My cats behavior...

[sweetz]

Hi Everyone...

So here's a little background on my cat Sadie. She's always been aggressive, especially towards my 9 year old son. I've had her since she was a kitten. She is now almost 5 and still to this day hates my son. My son has NEVER been left alone with her because of her aggressiveness. With my boyfriend and I she is fine, great actually, but the second my son comes in the house she hisses, runs and hides, unless of course she was in heat and thats when she would cuddle with him. Well, we got her and her daughter fixed this past wednesday and now she is a complete love with my boyfriend and I, like she's CONSTANTLY on my lap, never more then a foot from me and sleeps on my chest ALL night. I know that fixing her might have helped with the aggressiveness, but I didn't think it would be that quick. Now here's the behavior that worries me to the extreme, she's been laying with me purring all morning and my son came out of his room to see me, he slowly put his hand so she could smell him and she did and rubbed his hand a little, when he started to pull his hand away she hissed at him and swatted at him but didn't budge from my lap. Then not even 5 minutes ago, my son came into the living room and went to sit on the chair about 5 feet from the couch I am on and she started hissing at him, jumped off my lap and charged at him and until I hopped up off the couch didn't stop. My son is terrified right now of her. I spoke sternly to her, told her no (yes, I know she's a cat but this is how we've dealt with minor issues and it seemed to work in the past). Now she's trying to get back onto my lap and purring. I haven't let her back on my lap and again told her no that she was being bad, I can't let her on my lap because that would be like rewarding her for the behavior that I don't like. She is taking anti-biotics because of the spaying, but other than that she is okay, no health problems, nothing. Is there anyway to curb this behavior, I've never seen her do this to him before, the closest thing she's ever done was scratching him on the head because he was in my bed, other then that never had an issue, he avoids her like the plaque unless she's in heat. Thanks for your help!

 

[helpmycatnash]

Some cats are like this, especially females. For an aggressive female cat, it is not un common that she would take to a particular person and be aggressive with others. Did your son do anything to traumatize her when she was young? It could be the slightest thing. Even if he didn't, like I said some females are just like this. It is in their nature. My aunt's female cat is exactly like this to the point where I actually think she enjoys being aggressive toward me. While I understand you do not want to "reward" her for behavior you don't like, she may begin to associate your not wanting her in your lap with your son, which will make her aggression worse. Think of it in the cat's mind. Especially with an aggressive female, she owns you, not the reverse. Try getting her to associate your son with things she likes like treats. Try letting your son calmly, and with out petting or teasing her, feed her a treat. It will help tame some of her aggression. Also, this will take time and practice.

Hope this helps!

 

[sweetz]

She is very attached to me and my boyfriend right now, but she's also being more friendly toward our guests too. She has always been an anti-social cat, not wanting to be pet, held or around anyone but my boyfriend or I. But she's now coming out anytime the door opens to see who is here. My friend was shocked that she came up to him and begged for him to pet her, since you never saw her when anyone was around, hence my boyfriend nicknaming her "Satan", lol. I can't remember my son ever doing anything that would have traumitized her, he really never bothered with her, until he realized how sweet she was when she was in heat. I did bring my son into the kitchen with me while she was in there, we sat next to each other and I called her over to me so that he would know she wasn't going to hurt him. He put his hand up, she smelled his hand and then walked back over to me to be pet and I praised her for that. I think doing this a little more will definitely help. One other question I have is she has always been aggressive toward her daughter Chunker, I know it's because they were both unfixed females and Sadie was definitely the dominant female, now that they're fixed, she's starting to act more and more like a "caring momma" to her baby (if Chunker "talks" Sadie runs to her to make sure she's okay, she's trying to clean Chunk etc etc), however Chunker is scared, and often runs from her, is this happening because Sadie is now fixed? I love the peace and calm in the house now, it's like "marital bliss" right now and I hope this is not temporary!

 

[yayi]

Originally Posted by SweetZ

One other question I have is she has always been aggressive toward her daughter Chunker, I know it's because they were both unfixed females and Sadie was definitely the dominant female, now that they're fixed, she's starting to act more and more like a "caring momma" to her baby (if Chunker "talks" Sadie runs to her to make sure she's okay, she's trying to clean Chunk etc etc), however Chunker is scared, and often runs from her, is this happening because Sadie is now fixed?

No. Chunker is just being "respectful". A cat who has been constantly picked on by the alpha will shy away even when the alpha is being friendly.

Perhaps that is the same way in the relation between Sadie and your son.

 

[sweetz]

I never thought about it like that, that really could be. When I mentioned her weird behavior to my mom, she mentioned that maybe it's Sadie being protective of me and that's a possiblity. Out of the blue, she was laying on my lap and Gizmo (another one of my cats) walked into the living room and she charged at him until I said "Uh uh" then she stopped and walked back to me. Earlier, she heard the garbage truck while sleeping on my stomach and started charging at my sliding door ready to pounce on it. It's just really strange.