A question about aggression

I'm posting this for TroutsMom. She has been having problems posting lately, but can read the threads.




[font=@Arial Unicode MS]Okay, Trout has been very aggressive lately. She will jump onto my lap and lay down and I will start petting her..She will be purring away and then within 2 minutes, she'll start biting me. She gets all riled up and her tail is swishing around, and she bites my hand and grabs it with her claws..Its not love bites, it really hurts. Yesterday I pushed her off my lap when she bit, and she just walked right back into my lap and lunged at my hand to bite it..I was actually scared a little..she seemed really mad for some reason. Her ears are back and her eyes are fixated on my hands.[/font]

[font=@Arial Unicode MS]I know she has never been abused because I have had her since 8 weeks old. The only thing I can think of is since its only me, maybe she's acting out because she's lonely or because her dad is gone? I don't know, but sometimes I'm literally scared that she will actually fully attack me.[/font]

[font=@Arial Unicode MS]What the heck do you think is wrong with her?[/font]

Have you tried hissing at her or blowing n her face. Just make sure she associates biting and agression to the end of playtime and I am thinking that may stop. Or if you think she is lonely is there any way you could get her a playmate?

She's getting overstimulated and is sort of "play fighting" with you. As long as she isn't hissing or growling at you, I don't think she's mad at you. And trust me, if she meant to do you some harm, you would know right away!

I used to do this with one of my cats growing up. (not the best idea in hindsight!). We would chase eachother around the house and get riled up, then we'd end up sitting on the floor and he would get "crazy cat eyes", swishy tail and "airplane ears". He'd jump at my hands or shoulder and I would catch him and we'd wrestle for a bit and then repeat. Eventually he'd get tired or I'd get clawed up enough and we'd stop. Like I said, this probably wasn't the smartest thing to do!

What you need to watch for are signs that she's had enough petting. Look for dialated pupils, super swishy tail, ears pointed backwards and general "crazy cat" body language. That means she's getting hyped up and you need to leave her alone or redirect her to an appropriate toy. Depending on how hyped up she is, you may need to put her in another room to give the both of you a break.

I would guess she needs some more or longer really intense play sessions to wear her out a bit more. Did her "dad" spend lots of time at home? Or lots of time playing with her that she may be missing right now?

If she jumps at you again, scruff her (gently) and give her a good loud HISS! (meowmy says no biting!) She should learn this new behaviour is not ok!

~Julia

I second the playmate.... I also think she may be acting out due to her dad being gone, she may get over it in awhile, but as to how to deal with it right now, as soon as she starts to attack you, hold very still, any movement she will perceive as "playing" back, also say NO! or OWW! very loudly and like Brandi said possibly hiss at her. All my kitties are biters, but they usually don't hurt me too bad, but they've learned to stop when I say OWW!! you're hurting Meowmy!!

TroutsMom's reply -

Good news, Last night I spent all night with Trout..hours and hours. I let her sleep on my lap for most of the night and I pet her for like 5 strokes, and then left her alone. And no more biting. I could tell when she would get antsy because she would half bunny kick my hand with her back leg. Once I noticed that ,I stopped petting her and she was fine. Maybe she just gets over stimulated much earlier than other cats? I'm not sure, but I think from now on, I'm just going to pet her very little and we'll be fine. What a weirdo she is..lol

You think she is in pain when you pet her? It just seems odd that she didn't do this before and now it bothers her. Have you thought about taking her to the vet?

Yah it does sound like she was being overstimulated. Some cats have different thresholds for this. Some like lots of attention and others prefer to be near you without constant petting. It sounds like this might be the case with her.