Tag Archives: cat aggression

Listen to the audio version of this article It looks innocent enough. It’s a little plastic squirt bottle sitting on the kitchen counter. In that plastic bottle is plain tap water. That little plastic bottle, as innocent as it looks, has become the tool that is destroying the bond you share with your cat. The ...

  Does your cat dive under the bed whenever the doorbell rings? Or maybe your cat stands her ground and hisses whenever company comes to visit? Maybe you even have a cat who offers a pre-emptive strike and attempts to immediately sink a few teeth into the flesh of anyone who dares enter your home. ...

Being protective of resources is a natural instinct for all animals but it can become an issue when it creates stress, triggers aggression, and impacts the relationship of the companion animals in your home. Resource guarding can be triggered by a concern for the availability of food, favorite resting areas, toys, the litter box, and ...

  Surprisingly, you may be sending a mixed message to your cat when attempting to train or correct behavior issues. We’ve all done it at some point – we’ve unintentionally rewarded the cat for the very behavior we didn’t want displayed. How does this happen? It’s an easy and common mistake. Communication Confusion and Your ...

    So many people claim to be cat whisperers and have the special talent that enables them to figure out an animal’s mind. True professionals in this field though, make their living based on a sound knowledge of the science of animal behavior. The problem is that in this unregulated field anyone can claim ...

  Listen to the audio version of this article With a dog, a popular position for petting is often the belly rub. To most dogs, nothing feels as enjoyable as when you endlessly scratch and rub that tender tummy. Try that with a cat, however, and you’ll most likely end up with a scratched hand. Why ...

This common type of aggression is the result of a cat becoming aroused or agitated by something he can’t get to and then lashing out at the nearest human, cat, or dog within reach. Redirected aggression is sometimes misdiagnosed as idiopathic aggression because the cat can stay aroused for quite a while, and by the ...

What is Psychogenic Alopecia? This is a condition where the cat engages in excessive grooming that becomes an obsessive behavior. This goes beyond the normal fastidious grooming that a cat would exhibit. Initially, psychogenic alopecia begins as a displacement behavior that the cat engages in to relieve stress. The over-grooming becomes something the cat can’t ...

  Listen to the audio version of this article When you have a multicat household, everyone may get along famously or you may have some issues ranging from mild, occasional squabbles, to full-time turf wars. Since cats are territorial, you can help ease much of the multicat stress by making sure there are adequate resources ...

My office receives a large number of requests concerning cat behavior problems and it’s alarming to me whenever I hear people refer to their cats as spiteful, or they’re sure a beloved cat’s motivation behind a particular behavior is anger or revenge. Really? Do you believe your cat is capable of plotting a behavior as ...