Aggression & Dominance!

[jeffa]

Hi, my 7 year old cat Steve has recently been showing some strange behaviours.

We've never had any problems with him in the past. But as of recently he has become quite aggressive and acts strangely towards one of our other cats. And then on the flip side he's just his usual self.

When our other cat Piggy comes over for a head bump, or even walks past Steve. He will do a big cry and bite onto the back of his neck and latch on!

I've noticed he has been incredibly anxious and acts stranges around other people. My husband has some friends over and Steve went crazy, he kept crying and crying and when I went to check on him he tried to latch onto my hand. I moved him away from me and he continued to chase me acting aggressively towards me, crying loudly. Aiming to bite my feet.

It's a type of cry he doesn't typically do. It's hard to describe, kind of like distress sort of cry. He's up to date on worming/flea treatment and he's in good health. Any ideas why he's acting like this?

 

[Kieka]

The first place to start with any behavior changes is get a full exam with your vet. While your cat may seem healthy on the surface there might be something hidden that is manifesting in the behavior changes.

For example, arthritis is a common one to cause behavior changes because your cat doesn't know what is causing pain only that there is pain. That can cause your cat to lash out at whatever is nearest when their is pain thinking that nearest object is the cause. There is also hyperthyroidism which can cause behavior changes with minimal physical signs in some cases. While your cat is young for those, it's not unheard of to start young and there are others I didn't mention that could cause behavior changes.

If it was my cat, I'd ask my vet to do a full work up including xrays to check for arthritis along with a full blood panel to check for any abnormalities. You should always rule out the physical causes before looking at other options. If you don't, you could end up completely mistreating the situation or it could get worse.

Assuming everything comes back clean, then you can have the discussion with your vet about alternatives. Some things might need to be a adjustment in your household. For example, my boy gets easily startled and doesn't always notice people entering his space. My household has taken to saying hi to him when we enter a space he is in which has greatly decreased his jumpiness. Other things might need permanent or temporary medical intervention but that's a discussion to have with your vet once you've ruled out medical possibilities.

 

[jeffa]

Thanks for the reply. He's had a full check over when he was under vet treatment in April. He had a full blood panel done and all came back good, thankfully.

It seems to be the one cat that his aggression is towards. Who is probably the most timid out of all the cats we have.

I will have a chat with the vet again to see what they can suggest.

 

[FeebysOwner]

It seems to be the one cat that his aggression is towards. Who is probably the most timid out of all the cats we have.

On the flip side about health, some cats will be aggressive with another one who is sick. Illnesses can change their scent without a human even being able to tell it. Just throwing it out there in case your timid one hasn't had a thorough check up. Lots of stuff to rule out, and this is just one of them!