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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Cat suddenly attacking me while pregnant

8 replies

moonmaker93 · 04/01/2025 18:40

Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience or has any pearls of wisdom to share.

My neutered female moggie (18months) who we’ve had since she was a kitten has all of a sudden started attacking me, entirely randomly, and acting more aggressive. This is just with me, not my husband.

I’m currently 18 weeks pregnant with a boy. She has been acting this way since I was approx. 7 weeks.

Although she adores my husband too, I have always been “her human”. She prefers women and she knows full well how much I adore her, so she has always followed me around EVERYWHERE like a shadow and we’ve had a lovely little bond.

But now she’s like an entirely different cat, and the only thing that seems to have changed is me being pregnant! She stalks me, pounces on me, bites me… this is all while I’m just going about my everyday tasks; nothing out of the ordinary.

The other day she pounced at me while I was walking up the stairs, which is obviously very dangerous. When I go the loo of a night (all the more these days!) she attacks my legs with some force on the way back to bed, and while I’m sleeping she hits me hard over the head - with claws out! She recently jumped up at me from the ground and clung onto my back with her claws, which caused me to contort in a way that is unhealthy in my current condition.

It’s putting a lot of stress on me, as I’m naturally protective of my growing baby, and I’m worried for her too. I adore this little cat, but it’s really getting me down.

For additional context: I play with her multiple times during the day, we feed her a healthy diet, she has health insurance plus regular vaccinations and flea/worm treatments, and is generally well looked after.

We pay her lots of attention and very much treat her as an integral part of the family (just her, my husband and I right now!), and 0 signs of a health issue. Her most recent vet check up was just before Christmas and all was well. She is an indoor cat.

Any thoughts/advice?

OP posts:
TomatoSandwiches · 04/01/2025 18:43

She can probably smell the difference in hormones rushing through your body and it's unsettling her.
I would put her in the kitchen or utility with a litter tray and food/water overnight so she can't trip you up during night bathroom breaks.

moonmaker93 · 04/01/2025 18:49

TomatoSandwiches · 04/01/2025 18:43

She can probably smell the difference in hormones rushing through your body and it's unsettling her.
I would put her in the kitchen or utility with a litter tray and food/water overnight so she can't trip you up during night bathroom breaks.

Thank you! Rather annoyingly, the setup of our kitchen/utility area (won't bore you with the deats) means we don't have a door and wouldn't be able to have one fitted. She generally gets the run of the house in the night, what with her being indoor as it is. That said, last night we did get so fed up with her smacking me awake that my husband locked her out of our bedroom. She cried and scratched all night. Might need to consider doing that every night now, though it still won't help the dreaded bathroom trips or any of that daytime behavior. I have no idea how to settle her. Xmas Sad

OP posts:
brummumma · 04/01/2025 19:15

Is it claws out deliberate attacking or is she playing do you think?

Pregnancy sent one of my male neutered cats into complete meltdown and overnight he turned into a sex pest - literally wouldn't stop humping me the minute I walked into a room or sat down or stood still - when I came home after the birth he was back to normal!

My next pregnancy was twins and It was like he was on some kind of kitty viagra 😅

moonmaker93 · 04/01/2025 19:29

brummumma · 04/01/2025 19:15

Is it claws out deliberate attacking or is she playing do you think?

Pregnancy sent one of my male neutered cats into complete meltdown and overnight he turned into a sex pest - literally wouldn't stop humping me the minute I walked into a room or sat down or stood still - when I came home after the birth he was back to normal!

My next pregnancy was twins and It was like he was on some kind of kitty viagra 😅

Hahaa! Oh my goodness.Blush With mine I do think it's aggression quite honestly. I'm absolutely convinced that it's because I've got boy hormones floating about, as, apart from DH, she's not exactly a man fan (born/reared in a female-only home with her mummy cat who she was OBSESSED with). She's the exact reason I was adamant I was carrying a boy before it was confirmed - simply because of her behaviour. No idea at all what to do with her... wits' end!

OP posts:
brummumma · 04/01/2025 19:55

Would you say she is "top cat" - thinks she's top of the pride in the house so to speak? Could be that she doesn't like a "lower" female In the pecking order (you!) being pregnant? Harking back to their wild ancestry

(No idea what about evolution that turns my cat into a horny bastard though - first time it happened I didn't know I was pregnant and took him to the vets convinced his neutering had reversed itself!) vet found it hilarious and told me take a pregnancy test - was on waiting list for IVF so didn't expect it to be a positive at all 😹 )

If I shook him off he'd do this really pissed off growl whine

moonmaker93 · 04/01/2025 20:15

@brummumma to be fair, there's a chance! She does often sleep above my head on my pillow, which I've read is her thinking she's all that ha, but I've no idea how to get her out of that mindset. I fuss her and treat her very very well, but I don't let her get away with murder. If she's naughty she gets put out of rooms straight away in a "time out" situation. Not sure what else I could do. I don't want to actually punish her as such. It's interesting that the vet told you to take a test! How funny Grin shows pregnancy does certainly have an impact on them!

OP posts:
Careerburnout · 04/01/2025 20:17

That sounds really difficult OP!
Have you tried a Feliway plug in? That helped settle mine

moonmaker93 · 04/01/2025 20:21

Careerburnout · 04/01/2025 20:17

That sounds really difficult OP!
Have you tried a Feliway plug in? That helped settle mine

Ah, that's a great idea! I've not used them before, but will definitely look into them. Thank you. Bear Did you have a similar issue?

OP posts:
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