Expert: Kate Tilmouth - 4/2/2009

Question
Hello
I have a 4yr old black male cat that i raised from a baby I had to bottle feed him because when i found him he didnt have is eyes open my question is he scares and attack everybody by jumping on them if they come into the house
my vet says its because he never got the milk from his mom
but nobody will come to see me because of my cat
i love cats and i have had cats all my life but this one takes the cake
he even attack me sometimes when i'm not lookingi have spent alot of money on him so i dont want anything bad to happen i just want to be able to have family and friends to come over
any help you may have would be great
i thank he just spazz out when somebody come in and he goes into a attack mode
trust me if you came to my house you would say get that ceazy cat out of here
help

Answer
Hi
well at four years old he this issue should have been tackled earlier as it will now be much harder to change his behaviour.

basically he is not being aggressive because he nasty but either because he is afraid (aggression is often a sign of fear) or because he hasn't learnt that this behaviour is not good.

many of the social skills cats learn such as how to play nice etc is learnt from their mother and siblings during the first 7 weeks of their life, this is known as the sensitive period.

At this stage you will have to start to try and get him used to other people by asking friends and relatives to help you by coming over to the house and interacting with your cat. this is a big ask as it won't be easy but the more good experiences he has with lots of different people the better.

It is importnant that when people meet him that they behave in a certain way as to allow the cat to approach them and not to be too forward. Please read this page about how best to bond with a cat, ask your vistors to follow these guidelines.
http://www.our-happy-cat.com/new-cat.html

You will also have to start to act differently with him when he behave aggressivily with you on a day to day basis. he has to learn that when he is aggressive he gets a negative response and when he is nice he gets a positive reponse. please see my page about this negative/positive training here
http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-discipline.html

I know this all may seem rather a lot ot do but undfortunately there are no quick solutions to this. but with lots of patience and persistance you can help your cat become a much more confident and gentle cat.

http://www.our-happy-cat.com/aggressive-cat-behavior.html


best wishes Kate