somewhere in this process - if it is acceptable, reward it.  For example, he may just put a paw on you, but not slap.  That's great, as he is learning, and working it out, and you are able to negotiate a method of communication that is ok.  It's quite amazing the 'modified versions' they try as they work out that the 'bad' way just isn't getting the thing they want anymore.

Hope that helps - and hope you can get on top of the roundworms poor boy.  And just one check on the food side of things, WET food will satisfy his hunger far more than kibble.  Wet food (canned or raw) has the animal protein he needs (very little at all in kibble).

The batting is a familiarity thing with cats. Its their way to discipline their friends and associates.  (ie batting and smacking with soft paw).   So this shows he IS accepting you as his nearest, important people, "his family and home".

The drawback is, it is possibly a sign he is seeing himself as the alpha of the household.

Which we all do with our cats, but it is seldom they do take advantage. That is why we can let them cas win, unlike to dogs.  A dog who is allowed to be alpha of the household gets soon unbeareable, while cats proceed to be our loving camerades.

But sometimes cats overdo it, and gets mean them too, almost like dogs who thinks they are alpha in the family.

Cure?

You had got good advices above.

Also, make a show of your supremacy.  Easiest is to make it on something harmless.

We at home forbid them to be on our kitchen table, for example, and defend it rather vigorously. 

Nay, no big scenes, but we show them they arent allowed there, and soon enough, they hurry off. Or are carried down.

Good luck!

ps.  Is he neutered as yet?   If not, it is time, by several reasons.   One of them is to diminish the risk of him seeing himself as the alpha of the household.

He will probably anyway see himself as the revire holder of the cat revire, which is natural and OK.

But he shouldnt be the alpha of the whole household!

ps2.  Canhe meow?  Some cats cant, and if they dont develop other sounds instead, I can imagine they must slap in frustration of their lacking communcation.

Have you considered leaving a bowl of dry food out for him all the time? This is what I do with my cats, including the feral ones. The little lady kitty I took in 5 months ago was severely malnourished, anemic, and has a bullet lodged in her pelvis. I think she  thinks she's in heaven because there is food accessible to her 24/7 and she knows she never needs to stress over food again.

My former feral, Harry, is 9 months and sometimes bats at my legs when I've continued to hold and kiss him when he's wanted to be let down. I think it's kind of cute. He never intends to hurt me. Whenever he's overly aggressive with my female kitty, I say his name very sternly and he backs right off. In the past, before he listened to me, when he'd get too aggressive I'd put him in a room by himself for 20 minutes for a "time out." He quickly learned to listen to me. I have to add, though, that he's an exceptionally smart cat. The time out method would never work for my two older, dumber cats.

I have had this problem many times, with my hands, my head as I'm bending over, and my legs. As StefanZ mentioned, in one way this is a good thing because it is a sign of him being comfortable in your presence and confident enough to try to exert some authority.

On the other hand you have to teach them that slapping with claws and biting are not acceptable ways to interact with humans. I am a firm believer in the strong, stern "NO". Not yelling, but very firm.

Simply put, he is reacting to not getting what he wants when he wants it. You've got an 10 month old male cat you're dealing with (a teenager!) who is learning to live in your home (an unnatural environment) without other cats to show him the ropes. Don't be overly concerned about his apparent aggression. If treated with consistent "NO"s, patience and kindness he will learn what's appropriate behavior. Good grief, I had one Big Tom I relocated to our property that I had to wear leather gloves for 4 months anytime I went into his kennel because of biting. He's a love-dove now, but he'll still put those teeth on my hand occasionally and I still have to tell him "NO". 

One more thought; as @MsAimee  mentioned, a constant source of food, like a bowl of kibble left out all of the time, is a great way to get a feral to become comfortable with their new surroundings or living conditions. 

Free feeding will work temporarily.  In future you may have to stop it, as he may be the kind of cat who simply eats and eats and eats.  Everyone in our house is on diet food because of one cat who won't stop eating and is now too fat.  I recently started transitioning them to scheduled feeding and it is a pain in the neck!

Ignoring the inappropriate behavior is a wonderful approach.  We have one cat (our alpha - at least he thinks he's the alpha  ).  We've gotten to the point now where we simply say "Do you want a time out?" and he'll back off.  Time-out consisted of putting him in a large carrier for about 10 minutes.  He hates it and will behave himself if threatened with it.

But a short, sharp "no" and perhaps a hiss will also help him identify when he's being inappropriate.   Hissing is how his mother or siblings would tell him to back off.

Whatever you do, don't feel sorry for him (poor baby, so afraid he won't get fed).  That only creates a monster

Thank you so much for your patience!  Hopefully, he never decides to wake you up at 3:30 am for his breakfast!

I really don't see a problem with leaving dry food out. You could always give it a try. It's not been a problem with any of my cats. I think ferals are used to being anxious about a food source and for many it can be comforting to know that's not an issue.

Thanks, all, for all the good ideas. 

He is indeed neutered; has been since he was four months old.  He isn't otherwise aggressive or dominant-acting, and in fact is still in many ways kind of "skittery" about getting out of our way, afraid of being stepped on, etc.

I like the perspective that part of his smacking behavior has to do with him feeling comfortable with us.  That resonates also with the intuitive sense I have about this behavior when he does it. 

