Unprovoked Aggression in Indoor Cat. How else can I manage this?

jahjah

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Hello all!

My wonderful, adorable little cat friend has been acting out lately.  It has escalated, and I'm not quite sure what to do!  He is male, indoor, fixed, and about 8 years old.  I've had him for 7 years.  He is an extremely friendly, vocal, social cat - he walks up to guests and says hello without hesitation and absolutely loves to be held.

Several months ago a behavior began whereby he would get upset (distressed even) if I sat at the living room table.  He tries to bite my feet and will attack me.  I have no idea what caused this - he sits on the table alone regularly, he had no traumatic table experience that I'm aware of, he used to just sit on tables next to me while I work, and I pay attention to him when he's by me.  I tried ignoring him so the behavior wouldn't be reinforced.  It worked somewhat, but isn't maintainable on my part because when he bites, he really bites.  So, if I need to work there, I have to put him in my room or let him out on the screened-in patio..

I feel like he is trying to tell me something, but I have no idea what.  In the past, all aggressive behavior has been linked to a specific reason.  In 2013 he mauled my arm randomly after a change/decrease in my social habits.  I started bringing him with me to my boyfriend's house so he would be less bored, and the aggression completely dissipated.  So, for this cat, aggression is always linked to communication.  Sort of a desperate "I need something and I don't know how to tell you, so I'm going to bite you to get your attention."  He only directs this behavior at me, presumably because I'm the one who takes care of him.

Recently, the aggression has become bad.  He bit my face badly a week ago, unprovoked, when I tried to go to sleep.  The other night I put my covers over my head just in case, and he started aggressively pawing the covers trying to get at me.  There have been a few occasions where I've been interacting with him or just acknowledge him ("hi kitty!") and he switches to a defensive, on edge, frightful attack mode; I have to get someone to distract him, or else he will attack relentlessly.  

I know my cat well enough to know that he is a good cat, getting rid of him is NOT an option, but I'm aware that this behavior is extreme.  I've taken him to the vet, and they said he is healthy.  I give him a lot of attention (always have).  I started playing with him (even though he's mostly disinterested in toys).  He is clingy overall, and at this point I believe that what's upsetting him is that I am usually gone 9-6 M-F at school.  But this schedule isn't new, and I can't change it.

Does anybody have any advice for how to manage this situation, considering that the behavior is dangerous (i.e. no ignoring or responding less is possible) and communication specific?  Should I consider medication, because this is ongoing (and seems to be linked to some general anxiety or depression with unspecific causes)?  Or, should I avoid medication because the problem is not lifelong and he isn't hurting himself?

Thanks!  Sorry for the long post - I wanted to try to explain the situation as well as possible, because I think his aggression is a little different than typical cat aggression!
 

mwallace056

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i feel he trying to tell you something is wrong, please take me to a vet to rule out anything medical.
 

betsygee

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Is there anything new going on outside--a new neighborhood animal that he may be seeing out of the windows?  One of my new cats reacted badly once like that--he saw another of our resident cat outside the glass door.  He acted perfectly normally--didn't hiss at the outside cat or anything so I thought all was fine, but then he turned and savagely attacked my leg.

It was so bad I ended up having to put him on acepromazine for a few days to get him calmed down, and after that had a calming collar on him for quite awhile.  He eventually did calm down again and I didn't have any more problems with him attacking me. 

Here's an article on redirected aggression that may give you some ideas, too:  http://www.thecatsite.com/a/re-directed-aggression-in-cats
 

whiskylollipop

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Maybe he is biting because he's bored? I can see him being restless and hoping for playtime, but once he sees you sit down at the table or get into bed, he knows it'll be ages before you'll get up and play with him. So he tries to "scare" you away from the bed or table by biting. You are gone 9-6 M-F, sounds like you're the only one who gives him any attention/playtime, and he's stuck indoors with little to do. He's probably bored out of his mind when you're gone and just wants to suck up as much interaction with you as he can.

Have you considered getting him a friend so he'll have a kitty pal to play with when he's bored?
 
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