Attack/Biting

[helenelliott79@googlemail]

Hi,
A brief history of my fur baby. Tilly is a 9 year old, Medium Hair Tortoiseshell & White. She has been spade.
As a kitten she started out at the local Cats Protection & had one former owner for 6 years prior to my Nan. When the first owner passed away, Tilly was returned to the cats protection where my Nan then provided a loving home.
When Tilly lived my my Nan other cats (strays & those with owners) naturally migrated towards my Nan & some even took it upon themselves to feel right at home. Tilly didn't make a fuss & would eat meals with them, although she would spend a lot of time under the bed alone. Tilly also enjoyed exploring the garden & basking in the sun.

My husband & I have provided a loving home for my Nans cat since November 2019 as she was no longer able to care for her due to having Dementia.
Tilly has always been loving & friendly, enjoys a fuss, but also enjoys her solitude. She also gives what I call love nips, followed by excessive licking.
We do have a cat (stray?) that occasionally comes by & they really dont get along, so we're making every effort to discourage this behaviour... water spray bottles etc. Tilly also seems afraid to spend time in the garden alone & tends to only go outside when my husband or I are with her. If she does wander outside alone, she never goes far.

Until one month ago Tilly has occasionally begun doing a stalker like approach & has bit my husband & myself on the face, arm, leg & foot.
This behaviour usually coincides with us crying, laughing, blowing our nose & her not receiving immediate attention.

Please, does anyone have any answers or ideas as to why my fur baby is acting out like this? All responses welcome!

Kind regards
Helen

 

[ArtNJ]

Is there hissing with the attacks? Trying to decide if this could be play biting despite the odd list of prompts. Play biting can start at any age, even 9, and the stalking certainly makes me think play biting, but I've never heard of random human noises prompting play biting episodes. Without hissing it probably isn't stress aggression either. So I'm a bit confused, and wondering whether it could be an early sign of a mental/neuro issue.

Best guess? Play biting, despite the weird list of prompts, unless there is hissing with the episodes.

Do you know the strategies for curbing play biting or do you need guidance on that?

 

[di and bob]

She may be confused by the sudden changes in you and your husband's demeanor. The sneezing, laughing, blowing the nose, etc., these loud and sudden noises scare her and induce her to be aggressive. She all of a sudden doesn't recognize as the people she knows. She has had a tremendous upset in her life, losing her first owner, and now her second. 5 months is not long at all in a cat's world, she is still very much on edge. If she is confronted by a strange cat she will be even more on edge and jumpy. I would not let her go outside until she is much more comfortable in your household, especially with that cat coming around. She would feel safer in the house. As for the attacks, it is redirected aggression, and she doesn't know what to do. She is suddenly afraid and startled and attacks whatever is nearest and making the noise. She may have some overstimulation problems too, pretty common in especially female cats, and gets overstimulated and attacks. I think these episodes will lessen tremendously over time and when she gets truly used to her new situation. overstimulation can be identified by watching for signs of it while stroking or giving her attention. A lashing tail, puffed tail, raised fur, soft growls, hisses, or dilated eyes all can lead to an imminent attack. The trick is to stop all stimulation before she gets to that point. If she continues to attack, one way to stop this is scruffing, or taking her by the loose skin on the back of the neck, and holding her to the ground until she stops struggling, saying NO. Only until she stops struggling, and EVERY time, which in the beginning might be frequent until she learns. This is what mama cats do to discipline, and something she understands instinctively. Never pick her up this way, it is used as a last resort for attacks. Ii really think that she will be fine in the future, and bless you for giving her a home.....

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS Thanks for giving Tilly a home when your Nan was no longer able to care for her.

Did the stalker/biting behaviour just start one month ago? Or has it been going on all along?

Since Tilly does't want to go outside, is keeping her as an indoor only cat an option? Does she use a litter box?

 

[ArtNJ]

I thought of redirected aggression as di and bob suggested, but the word "stalking" was used in the OP and that threw me. When a cat gets very stressed and lashes out because of redirected aggression, you don't normally see stalking behavior afaik -- rather you would see signs of stress, like ears back, maybe some hissing, and the cat would attack either when you tried to get close or in some cases seemingly out of the blue. I associate stalking a human with play. So I guess I'm still thinking this is a bit of a puzzle.

 

[helenelliott79@googlemail]

Is there hissing with the attacks? Trying to decide if this could be play biting despite the odd list of prompts. Play biting can start at any age, even 9, and the stalking certainly makes me think play biting, but I've never heard of random human noises prompting play biting episodes. Without hissing it probably isn't stress aggression either. So I'm a bit confused, and wondering whether it could be an early sign of a mental/neuro issue.

Best guess? Play biting, despite the weird list of prompts, unless there is hissing with the episodes.

Do you know the strategies for curbing play biting or do you need guidance on that?

Hi,
There is no sign of hissing. Most of the time Tilly is either just sitting next to us or is asleep then wakes & beings the stalking process which leads to the biting.

 

[helenelliott79@googlemail]

Hi,
There is no sign of hissing. Most of the time Tilly is either just sitting next to my husband & I, or is asleep then wakes & beings the stalking process which leads to the biting. Predominantly I'm the main person who she bites.

 

[di and bob]

She obviously doesn't like something.....do either of you have any contact with other animals?

 

[helenelliott79@googlemail]

Hi,
There is no sign of hissing. Most of the time Tilly is either just sitting next to us or is asleep then wakes & beings the stalking process which leads to the biting.

She obviously doesn't like something.....do either of you have any contact with other animals?

Hi,
I would say 5% of the time we may come into contact with my sisters dog & cat, but the other 95% of the time it's just Tilly & ourselves.

 

[ArtNJ]

Well, di and bob and I could debate this for while, but we aren't there, you are. Does it seem like this is play, or does it seem like the noises are stressing the cat and causing the attacks? Also not sure how loud the noises are.

Redirected aggression as Di and Bob suggested usually requires another non-friend animal seen or smelled, or something genuinely scary like a dish dropping, or a human stubbing their toe and yelling. Its certainly possible that a poorly adjusted cat in a new place could have a really low threshold for redirected aggression.