Expert: Ali - 5/17/2009

Question
My kitten (Charlie) is very rambunctious he jumps out when you walk past him and he attacks me when I'm laying down. I get very startled and I think he is noticing I'm affraid . He's becoming quite a bully toward me. What should I do to let him know I'm the boss?

Answer
Stephanie,

I suspect that there could be a few things happening. Your kitten might have been taken from his mom too early, I normally suggest that kittens stay with their mother for the first 10-12 weeks of life if at all possible because those early weeks are a very important time for socializing kittens. There is also the possibility that your kitten may have been taught that rough play with humans is acceptable at an early age. Your kitten may also have a behavioral issue referred to as play aggression. With the appropriate tools I see no reason why your kitten's behavior can't be changed.

I can certainly understand the anxiety caused by these ambush attacks, when you aren't expecting a small feline explosion it can certainly cause some fear or anxiety. Homeopathy is based on the principle that like cures like, I routinely recommend a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a blend of flower essences designed to calm and reassure. Bach's flower essences can be used to treat people and pets and they're quite safe. I've been in situations where I was dealing with intense anxiety and I actually keep a bottle of Rescue Remedy in my purse, because it's a drug free, safe way to alleviate anxiety and restore a calm state.

I've used Rescue Remedy many times over the years to help cats and kittens in a variety of situations, so far it's been a safe, effective way of dealing with cats who have been traumatized, abused or abandoned cats or cats who are under-socialized to the point of being generally fearful in any situation. You can usually find Rescue Remedy in health food stores, naturopathic pharmacies, some mainstream pharmacies carry it in the aisle with vitamins or nutritional supplements and as far as I know you can also purchase this remedy online.

For your own use I'd recommend starting with the dosage recommended on the package administering it as frequently as needed and gradually increasing the dose as necessary. Rescue Remedy can be put into any cold beverage, but when I've used it myself I've found that the effects are more immediate if I put several drops under my tongue. It's best to pick up two bottles of Rescue Remedy if you decide to give it a try to deal with your cat causing anxiety and fear during his ambush attacks - you'll want one to be labelled clearly for your kitten and the other would be for yourself. To treat your kitten I'd suggest adding about 8-10 drops of Rescue Remedy to a fresh bowl of water every morning. The reason that I don't recommend administering the remedy directly by mouth for cats except in case of emergency is because the flower essences are preserved in a grape alcohol solution and cats aren't terribly fond of the taste or smell. Some pet parents have concerns about the possibility that they can overdose their cats on this remedy. You can administer this remedy at several times the recommended dosage without causing harmful effects in cats, I've done so on a number of occasions. The doses I recommend to treat cats are ones I've used before in many situations with numerous cats and kittens with success.

If the Rescue Remedy doesn't work the worst that will happen is that things stay the same and you'll need to consider other solutions. It's not a bad idea to consider seeking the advice of a holistic veterinarian in case further help is needed to curb your kitten's bad behavior. A holistic vet is trained in conventional medicine as well as one or more alternative therapies such as homeopathy, Reiki, acupuncture, or even massage to name a few. My family vet is an incredible holistic practitioner. My vet uses homeopathic remedies in place of pharmaceutical treatments whenever possible and if the situation calls for it she uses homeopathy in combination with conventional treatments. It's been my experience that cats (and pets in general) tend to respond quite well to alternative therapies, I don't hesitate to give alternative medicine a try whenever it's appropriate to do so.

I fully believe that your kitten can be trained not to ambush you whenever he can and live a successful life as a much loved family member. Changing behavioral issues can take some time, this means you'll have to commit to the time, patience and consistent use of humane disciplinary techniques. If your kitten isn't neutered I'd highly suggest you have his surgery done as soon as your vet is comfortable neutering the little guy. Sterilizing a cat is often an effective way to reduce the levels of testosterone (a male sex hormone linked with increased aggression and other inherently male characteristics). Once the hormone levels have been reduced (can take several weeks if done after a cat reaches sexual maturity) and being consistent about applying some disciplinary techniques included in this answer should, at the very least, help reduce the frequency and intensity of your kittens ambush attacks. My goal is to help you find the best tools to work with your kitten so that you can eliminate his habit of frightening you altogether.

A common reason for aggression or rough play in kittens is that some pet parents think it's cute for their kitten to ambush them, pounce on people, bite or even scratch people, this is the wrong message to send to young kittens. The stakes are high in situations like yours so it's important to be prepared to take a no nonsense stand and not be afraid to show your kitten that his behavior's not acceptable. In North America the leading cause of death in cats is euthanasia as a result of behavioral issues. This isn't an issue that I can guarantee will be fixed within a day or two, if your kitten's bad behavior has become a habit and he's determined to hang onto his bad habits then it's reasonable to assume that changing your kitten's behavior could take several weeks or even a few months. There are a few ground rules that you may want to implement immediately to clearly demonstrate that bad behavior won't be tolerated anymore.