Free-feeding isn't an option, as he became quite chubby when we tried that in the past.  BUT, the one thing we haven't tried is adding a hiss to the firm "NO" we are already giving, in addition to making sure not to reward his behavior (e.g., if he does it while we are preparing his food, we immediately stop, give a "no", and then just silently sit down at the kitchen table for about 30 seconds to give him the message that he's not going to get what he wants from that behavior. 

The hissing thing really makes sense, though, as we joke all the time about him having had "poor parenting" in whatever cat family he belonged to before he found his way to us.  We think he may have been beaten up by his dad or another adult male in his "colony", as he came to us very young and very beaten up (bleeding from his neck from what appeared to be injuries sustained in a cat fight)... just slipped under our fence one day looking very forlorn.  He probably could have used more/better "cat parenting" vs getting driven out of his colony so early.  So anyway, yes... we will try the hissing.  He has stopped his own hissing (although it used to be a daily occurrence), but I'm sure he remembers exactly what it means!  Picking up where his biological mom left off... lol!

Thanks again!

Poor little Jackson, he did have a rough start. So glad he found YOUR yard! You're doing everything right so the behavior should correct. just takes time. Since free-feeding is out, what about one of those treat dispenser toys? I don't know how well they work (never had one), but the idea is sound, he'll be entertained and get a little bite of food every once in a while. 

Oh my gosh, the hissing is already working like a charm!  He stops the smacking in his tracks and looks at me in a way that seems to say, "dude... okay, okay, calm down... I didn't know you felt so strongly about it".  Lol!  Thanks again, I will keep posting updates as to how this plays out!  

See, you just needed to speak cat!  Good news - thanks for the update.

@catwoman707, did you see this thread of mine from a few months ago?  What do you think about this in light of knowing what you know about his worm situation from my other thread?  He is still doing this smacking behavior.  His weight is good (he is almost a year old and weighs 10 lbs), his fur is shiny, and he gets measured/calorie-counted portions of grain-free wet and dry food at specific times every day (wet + dry for the first two meals, and then the remainder of his dry food for a night-time "snack").  It is usually later in the day, into the evening when he really starts up with this behavior.  Some of it I think is just that this is his high energy time of day, but as for him being so demanding about food, we don't know how much to chalk up to boredom vs worms.  If he was skinny or underweight, the answer would be obvious... but he isn't.  Any thoughts on how to deal with this behavior?  Our knee-jerk response is to yell "NO!" when he charges us (sometimes he will chase me down the hallway when I walk away from the kitchen, in an attempt to catch me and slap me, claws out), and I often add a well-placed "hiss!" sound per the suggestion of someone else who responded.  Both are effective, but only for the moment... and I don't like yelling at him!

Yelling doesn't work with my cats either - it revs up the energy.  I have to be quiet, turn my back, and be upset - I keep turning as Kato will try to see my face.  Sometimes putting myself in time out works too.

I wonder if you changed the ratio of wet/dry food, what may happen then?  Wet food is far more biologically appropriate, so it should be more hunger satisfying.  Dry food doesn't contain enough meat or animal fats, so often with kibble fed cats, you get the 'hungry fat cat' syndrome - their bodies are screaming for nutrition (cue hungry), yet the calories going in can't be used as nutrition, and turn straight to fat.  (Eliminating grains is great, yet kibble is a biscuit so must have a cartload of carbs to create them - you'll see starchy veges in the ingredients in the place of grains, which are still not nutritionally available to cats.)

Also, you may find that his past experiences will 'haunt' him.  If he was always hungry (from abandonment and food scarcity, and/or from worms), then this anxiety for food can be carried with them.

Here's an interesting read - not that your cat is fat, just has good info on a range of factors that could apply to your situation? -  with links to related topics: http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/why-our-cat-is-still-fat/11081

I was a little confused - have the worms been eliminated?  Do you think he's still reacting to them?  If so, that would definitely be my first line of attack - get rid of those.

If not, hmm, this is a poser.  You would think by now he'd be a little more confident about having food available.  Have you noticed if the behavior happens as a reaction to something or maybe someone?  Any new schedules in the house, maybe new furniture.

The only other suggestion I have is maybe you can play with him - a wand toy or laser light will wear him out.  This might get rid of some of the energy he's using to smack you.

Thanks for your patience - he's being a real challenge.

So... two years later I have nothing but good news to report about this smacking issue!  Our sweet little formerly feral guy has gradually, over time, learned to self-regulate his smacking impulses!  I think it has mainly been a process of trust-building - i.e., him learning to trust that he truly can depend on us to take care of his food needs, after having fended for himself outside for the first part of his life.  The process was downright funny at times, with me having learned his ways so well that I could anticipate the smack before it was about to happen, and redirect him with "Jaaaaack, don't do it" in my best, firm-yet-loving "mom voice"... lol... and sure as anything, he started to learn that not smacking has better payoff than smacking.  By now he only does this behavior occasionally, if he is feeling antsy about waiting for a meal or a snack, and he has learned how to just lightly tap with claws retracted, or to gently snag a claw into our clothing to get our attention.  But he is no longer hurting us, and by now enjoys being picked up and cuddled.  So much more trust!  Thanks to everyone here who helped to support us in the early, very stressful parts of this process!        

This is wonderful news!  Thank you.