You need to understand the cause of your cat’s aggression and his motivation for it before you can help him. Who did he aggress toward? When and where did it happen? What was going on during the half-hour or so leading up to the incident? What was about to happen to your cat? Determining the answers to these questions can clarify the circumstances that trigger your cat’s aggressive reaction and provide insight into why he’s behaving this way. If your cat has been aggressive in the past or you suspect he could become aggressive, take time to evaluate the situations that got him upset. In this position, your cat might attempt to grab your hand and bring it to his mouth to bite it.Preparing for an all-out attack by rolling onto side or back and exposing all weapons: teeth and claws.Overt aggression, whether defensive or offensive, includes: Might deliver quick strikes with front paws, claws out.Turning sideways to the opponent, not straight on.In a fearful cat, whiskers might pan out and forward to assess distance between himself and the danger In an anxious cat, whiskers might be retracted.Ears flattened sideways or backward on the head.Eyes wide open with pupils partially or fully dilated.Tail curved around the body and tucked in.Directly facing opponent, possibly moving toward him.Piloerection (hackles up), including fur on the tail.Upright ears, with the backs rotated slightly forward.Tail is stiff and lowered or held straight down to the ground.Stiffened rear legs, with the rear end raised and the back sloped downward toward the head.A stiff, straight-legged upright stance.A rule of thumb is to not touch, attempt to reassure, or punish cats showing these postures! The following are typical postures seen in feline aggression. An offensively aggressive cat tries to make himself look bigger and more intimidating, whereas a defensively aggressive cat adopts a self-protective posture and tries to make himself look smaller. Threats and aggression can be either offensive or defensive. Knowing the basic postures and what they mean can help cat parents deal with problems more effectively and enjoy their cat’s company more fully because they can understand a common language. Cat body language is more subtle than dog body language and can be harder for people to interpret.

It also helps them respond more effectively to behavior issues like aggression.īody language is made up of cats’ body postures, facial expressions, and the position and carriage of certain body parts, like ears, tail and even whiskers. It enables them to more accurately “read” their cats and understand their feelings and motivations for doing what they do. Understanding what cats are communicating through their body language is essential for cat parents. In pet cats, aggressive behavior can range from cats who hiss and avoid the target of their aggression to cats who attack. Aggression refers to a wide variety of complex behaviors that occur for different reasons under various circumstances. Virtually all wild animals display aggression to guard their territories, defend their offspring and protect themselves if attacked. What Is Aggression?Īggression is threatening or harmful behavior directed toward a person, another cat or other animals. Aggressive cats can be risky to have at home and can pose a real danger to family and visitors. Fights between cats rarely result in fatalities, but they can lead to infections and result in considerable veterinary expenses for cat parents. They can also cause cat scratch fever, a usually benign but potentially serious infectious disease that causes flu-like symptoms. Cats can bite and inflict severe lacerations, which are painful and can easily become infected. They have five potential weapons (their teeth and all four clawed paws) compared to a dogs’ sole weapon of his or her mouth. Although cat aggression is sometimes taken less seriously than dog aggression-perhaps because cats are smaller and don’t pursue people to bite them-aggressive cats can be formidable. Aggression is the second most common feline behavior problem seen by animal behaviorists.

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