Aggressive when I'm laying down?

Hi everyone, I'm a long-time cat lover and first-time poster here.

We recently adopted a kitten, 2.5 months old and he's been with us for 3 weeks now. He's a sweet playful kitten, born and raised at the vet before we got him. However we have a little behaviour problem. When he sees me laying down, on the floor or bed, he becomes very aggressive, his ears back, face tense, pupils dilated, angry meows...then tries to bite my arm or hand hard. He doesn't stop when pushed away or put in another room, comes back to bite more. He only does this when I'm laying down to sleep  at night or early in the morning, and not all the time, sometimes he even comes to sleep near me in the afternoons. This has been going on for more than a week now, he didn't do this at first. 

I'm getting scared to sleep when he's around, I would appreciate if anyone could help.

Welcome to TCS!

Does he attack when your eyes are closed, when you are already asleep? If he does then I think this is very unusual behavior. Im not an expert on cat behavior and this is only my opinion but I think If he is attacking when you are lying down LOOKING at him then he may feel threatened. Some cats don't like direct eye contact. Imagine you are a tiny kitten, it must be scary having a huge human face in front of you staring.
Have you tried giving him a slow blink? This reassures them and tells them in cat language that you are not a threat.
Also when he attacks and you push him away it is highly likely he is seeing this as an attack from you causing him to attack further. In this situation, when you can see this about to happen I would grab a toy (wand toys are great for this) and divert his attention so that he has something he is allowed to attack and then he will be able to burn off some of his energy. After playtime it might be a good idea to give him something to eat so he thinks he has caught his prey, he will probably settle down for a nap after.

Kittens are crazy little things and will go after anything that moves so lot's and lot's of playtime using a toy and never any part of your body as this will only cause bigger problems when he gets older.

We would all love to see some pics of the little fella too!

Good luck!

Thank you KittyWhiskers

He doesn't attack when I'm sleeping, except when he's trying to wake me up in the morning and it is playful. To be honest I haven't had the courage to try closing my eyes when he attacks. But when he does this, I am usually not even looking at him directly. I don't have a clue what triggers this aggression, one moment he's attacking my hand on the bed and 15 minutes later he comes purring to sleep next to me. Weird.

Hmm ok, it might be helpful if you could explain what the situation is right before the attack. Exactly what leads up to it.

In your origional post you said "we" have just got a kitten. Are there any children in the house that might have got a little too boisterous with him whilst playing on the floor causing him to get scared?
Do other people in the house play with him with hands or feet?
Is he getting enough playtime to tire him out?

I remember when my Amber was a kitten, she was very confident and in your face and she would occasionally grab my arm in a bear hug and bite and bunny kick. When she did this I would hiss at her like a "psssssst" sound, she didn't like this and would let go straight away.

I would only do this to make her let go and wouldn't just go hissing at her willy nilly. She got the message that it was not allowed pretty quick, I think I only did this 3 or 4 times.

You could try doing the slow blink at him when he is in a calm mood, I do this to my cats and they slow blink back. I think it's also called a kitty kiss. It puts them at ease and lets them know you love them and everything is ok.

Im sure other people will chime in soon with some more ideas.

There are no children, just my parents. They do not allow the kitty to play with their hands either. We try to give him playtime 2-3 times a day, for about 10 minutes. 

I tried slow-blinking him last night when he was aggressive again, but he wasn't even looking at my face. His gaze was fixed on my left arm before, during and after biting. 

It happens when I'm going to bed every night. I play with him to tire him out, using a pole toy, then feed and pet him. I lightly close my bedroom door, turn on the night lamp and lay down, Then he comes rushing in, jumps on the bed, at that point only my arms and head are out of the blanket. He puts on that aggressive face, stares at my left arm with huge pupils and bites. This goes on until I get up to put him out of my room and close the door firmly.

Last night after this episode I got up about an hour later to use the bathroom and he sneaked in my bedroom. He jumped on the bed again, played with my hair a bit and slept near me throughout the night. 

I'll try hissing next. Any other ideas?

The only other thing I can think of from what you discribe is that he is having a little night time crazy session and you might be mis reading his expression.

When my cat's have a crazy session (where they run around the house like they are possessed) they will have their ears back, dilated pupils and an upside down U shaped tail. I have two cat's and they regularly do this when we go to bed for about 10 mins when the lights go out. They chase each other all over the house. They sound like two baby elephants running up and down the stairs, not cats! :lol3:

Maybe your little fella is not done playing and still has more energy to burn. I would play with him for at least 20-30 mins at night before his meal just so that he is really tired out.
It might be worth having a few toys next to the bed just in case.

