Cat Attack!

[dusty0463]

Hi All,
My cat(who's a loving wonderful special animal most of the time), has something that sets him off that I can't figure out. I want to know if this is normal or not and what could cause this..

This has been happening periodically throughout his life(he's 12 now), but what happens is that whenever I trip over something and say "ouch!" loudly or bang my knee into something, or say something that means that I hurt myself in one way or the other, my cat sneaks up to me and growls and meows like he's going to attack me. A couple of times he's actually swatted at my calves and bloodied me. It takes about 5 minutes for him to get settled down and then he's fine and back to normal..

What I don't get is, why would he attack me if obvoiusly what I did hurt me. Shouldn't he be more loving??? Does he realize that it's me(his owner) that he's attacking??? I never punish the cat(for common sense reasons), but I do say "no!", but that just makes him more angry..
Anyway, any ideas as to what would cause my cat to behave this way everytime I either trip over in some other way and say "ouch!" loudly or "sh**!" loudly, lol...
I'm confused! Thanx in advance!

Dusty (who's cat is 95% loving the other times).

 

[arcadian girl]

my two cents - your kitty doesnt know you hurt yourself...he knows you made a loud noise and were moving around quickly, not how you usually do, and he's taking that as a threat. my Wonton will sometimes get a puffy tail and growl and attack if i walk by him with something really big (like moving a chair or something), or especially if i knock something over and it makes a big bang noise. i just know now that if theres a loud noise, to stay away from him for a bit til he de-puffs. and Wonton is 95% loving the rest of the time too - he spent the morning snuggled in bed with me - i even had my arm over and around him and he just went to sleep (all other cats ive had wouldnt let you actually rest your arm on them). he's just a little flighty when it comes to loud noises/big objects.

 

[arcadian girl]

ps - yelling no makes him more angry cos you're using a loud firm voice, which he's taking as a threat. he already feels trheatened, so that just adds fuel to the fire. next time, try not looking at him or making eye contact, speaka in a soft voice, and just try to move away from him and give him his space for a few mins. works with the Wonner

 

[coaster]

I'll agree with arcadian girl.

 

[nelle]

I read an article about this a few years ago...seems a lady had one cat. He witnessed a cat fight outside his porch. He was upset by it. Meomy broke it up, and he attacked her, and continued to attack her, for weeks. It broke her heart.

The article described a cure, and wouldn't you know I've forgotten the punch line to this ramble...!

Cats apparently will associate whoever is nearest to them during an upsetting experience as the cause of that upset.

Maybe your kitty thinks your cry of pain sounds like a cry of a declaration of war? (felines don't usually seem to have the dog-like emotion of sympathy or empathy...more like, Itsallaboutme) God love 'em!

(That's why I don't let my kitties see me with the water spray when they are on the counter, or when I'm sneaking in a new rescue!

Good luck and I agree, lovies, not "no-sies" may work best.