I have a rescue cat, which we adopted in January. He's not had any tales of woe really, his original owner had to gave him up after she got married and moved away, he went to a foster carer for a month, and then we adopted him.
He's an indoor cat, and seemed to settle in quite quickly, although he's sometimes nervous. We have a four year old DD who adores him and he is pretty tolerant of her, although you can tell he doesn't relish her attention. From the start, he's clicked with me, he lies on the bed with me, follows me around and as his last owner was a woman he's obviously 'a girl's cat'.
The big problem is he can be very aggressive for what seems to me no reason. I can be stroking him quite nicely and he'll suddenly turn and grab me with all four feet and bite me hard, proper attack mode. He's done it to my DD a couple of times as well now, and we're due to have another baby next year so I'm keen to change this behaviour if I can. It's like having a violent partner who can suddenly turn, very upsetting when you think you have his trust.
When he does this, I tell him no and pay him no attention at all. I won't let him on the sofa (his favourire spot) for about half an hour either.
In short, he's still a stranger to us, even though we've spent a lot of time with him. I'm getting to the point where I want to give him back to the rescue centre. Any advice?
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Why is my cat so aggressive?
womma · 08/09/2013 22:52
I would say over-stimulation. You may think he's enjoying the attention - and he may well be for a time - but that can quickly turn to irritation and fisticuffs. Saying NO and ignoring/excluding him is the right thing to do in my experience but best to try and stop it happening in the first place.
So - restrict your stroking to the occasional firm strokes on his back if he seems to ask for it and best keep DD away from him for a time. (She may not be aggressive with him but her closeness and attention might be too much for him.)
It's likely only for a while. As you get to know him better, you'll be able to tell by body language (tail twitching/head angle/eyes etc) when he's calm and conversely when he deep down wants to be left alone.
I think that that should work, hopefully. Thinking about my own boys over the years, I've always let the cats make the running when it comes to physical contact. Lots of talking to them but anything else seems to work best if they decide when they want it.
Good luck - and let us know how you get on.
PS - has he got a toy (eg a small teddy or toy dog) that he can 'kill'/beat merry hell out of if he wants to? If not, might be a good idea to get him one or two of those.
I'm conscious that you're his third or fourth home so he might be a little thinner skinned than a cat that had been with you since birth but I think much of it is down to their personality. Treat him like an amiable housemate.
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