Please only hiss at him if he has hold of you and won't let go. It's only this that he has to learn that is not allowed.

KittyWhiskers, I think night time crazies is a possibility. Tonight I will try to tire him out a bit more before going to bed. I don't mind him running around the house, I just don't want him attacking my hand like crazy. Thank you for your help

You're welcome!

Please keep us posted on his progress.

Didn't work, unfortunately. Every night since my last post he has jumped on my bed, put on that really aggressive face, stared at my hands and went on to bite. What really scares me is that sometimes he's purring while he's attacking. When I tried hissing he just looked puzzled and did not stop biting at all. I've tried moving, not moving, yelling and hissing so far to no avail.

I would really appreciate any other ideas. I don't want to put him in a separate room every night, but I am too scared to sleep with him out. Please help   

What an annoying habit! My experience with kittens and bedtime is that, until they are perhaps 6 months old, they will often regard a bed with somebody in it as an adventure playground. One of my daughters changed her sleeping habits very quickly when a young cat thought it was a wonderful game to dive under the duvet and bite her feet. This particular cat only did this with her and never to me, or her younger sister.

Since fostering cats and kittens, I find that most kittens prefer to jump about on the bed, pouncing about as if trying to catch a mouse. They will purr at the same time and eventually lie down and fall asleep happily. I am always a bit disappointed when they stop doing this as it's a sure sign that they are growing up. 

I have one recent experience of an adult cat jumping about on me when I get into bed and, I admit, it can be quite frightening. One minute she is rubbing herself against me and the next she will attack anything that moves. I keep my arms under the covers and usually, when I put the light out she will stop. But yesterday she tried a new trick - diving under the duvet and grabbing my arm, tearing my skin quite badly. This particular cat had probably never seen anyone in bed before, so I hope she will grow out of this habit just as quickly as young kittens do. When she wants to get me out of bed she just sits on me and kneads my chest - that's annoying enough but, it doesn't draw blood. By the way, she is only a nuisance for the short time between getting ready for bed, when she starts chasing my other cats, and perhaps 30 minutes later when everyone has settled down.

Good luck - I'm sure all you need is some patience. I have never known a cat to purposefully bite or scratch my face though with my present Nighttime Monster, I'm not so sure.

Reviving this thread for an update - nothing has changed with his behaviour But I've realised something, that whenever he goes into this "attack mode" he wants me out of somewhere - my bed, my chair or my yoga mat. These are all places that he likes to sit and sleep in/on. Now I'm guessing this is territorial aggression. He's slightly older now and when he bites, he bites hard and draws some serious blood. Any ideas on how to deal with this?

Sorry to hear that things haven't improved with time. I have little experience with cats who bite in earnest (except for the unfortunate Findus). However, one of my friends, also a cat foster-mother, has taken on a stray tom who had probably been shooed off territory for most of his life. In spite of being castrated he is very dominant with other cats and bites people. When I visited he jumped onto the kitchen counter (which he knows is out-of-bounds) in preparation for an attack on me (he definitely prefers heads to feet!). He is now being treated with hormone tablets and although they make him rather dopey, he doesn't have to take them all the time and eventually he should get out of the habit of biting people and climbing on other cats (male as well as female) even without medication. I will be working with my friend on Sunday (market stall to get money for our animal charity) and will ask her for more details. I'll post a second reply as soon as I can. So, unless somebody comes up with a better solution, at the moment I can only recommend a trip to the vet.

dphoenix said:

Reviving this thread for an update - nothing has changed with his behaviour But I've realised something, that whenever he goes into this "attack mode" he wants me out of somewhere - my bed, my chair or my yoga mat. These are all places that he likes to sit and sleep in/on. Now I'm guessing this is territorial aggression. He's slightly older now and when he bites, he bites hard and draws some serious blood. Any ideas on how to deal with this?

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Hi! Even though this is snicker thread I was wondering if a solution or more insight ever came? I’ve been researching everywhere and your situation with your cat going after you when your in bed or on chair is exactly like mine. In five minutes she can come back and snuggly sweetly all night.
I’d love to know how you have been handling it if you have Chance to share!!

MissKittyandLynn said:

Hi! Even though this is snicker thread I was wondering if a solution or more insight ever came? I’ve been researching everywhere and your situation with your cat going after you when your in bed or on chair is exactly like mine. In five minutes she can come back and snuggly sweetly all night.
I’d love to know how you have been handling it if you have Chance to share!!

Click to expand...

Older thread. (Snickers are nice though)sorry