Aggression in cats - how to help an aggressive cat

Is your cat being aggressive? Are you left wondering why is my cat being aggressive all of a sudden? There are a range of different reasons why your feline friend may be acting out including; fear-related aggression, pain-related aggression, redirected aggression, cuddle or pet-related aggression or maternal aggression.

Here our cat behavourist, Anna Jönsson Bergstedt, walks us through each different aggressive behaviour, what is means, what is looks like and how we can help our cats going forward.

Fear-related aggression in cats

A reaction from your cat that you perceive as aggressive could in fact be evoked by fear and used as a defense.

What can cause a fear-aggressive cat?

It is individual what cats are afraid of, but when the reaction is directed at people, it is usually about the cat perceiving us or something that we do as threatening. If it's your own cat, you probably don't mean to scare it, but you might happen to surprise it or do something unconsciously that the cat reacts to.

The most common is that this occurs if the cat has not been properly socialized and has not previously had good experiences with what it encounters. If it has experienced a previous trauma, is not used to people or that you accidentally startle it because we do something sudden that surprises it.

How does a cat react if they have fear-related aggression?

• Most take refuge
• They can curl up and become immobile
• They can attack whoever or whatever threatens them

Fear-related aggression does not mean that the cat is angry, but is merely a counter-reaction to a perceived threat.

Pain-related aggression in cats

Cats in pain may react with aggression or react proactively when they expect something to hurt. 

What can cause pain-related aggression?

Many older cats often have chronic joint pain and stiffness, which makes them less tolerant of handling. Grooming can also be painful and unpleasant, especially if your cat has mated fur. Cats can then bite, tear and fight back because it hurts.

Your cat may also have injured itself acutely without you noticing and therefore does not want you to touch it.

How can you help a cat in pain?

When a cat behaves differently, it is important to find the cause as soon as possible and try to help the cat. If the cat suffers from temporary pain caused by, for example, a tangle, we can help it by removing the tangle and preventing new tangles from forming.

If we find a wound, the cat may need to come to the vet for care of the wound.

Should the cat suffer from chronic pain, it needs to be examined by a veterinarian to get help with the underlying problem and possible treatment.

Don't forget, cats are experts at hiding pain

Cats are very good at hiding pain, so it is not always obvious that this is the reason for the cat's behaviour. If your cat is behaving differently or strangely, it is always good to have it examined by a veterinarian to rule out pain and/or illness.

Signs of pain in cats

As cats don't often like to show signs of weakness, it's a good idea to can keep an eye out for different behaviours and changes in your cat instead such as:

• Decreased mobility - For example, reluctance to jump, difficulty climbing stairs, stiffness and difficulty walking on the litter box
• Reduced activity - For example, sleeping more, hunting and playing less, sleeping in more accessible places and interacting less with people and other animals.
• Changed care of fur and claws - For example, washing less, having matted and tufted fur or overgrown claws and the cat over-washing painful areas.
• Temperament changes - For example, grumpier when handled and cuddled, grumpier towards other animals, being more to themself and interacting less with others.

Redirected aggression in cats

When a usually timid and friendly cat turns on its owner, and bites and claws, you naturally get upset, scared, sad and have difficulty understanding what has gone wrong with your beloved cat.

But it does not mean that the cat is aggressive or wants you to do something bad. Most of the time, it's not even you who did what the cat reacted to in the first place. You just happen to be close at hand. So, why does this happen?

Is my cat being aggressive towards me on purpose?

It is not that the cat is deliberately holding the owner responsible for the needle and the pain or taking revenge for having to go to the vet. Instead, the cat redirects its feelings of fear, stress, pain and threat towards the owner, because it cannot access what caused the feeling in the first place (the trip, the unfamiliar environment, the vet and the injection). This type of reaction is common and is called redirected aggression.

The negative feeling and the cat's way of wanting to deal with it can remain for a longer time, which is why it is advisable to let the cat go out of its cage by itself and gradually calm down when you get home from the vets for example.

It can also occur when a cat sees itself prevented from being able to defend itself and then in turn it reacts towards the nearest available object. It is not uncommon for it to be the owner or another cat in the home who then gets beaten. If the negative feeling or threat that the cat needs to deal with has had time to build up, the attack becomes all the more intense.

