Expert: Dear Tabbi - 5/25/2008

Question
i have a kitten that bites and scratches and hurts his sister and friends. i was wondering if this is kitten behavior or he is just being mean. i also have a cat that attacks my other cats and doesn't stop no matter what. im have been working with them but it doesn't work.

Answer
Kasadee (I like your spelling!),

Getting the kitten fixed may help some of his behavior. He may have been weaned too early. When a kitten is weaned too early it doesn't get a chance to learn about acceptable behaviors from it's mom. A mother cat will correct a kitten if it uses sharp claws or bites too hard. A kitten that didn't get that learning opportunity doesn't know how to act or react in the proper manner. But also what looks meanness and roughness to us is not to cats, it's normal play. You should only be concerned if there is blood being drawn or if the other kittens run and hide...but don't come back out for more.

When the kitten get worked up and is being mean, try to distract him with a toy. Pull a string or get a pet laser light. Try to get him to burn off some energy other ways.

You don't say if the aggressive cat is neutered or not. If not then that could have something to do with his behavior. And you don't say whether your cats are indoor cats or not. If they are then the cat that attacks other cats may have what is called Redirected Aggression. That happens when a cat sees a strange cat outside and  becomes territorial, but can't get to the strange cat to defend his territory. The cat then turns on the closest animal member of the family and fights with them as if they were the other cat. They have been known to attack people if no other animals are in the house. You may not see the animal that the cat sees.

The first thing you need to do is block the window past the cat's eye level of the window he can see another cat out of (out of sight, out of mind). If it is allowed to go on your cat may develop a permanent personality change. Also put the cat in a room by itself for at least 4 hours to calm down when he behaves like that.

There is a very popular cat calming spray and plug-in you can use called Feliway. It is available at pet stores or on-line. It copies relaxing pheromones that cats produce from rubbing their faces on things.

There is also a calming product that you can add to the cat's food or water that reduces anxiety called Bach's Rescue Remedy. It is available on-line and in health food stores. Here is a link about it: (copy and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar)
http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm

If your cat is still being very aggressive the vet can put him on "kitty Prozac" for a short term (usually 2 weeks) until he calms down. You may want to speak to the vet about it.

I am including links to 2 good articles on Redirected Aggression that may be helpful to you:

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/aggression3.html

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=redirectedagr...

Pain also causes aggression. Make sure it's not a medical issue causing the behavior.

As a last resort you may have to re-home the aggressive cat to have harmony. It's not fair to the other cats to be stressed all the time from a mean cat.

Tabbi