Feline aggression, taming alpha cats
Years ago, I had been out on my morning’s large animal calls and pulled in to the parking bay behind the clinic and there was Nigel, white as a ghost with blood dripping from his elbows.
He could hardly speak he was so shocked and just a little bit angry.
Nigel, the small animal vet, had asked a vet student to hold a cat for him while he examined it.
Little did he know that this particular cat was a Class A psychopath and the student quickly released his hold while retreating to a safe distance, leaving Nigel to try to return the cat to its cage.
In the process, it managed to rake and chew its way up the full length of both Nigel’s forearms.
We forget that cats, like any mammal, have individual personalities, and the vast majority are awesome little furballs, but some situations can change that.
Aggression in cats is classified in to several broad types and some are easily recognised:
Non-recognition aggression – where have you been? You smell different. Maternal aggression (save the kids); play aggression (siblings); petting aggression (tricked you); fear induced (crikey); territorial (beer goggles on against other suitors); or just plain nasty. We’ll just deal with a couple of these.
Non–recognition aggression is where one cat returns from the cattery or the vet hospital and, look out, the other cat at home wants to destroy him or her because of the strange smells on them.
They will be back to being friends again within a day or two. You may recognise this next scenario.
You have a cute kitten (aren’t they all), but at about 12 weeks of age a darker side emerges.
The cute ball of fun has become a Jekyll and Hyde.
Your hands and arms are covered with scratches and bites and you are thinking of giving the kitten away.
This type of aggression is called play aggression and is almost always a developmental stage and should disappear by one year of age or much earlier, hopefully.
Kittens practise predatory skills such as crouching, creeping, then springing and pursuing the prey (or ankle).
Then they move on to wrestling and clutching and raking with their back feet (sometimes all on your legs or arms).
This is usually a passing phase but, unfortunately, in some cats can progress to petting aggression and the alpha-cat syndrome.
You are parked up in your chair peacefully petting your kitten or cat when the monster surfaces.
The tail starts swishing from side to side, they look sideways at you and then they suddenly bite you on the hand or grab at you with their front legs and rake you with their back claws. Sound familiar? What to do:
1) Do not allow him on to your lap unless you are in control. Begin with very short stroking periods and then place him back on the floor and stand up. Then give him a small treat such as a short play session with a toy or a small amount of food. Try to recognise the warning signs and stop well before they appear.
2) Diversion: In kittens, having two will avoid a lot of problems of this type. Not three. Three is often where urine marking becomes an issue. Otherwise use a lot of play time with your cat or kitten, but with toys. Do not play wrestling or chasing games (same principal with puppies). Also use independent toys that they can play with alone such as ‘‘fishing pole toys’’ or ping pong balls or those cool new batteryoperated chasing boxes.
3) Show them who is boss. But in a non-confrontational way.
Make a list of situations to avoid. For example, if he attacks you from under the bed, keep him out of the bedroom – that’s pretty logical. Feed him at regular times and not any other time (very important). Try training him or her to do simple things. (Yes, this is possible). This could start with simply coming when called at meal times and food is then given, or petting when responding to a call.
Give us a call if you want to know more about training cats. Never respond to his or her demands, especially food – often easier said than done. If there is any aggression, put the cat alone in another room for time out. Remember, you are the boss and they live with you, not the other way around. Again, same principal as with puppies.
For those hard headed felines, there are also several great new medications that can improve unacceptable behaviour. One is even in a handy plug in diffuser that should mellow out any grumpy cat. Others include a nice Prozac equivalent to mellow out your furry fourlegged demon. Malcolm Anderson is a Manawatu¯ vet