AGGRESSION IN CATS

There are many different forms off aggression. The type of aggression must be diagnosed before an appropriate treatment can be implemented.

Different types of aggression include:

Fear, Territorial, Maternal, Play, Redirected, Petting-induced, Pain-induced, Social, Medical, Predatory and Learned.

Because cats are more difficult to train directly, different approaches to those used for dogs are required to redirect cat's aggressive behaviour. It is also important that we don't endanger ourselves in trying to implement this.

Specific approaches are required to counteract each type of disorder, and it is beyond the scope of this site to provide information on all problems. Individual information handouts are available on each disorder from our hospital and are free. Please feel free to request one of these. We would recommend, if you are having problems with your cat, you visit us so we can determine if a medical problem is responsible, and also talk to you about the type of aggression you are experiencing. We can then implement a training program for you to use, and also determine if medications will be helpful.

An example of treatable aggression is petting-induced aggression, which is an intolerance to being handled and patted. It is often difficult to understand why, when many cats will often seek attention initially. At some point they decide they have had enough, and will, often without warning, bite or scratch to be released. With this type of aggression, our aim is to become dominant over the cat, and to reduce the number of times this aggression is stimulated. This involves making sure that each handling is gentle and doesn't, by itself, induce aggression. At the same time make sure that it is you that initiates and terminates each time of petting. For example, initially start petting then stop and put the cat down after a relatively short time, say 1 minute. If no aggression or tension has arisen, give the cat a treat. This time of petting can be gradually increased. If at any stage aggression or tension is met, no attention or reward is given.

With aggressive cats we recommend a behavioural consultation. We will try to determine the underlying problem to the disorder and recommend the appropriate treatment.

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