Do You Have An Aggressive Cat– What Causes It?
There are two types of violent behaviors that a cat can show, an aggressive cat can be aggressive towards other cats and they can aggressive towards people. An aggressive cat can bite and scratch but this can easily be handled when you know what is causing the problem. There are several causes of aggressive behavior between cats.
Territorial Aggression – No Trespassing!
Cats are very territorial and territorial aggression is very common among cats, they do not like to have strange people in areas that they feel is theirs. This is very common in a household where an older cat is expected to welcome the intrusion of a new cat or kitten. It also happens outside, when a neighbor cat dares to trespass into your cat’s yard. The behavior of an aggressive cat is that they will chase and ambushing another cat, and a lot of hissing and swatting if there is contact between the two.
Inter-male Aggression – Who’ The Boss
Inter-male Aggression occurs because of the hierarchy that is natural amid animals. It can be part of a sexual challenge for a female or to raise one’s status in the cat hierarchy. While neutered males are less apt to fight this way, they, too, can have inter-male aggression, particularly if neutered later in life. The behavior seen with this type of aggressive cat is body posturing, staring, howling, yowling, and stalking each other. They two can fight, trying to bite each other’s neck or scratch their underbelly. It can all of a sudden stop – the two will separate and move away a bit – and then happen again right away – or they will just walk away.
Defensive Aggression – Don’t Hurt Me (Or Even Look Like You Will) Or I’ll Hurt You
Defensive Aggression is typical of a situation where the cat is trying to protect itself. For example, if you’ve ever tried to catch a feral cat, once it feels trapped it will attack in self-defense. The behavior seen with defensive cat prior to an attack has the cat crouching with the legs under the body, tail tucked in, and ears pulled back. If the danger will not go away, the cat will more often than not attack with nails and teeth.
I’m Angry At Him, So I’ll Hit You Instead – Redirected Aggression
An aggressive cat can also have redirected aggression this is where it is directed to an animal different than the one that provoked it. A typical type would be a cat who sees another cat out the front window. It can’t get out there and protect its turf, though it wants to, so instead it attacks the other family cat sitting next to it – which hasn’t done anything to warrant the attack.