Expert: Kate Tilmouth - 5/11/2009

Question
I have a male cat, still intact, that lives in and out of the house. Hes about a year old and just recently started acting strange. When i would sit with him and pet him he would love on me back then he would suddenly grab my arm and bite down hard until he drew blood, then he would stop to lick my hand then bite down again. When i pull away he would lay his ears back and meow at me like he wanted to kill me, then he would go for my face. When he acts like this i punish him by putting him outside. This has been going on now for about a week, and it keeps getting worse. He did the same thing to my brother once but not as much as he has me. I need help, do you have any answers as to how i can fix his behavior problem?
                              - Tarah

Answer
Hi
This is classic tom cat behaviour. it is all wrapped up in the mating process nd all the hormones running round his body. He is a young tom cat full of the joys of spring as they say and this behaviour is him acting out part of the mating ritual.

To stop the problem you will first need to have him neutered so that he is no longer frustrated by his hormones etc and then you can also go through the discipline process if he continues to display some of the behaviour.

the process is all about negative and positive responses and is described here on my web page
http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-discipline.html

best wishes KAte
http://www.our-happy-cat.com