Directing Mating Aggression at Me?

[momogasuki]

I posted a thread a few days back, where I inquired about my cat's new fearful and aggressive behavior. He would rub up against me all sweet, but then all of a sudden, back off and start crying and growling with his ears flattened against his head, as if in preparation to attack.

A friend of mine suggested that maybe it's his mating instincts kicking in, despite the fact that he's neutered. She had a cat that had been spayed, but would go through a mock heat every mating season. Could Noki (11 mo. old male) be going through the same thing?

This has been going on for a week now, and today he actually pounced on my back, totally freaking me out. This happens to me only, whenever my husband isn't home. Is he singling me out because I'm female?? It's gotten to the point where I'm a little afraid of my cat whenever I'm home alone. Any suggestions to how I can handle this? I've been trying to keep a water bottle by my side ever since. A good shake seems to be enough to scare him off.

 

[lotsocats]

I seriously doubt that this has anything to do with mating behavior unless the spay was not complete. It seems to bne more of a dominance issue. Have you read the thread on stopping aggression toward people? If not, please read the thread (stickied at the top of the Behavior forum). Pay special attention to the section at the bottom about seriously aggressive cats.

What you might need to do (in addition to following the advice in that thread) is to start putting Noki into an Alpha roll. Whenever he shows any aggressive signals (ears back, stalking behavior, etc) immediately flip him onto his back with your hand pressed firmly onto his chest. Leave him in this position for only a moment. This shows him that you are in charge....you are the alpha cat...so he will likely stop his aggressive behavior.