Cats can be or become aggressive for many reasons. Although you may understand the reason for your cat’s aggression, you still want it to stop. There are several types of cat aggression including: play aggression, defensive aggression and territorial aggression. Although cat bites are not as initially dangerous as dog bites, the results can impact your health because cats’ saliva, as well as cat’s claws, can contain harmful bacteria.

The most common aggressive behavior is play aggression. The behavior often occurs because of the owner’s actions such as: wrestling around with a playful kitten, using your fingers or feet as toys, or rolling the cat around as it bites and claws at them. Although the cat may enjoy this play time, the lessons being learned about play are not good ones. It is more difficult to stop a cat who has been allows to engage in play aggression than it is not to start it or accept in the beginning.

Another type of aggressive behavior is called redirected aggression. This happens when a cat is disturbed by another cat or even an outside event. Since he cannot or does not act aggressively toward the offending party, his aggression may be turned on to you. If you know what stimulated your cat, then your best option for dealing with redirected aggression is to move the cat, close the blinds, or remove the offending party.

The third type of cat aggression deals with protecting territory or status. This kind of aggression may be directed toward another cat, a child, or even you - his loving provider. A cat practicing territorial aggression will make different sounds that play aggression. He may hiss or growl. He will advance on the target of his aggression and may arch his back and fluff his tail. Status or territorial aggression may need to be dealt with by a cat behaviorist who will work with you to assess the trigger conditions and modify the cat’s response.

If you cat is aggressive, in addition to changing the environment and retraining, your vet can prescribe amitriptylline, a prescription medication used to calm aggressive cats. Two other anti-anxiety medications approved for cats are buspirone and valium. These medications may calm aggressive urges.

Posted by Barbara.