cat being very agressive

roweeeeena

Just wondering if anyone has experience of dealing with a cat being aggressive, I've a 7 month old neutered male cat who I've had since he was 6 weeks old. He's become increasingly aggressive whereby a few times a week he would turn on me and very determinedly bite my arms and leap up to swipe my face. It's not that I'm annoying him or over stimulating him by petting etc. as it happens out of the blue when he's happily sitting beside me, or when he's walking past. It's not wanting to play because he is much more aggressive, determined and I can actually see the change in his eyes. I've tried telling him firmly no, tapping him on the nose, and putting him out of the room but it's not helping and it's difficult to do because he really hurts me in the process, and the more I challenge him while he's doing it, the more angry he becomes. He doesn't do it to anyone else in the house, but I'm also the person in the house that he is the most affectionate with and the most attached to. Any ideas?!..

Here's a photo of him when he's being much more angelic!

feylya

It sounds like he's bored. Is he an indoors only cat? Does he have many toys to play with?

roweeeeena

Yeah he has loads of toys but he's not as interested in them now that I let him outside. He likes being outside most of the day but he never goes far and comes back regularly to eat, sleep and see what's going on! I don't let him out at night, I keep him in from about 9 onwards so he's gotten used to going to sleep around then.

MsFifers

He's gorgeous! He looks just like my two, with the little white socks & everything! (Except they are now two huge monsters!)

Are you sure its not misdirected play energy? I'm minding a 7 month old kitten for a neighbour and she is quite bad mannered at times and will try to bite etc. They only thing to do is completely withdraw & ignore the cat. If you respond in any way - eg taps on the nose, shouting, picking them up - then you are kind of feeding the bad behaviour by rewarding them with attention.

It could be he is looking for a bit of craic and gives you a swipe to get a reaction.

i'd say he'll grow out of it.

Lauragoesmad

My cat, Jess used to do this all the time. She hasn't done it in ages. Maybe 6 months ago was the last time. She will be 4 in October though. so maybe she is copping on with age.:rolleyes: I always put her straight out the back when she did it, even if it was lashing rain.

The Sweeper

When he hurts you, squeal out. When you don't want him to do it again, be loud at him - let a shout. Sometimes, with an animal with a robust personality, making all of your gestures 'large', like in a mime, is the best way to go.

I've a seven month old neutered female and she's a thundering bitch when she wants to be, so I feel your pain - literally. I always let her know if she's hurt me, and I reckon she does it because she's the smallest of our cats, bar the kitten and even he's well on his way to outgrowing her. As a result, I think she stands the greatest chance of being hurt in rough and tumble, and subsequently she overreacts like a big prima donna if she's fluffed at all like picked up too quickly. She has no pain when touched or poked, so I know it isn't a pain thing - it's a personal space thing.

We're working on it, and consistency is the most important thing!

bunyip123

Ah he is gorgeous!!

It sounds like as the others said, misdirected play energy.

mine often did that sort of then when they were young, kind of grabbing you by the arm and 'digging in the heels' as if they had some prey - i used to let them do it though because i wasn't getting scratched or hurt (i used to call it 'kill the hand' and they loved it!)
But as you are getting hurt, i would agree, let a yelp or a screech to startle him and then walk away.

They grow out of it all fairly fast though i find.

roweeeeena

Thanks for the replies everyone Maybe it is misdirected play energy but he does play 'kill the hand' and although he gets very enthusiastic he's careful not to hurt me, he knows when he does and calms down. Though maybe when he's biting me he's just being hyper and a brat!!! I can't describe it properly though but it does seem like real raw anger and aggression instead of hyper play... I can definitely see a big difference.. Hopefully he'll grow out of it coz he's stuck with me now whether he likes it or not

Heroditas

roweeeeena wrote: »

I can't describe it properly though but it does seem like real raw anger and aggression instead of hyper play... I can definitely see a big difference.. Hopefully he'll grow out of it coz he's stuck with me now whether he likes it or not

Our two horrors do that every day too. They're also 7 months old and go slightly mental for half an hour every morning and evening. I know what you mean about the aggressiveness - the eyes are like saucers when the pupils are fully dilated. It's only because they're overly excited and full of beans.
I let them out into the garden for a while this evening and they were really peeved when I brought them back in (gradually introducing them to the big bad outside world) - they went mental for about an hour tearing around the house and either whacking each other or us!

No doubt we'll be woken up by them at 6 in the morning when they're playing Gladiators with the bedroom curtains. :rolleyes: