Cats sometimes exhibit aggressive behavior toward people, their own kind, and other animals. Aggression most often occurs when protecting offspring, feeling fear, or hunting—these are elements of instinctive behavior without which animals would not survive.
For a cat, aggression can be a normal component of behavior, such as a mother cat protecting her kittens or a male cat threatening rivals and driving them from his territory. But the same aggressive behavior can also have a different underlying cause: a kitten biting a hand that's petting it, or a male cat unexpectedly unleashing its anger on visitors to its home.
Indeed, whether understandable or seemingly inexplicable, feline aggression is, from any perspective, a behavioral abnormality and creates problems for cat owners. While the most common behavioral abnormality in cats is the problem of relieving oneself in inappropriate places, aggression ranks second.
Aggression toward humans is less common than aggression toward other animals or other animals. Aggression toward veterinarians typically begins with fear, and the animal's behavior immediately signals this: the cat's body is pressed against the examination table, its ears are raised, its tail is actively moving, its teeth are bared, its pupils are dilated, and the cat hisses and growls menacingly. The posture may then become even more threatening: the fur stands on end, the tail is arched, and the cat lies on its side with all four paws extended defensively, baring its teeth. These postures are warning. They indicate that if the cat, in fear, cannot escape, it is prepared to attack. Therefore, an encounter with such a frightened cat is the most common cause of bites and scratches in humans.
A cat's fear can be caused by a person's scent, their movement pattern (for example, different from that of familiar family members), or different speech patterns compared to familiar humans. Cats also react to gender. If a cat was raised in a single woman's home, she may become frightened at the first sight of a man and act aggressively toward him. Children who have played cruelly with animals, such as squeezing them, pulling their tails or ears—or, in other words, bullying them—can also cause fear in cats.
Redirected aggression can be called destructive feline combat syndrome. A cat's aggression is triggered by other people, objects, or animals, and a stranger or family member is bitten or slashed with a claw, primarily out of fear. For example, if your cat sees another cat or dog outside through the window, and you decide to pet them at the same time, you may become the target of aggression intended for the animal outside. Aggression triggered by a cat's ill health also falls into this category.
Play aggression is the most common type of aggression. Normally, a cat's play behavior is similar to its hunting behavior: it stalks, jumps from different sides toward an opponent (a toy), pounces, and bites moving objects. The best strategy is to ignore the cat's advances.
Biting syndrome often manifests when a cat is held in a lap or arm and being petted. The cat may have been sitting quietly, cuddling, and purring, and then suddenly—one or a series of bites. It's likely that the cat, having received its due dose of affection, then becomes overexcited or feels trapped and goes on the attack, biting and scratching the hands that were just petting it.
Aggression can be the result of improper training or a difficult life. Having once emerged victorious in a “battle” with a child or dog, a cat may subsequently display warning aggression. Retraining an aggressive cat usually requires a lot of time and persistence, but it is entirely possible.