Redirected aggression can feel unprovoked and difficult to understand. However, you must remember that your cat does not mean it. Aggression can of course damage your relationship if this happens often, regardless of whether the cat means it or not. Therefore, it is important, for the sake of both, to try to find out the reason so that it does not happen.

How can I help my cat with redirected aggression?

Cuddle-related aggression in cats

How much cuddling a cat wants and tolerates is very individual and it is important that we respect the cat's wishes. 

Why does my cat bite me when we cuddle?

A cat can sometimes unexpectedly attack and bite its owner when the owner is merely petting their cat. This unprovoked reaction is what we call 'cuddle-related aggression'.

Most often a cat reacts this way when it does not want to be disturbed or petted. It could be that the owner simply didn't pick up on these signals, and therefore the cat is giving them a good telling off.

Another explanation for the cat biting could be that the cat did not have enough human contact during the cat's most important socialisation period. The reason may therefore lie in the cat's past and its early experiences with people.

The socialisation period for a cat

The socialisation period for a cat falls between the second and the eighth week of life. If the cat's contact with human and being handled and 'cuddled' has been little or no contact at all, the cat may react to intense owner contact later in life.

Previous experiences influence

Cats during their socialisation period which have been handled in a good way and have had close contact with people, often have a higher level of tolerance and show this behaviour less often.

While other cats that have had less human contact more often react aggressively just a few minutes after being petted.

In sudden attacks like this, the cat may have a direct association with a previous unpleasant experience, is not used to the current level of cuddling, or has had enough.

Petting hand - pleasurable and menacing at the same time

A petting hand can be experienced by a cat as both pleasurable and threatening at the same time. If you, as a cat owner, pet your cat a little tiredly while you are perhaps watching TV or reading a book, it is easy to miss the cat's subtle signals that it has had enough.

Cats may be comfortable with being petted on some parts of the body but not others and may react negatively to this. Most cats like to be petted on the cheeks and around the head, but there are very few who instinctively like to be petted on the stomach, for example.

Try to be calm

A cat that reacts to cuddling usually grabs the arm and may kick, bite and scratch. In response to this, it is not unusual for the owner to shout and withdraw his hand. This can trigger the cat's hunting instinct and cause the cat to attack again. The best thing you can do in such a situation is to stay calm and be still, even if it is difficult.

When the cat stops, you can calmly remove your hand. It is not uncommon for the cat to continue to feel frustrated and, for example, engage in rash actions such as suddenly starting to wash themselves.

Get to know your cat's tolerance level

Different cats have different tolerance levels for tickling. It is therefore very important to learn what exactly your cat likes and how long it wants to be petted in order to be able to stop in time. This tolerance level can be gradually stretched and increased by listening to the cat and showing it understanding and respecting what it wants.

Most often, this leads to the cat eventually wanting to cuddle more because the cat associates this with something positive. It is also possible to teach your cat to associate cuddling with reward by, for example, rewarding with food or treat while you pet them.

Maternal aggression in cats

If your cat has just had a litter of kittens don't be surprised if she acts a little more protective than usual. Maternal aggression is a defensive behaviour we shouldn't take personally.

Why does a mother cat become aggressive?

Maternal aggression is triggered during pregnancy, pseudopregnancy or while the mother is nursing her kittens. It is a defensive behavior to protect future or existing kittens.

If the mother cat experiences a threat to her or the kittens' life or the security of the territory, she may feel compelled to attack to defend this.

Is maternal aggression common?

Maternal aggression is common in fertile cats, whereas cats which has been neutered are less likely to show maternal aggression.

It is also more common in cats that have not been properly socialised or if they have previously had bad experiences with people, such as cat shelter cats, cats of unknown background, cats born in cat colonies, etc.

How can help a mother cat with maternal aggression?

In order for the mother cat to feel safe, you need to create a safe space or allow her to nurse her kittens somewhere she feels most comfortable. This will ensure that she can escape the thing that triggers the fear that makes her feel that she needs to defend herself.

When she no longer has any kittens, it may be time to neuter her. 

If you have a fearful, aggressive cat before breeding know that the fears can also be passed on to her kittens. Therefore, she may not be the most suitable mother.

FAQs about aggression in cats