Cat Behavior 101: Lesson 3: Handling Cat Aggression

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Cat Behavior 101 Lesson 3: Handling Cat Aggression From Franny Syufy, your Guide to Cats Perhaps "Handling" is a misnomer. Nothing is more dangerous than getting between two cats in the blind heat of combat. Strangely enough, many seemingly innocuous events can trigger cat fights, even a routine visit to the vet. Curbing Cat-to-Cat Aggression How to Stop a Cat Fight From Amy Shojai: "Stopping cat aggression sounds impossible but is easy to do. Nothing sounds quite so intimidating as the screeching of cats as they hurl kitty-curses and rev up for battle. Savvy owners know to keep their distance or risk being bitten by the big-mean-stray who's terrorizing Fluffy-kins. More likely, if you intervene incorrectly, you'll be attacked by Fluffy-kins herself when she redirects aggression toward you." Now that you know what not to do, learn the things you can safely do to stop cat fights. Ask Amy: Help With an Aggressive Cat Em and Tom are having problems with Tigl, their two-year-old cat. Tigl is very friendly with his humans and generally gets along well with the other cats. However (usually after being petted), he randomly attacks other cats in the home. From Amy: "We humans often get in the way of animals sorting out their own business--with the best of intentions, you're trying to make sure the cats "play nice." But that's not necessarily what's normal or right in all situations. Kitties do not practice democracy. I suspect you'll be surprised by my recommendation, but please take it into consideration." Amy's recommendations make a lot of sense, once you've read her reply. Six Tips to Avoid Redirected Aggression Many readers are familiar with the concept of redirected aggression. Amy writes: "Redirected aggression happens when your cat can't properly respond to a physical or verbal correction, or is thwarted in a desire. In other words, kitty can't reach the teasing squirrel outside the window, and instead clobbers his brother-cat who happens to wander by at the wrong time. It's no different than being picked on by your boss at work (and you can't talk back!) so you take it out on your spouse when you come home." Amy takes cat behavior training to a whole new level with her solid advise on avoiding redirected cat aggression. Cat Aggression: Cat Fight After Vet Visit From Amy: "A common scenario occurs when one cat from the household leaves home to go to the groomer or veterinarian. When the cat returns home, former kitty friends either snub or outright attack the treated feline. It almost appears that the cats don't recognize each other." "Actually, they don't." Read Amy's 6 Tips to Stop Aggression After Vet Visit. Cat Aggression: Fear Aggression Strangely enough, Amy Shojai says, "Fear aggression is the most common type of feline aggression. A percentage of cats simply inherit the 'shy gene' and aggress every time they become frightened. Poor socialization also results in fear aggression, and punishment makes it worse." Learn much more about the various causes and ways to soothe of fear aggression in cats. 7 Ways to Stop Play Aggression Amy Shojai writes: "Over-the-top play is normal and hand raised kittens and those weaned early seem to have increased risk even as adults. They'll terrorize shy cats, bully smaller kittens, and pester geriatric felines as well as targeting owners. Youngsters usually outgrow the behavior by nine months or so, and confident adult cats usually put these obnoxious felines in their place." Learn Amy's 7 Ways to Stop Play Aggression Cat Aggression: Cat Fight From Amy: "A cat fight, more technically termed inter-cat aggression, frustrates owners and can cause cats to lose their home. Most inter-cat aggression involves intact same-gender cats, and gets worse during mating season. That's why spaying or neutering before a year old decreases or prevents about 90 percent of inter-cat aggression. But any two cats can decide they hate each other. After all, you don't automatically love every human you meet. Why expect cats to be any different?" Read Amy's Ten Tips and learn the trick to stopping inter-cat aggression. This email is written by: Franny Syufy Cats Guide Email Me | My Blog | My Forum   Missing a lesson? Click here. About U. is our collection of free online courses designed to help you learn a new skill, solve a problem, get something done, or just learn more about your world. Sign up now, and we will email you lessons on a daily or weekly basis. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the About.com 'Cat Behavior 101' email. If you wish to unsubscribe, please click here. About respects your privacy: Our Privacy Policy Contact Information: 249 West 17th Street New York, NY, 10011 © 2010 About.com   Advertisement