1) Regardless of how cute a cat or kitten is it should never be permitted to scratch, bite, grab or pounce on any human being, ever. The sad reality is that these types of behavioral issues can lead to abandonment, abuse, euthanasia or relinquishment to a shelter just because nobody wants to risk having their pet hurt a guest in their home.

2) It's extremely important that your kitten sees a negative outcome any time he pounces on you or ambushes anyone. If you aren't consistent about applying humane disciplinary techniques your kitten may not take you seriously which isn't a good situation. Cats are very smart so you want your little guy to understand that "NO!" means no absolutely every single time you say it.

To stop the ambush attacks I'd suggest that you change how you react to inappropriate play behaviors, I understand that this is a difficult suggestion that's easier said than done, but if your kitten believes he's getting to you and he senses that you're afraid he may see you as an entertaining target because he's always guaranteed a response. If your kitten does pounce on you it's important that you don't pull away, make high pitched noises, push the cat away or punish him in any physical manner. Prey moves away from a predator, prey animals often make high pitched noises which can stimulate more intense attacks - it's important to remember that although our cats are domesticated and have been for thousands of years a cat is and always will be a predator at heart. If you don't act like prey you take the fun out of the game. Your kitten won't expect you to push towards him or stop dead in your tracks when he's ambushed you - that alone may be enough to start putting positive change in motion.

When your kitten pounces on you regardless of where you are it's important that he receives an unpleasant consequence. You might find that carrying around a water pistol or spray bottle set on stream (it's important not to recycle bottles that contained household chemicals, I buy my spray bottles at the local dollar store). With cats the window of opportunity to correct bad behavior is small, each time your little guy attempts to run and pounce on you, immediately squirt him with a jet of water. For the most part cats don't enjoy being squirted with water because it takes time and work for them to dry their coats and smooth their fur back into place. Some cats show the opposite reaction to what we'd normally recommend, in some cases they'll actually make a game out of being squirted and kitties like this tend to try out a variety of behaviors in an attempt to get sprayed again. If your kitten doesn't respond appropriately to being squirted with water there are a few other disciplinary tools you can try.

You can use canned compressed air, the cans used for cleaning keyboards and other electronics work well but it's very important that you NEVER aim the the can directly at the cat when you pull the trigger because there are chemical propellants that can cause serious injury, especially to vulnerable areas like the face. I would suggest that you aim the nozzle away from the cat because it's safest for him. When using compressed air it's important to remember that it's not about making any contact with your cat - the hissing sound the air makes when you pull the trigger is pretty much universally understood by cats. Most cats will immediately respond to the compressed air by immediately stopping what they're doing and/or moving away from the source of the sound. The nice thing about using compressed air as a disciplinary tool is that it's quiet so if you live in an apartment or a house that's close to your neighbors you aren't likely to disturb anyone.

You might find that burning your kitten's excess energy off with appropriate toys lessens the frequency/intensity of his physical attacks. I recommend toys like kitty teases, toy mice of varying descriptions and other toys that help facilitate interactive play. Play time is a great time to bond with your kitten, but it's important to avoid things like strings, shoelaces, thread and other toys that are easily swallowed - you wouldn't want your kitten to need emergency surgery to remove a foreign body, it's expensive and it can be quite risky depending on what the vet finds when s/he is in surgery. Even when your kitty's behavior improves it will never okay for him to bite, scratch or pounce on any human being, if he does it's important to provide swift, predictable and appropriate consequences so that your expectations are completely clear. You may also find that installing a bird feeder or spreading bird seed meant to attract small song birds outside your window will help give your kitten something constructive to do and it may help to make your kitten more gentle and balanced, after all cats are predators and they enjoy indoor entertainment that helps them feel like they're stalking/hunting small prey animals.

There is also a video series dedicated to cats called Cat Sitter DVD, to my knowledge there are 3 videos in the series, the first two are dedicated to birds, rodents and small prey animals while the third is all about fresh and salt water fish. If you decide to try the Cat Sitter DVDs out it's important to clear off the top of your television and provide your kitty with a safe place to sit and watch his movie. These videos are designed to be played when the cat's human caregivers aren't home or they're in another part of the house, so they're looped for convenience.

I've mentioned a few basics you can try, there are other options you might find useful and I'd be happy to provide you with more information and recommendations if you'd like. It might be worth video taping several attacks because if you choose to speak with your vet about referral to a behaviorist, it will be helpful for the behaviorist to see how these ambush attacks happen and it'll make things easier to begin an appropriate treatment plan. The behaviors you've described can happen for a number of different reasons and ultimately it's best to deal with bad behavior effectively so that your kitty can continue to live successfully in his forever home. Sometimes it can be difficult to make a consistent commitment of time but it's well worth the effort in the end. If your kitten's behavioral issues don't improve after a variety of strategies have been tried you may have to get help from your vet or a behaviorist, but it's well worth trying to deal with your kitten's behavior using common disciplinary techniques first. You might be interested in checking out a book called The Natural Cat (newly revised and expanded edition) by Anitra Frazier & Norma Eckroate, this is a fabulous book with down to earth, common sense advice to help you deal with different aspects of the care our cats require and the author focuses on keeping things as natural as possible.