how do i get my cat to stop attacking me?

[caity_bean]

my black cat rudy (1y) and my tabby kitten jasper (4m) are buddies i’d say but when they play fight it for the most part it gets out of hand. and by that i mean a lot of thrashing, gripping onto each other using claws, biting, a lot of tail thrashing movements and jasper meowing when he’s pinned down. i’ve heard of cats being rough players when wrestling and when i feel like it’s too getting to be too much i separate them for a bit.
my problem is that i’m starting to see a new behavior from my cat rudy is that when i separate the two by making a loud noise or physically removing jasper from the situation rudy will then come for my cheeks and attack me…he’ll lunge onto my closest body part and wrap his paws w claws out and grip onto me trying to bite and i’ll have to shove him away and yell at him about 1-3 times before he moves on.
this is something that i feel like if i don’t nip this it’s gonna get worse so what are some ideas anyone has to help redirect this overstimulated bean? toys or separate him from everyone? should i hiss at him? i’m not too sure but any help would be lovely

 

[lollie]

There are people here who swear by hissing. Are they just playing with each other or do you play with them yourself? To prevent him attacking you right now, if you need to separate them, use a sight blocker rather than yourself. Like a big piece of cardboard.

 

[caity_bean]

There are people here who swear by hissing. Are they just playing with each other or do you play with them yourself? To prevent him attacking you right now, if you need to separate them, use a sight blocker rather than yourself. Like a big piece of cardboard.

i will say hissing has been working on jasper i feel like i have some cat street cred! we have time slots through out the day for group playing and then throughout the day they play w each other i can try a card board box but it’s hard to grab it in time to separate them since they’re so fast

 

[Norachan]

my problem is that i’m starting to see a new behavior from my cat rudy is that when i separate the two by making a loud noise or physically removing jasper from the situation rudy will then come for my cheeks and attack me

This sounds like redirected aggression. I don't think you need to separate them. The play fighting you've described sounds exactly the way my cats play. I have two large males, one 10 years old and the other 2 years old, and they play fight the same way, but then once they've got it out of their system they lie down next to each other, groom each other and fall asleep.

As long as Rudy and Jasper are good friends when they're not play fighting I think you can just leave them to it.

 

[lollie]

Are they both neutered?

 

[caity_bean]

Are they both neutered?

yes both got neutered as a kitten

 

[caity_bean]

This sounds like redirected aggression. I don't think you need to separate them. The play fighting you've described sounds exactly the way my cats play. I have two large males, one 10 years old and the other 2 years old, and they play fight the same way, but then once they've got it out of their system they lie down next to each other, groom each other and fall asleep.

As long as Rudy and Jasper are good friends when they're not play fighting I think you can just leave them to it.

they do get along any other time it’s just when it’s like 4am and a little but after dinner is when they tussle the most. rudy is genuanly a sweet boy just when he’s wrestling w jasper is when he’s all riled up is when he comes for me

 

[Norachan]

They're still both young and it seems to me that they're just playing. Kittens always play fight with their litter mates. It teaches them lots of valuable lessons in cat etiquette, like when to back off and how much force to use. My cats make a lot of yowling noises when they play and they'll lie in a kind of yin-yang pose and kick each other in the head, but it's just for fun.

If it was me I wouldn't interfere unless it seems like the fights have become more serious. As they're both neutered it's unlikely that they will.

Let them wrestle and burn off their excess energy. If they start waking you up at 4 am regularly you could always put them in different rooms at night

 

[caity_bean]

it’s so funny how similar cats are but also how different they are the two boys do the same pose as well! thank u all for the help!

 

[Adnan Hosen]

That sounds like a tricky situation. A couple clarifying questions:

• Does Rudy only go after you when you separate the roughhousing, or at other times too?
• How long have you had both cats? Was the behavior issue gradual or more sudden?

Getting more context would help provide suggestions. In general, try redirecting to toys, providing more vertical space, and positive reinforcement when they play nicely together.

 

[caity_bean]

That sounds like a tricky situation. A couple clarifying questions:

• Does Rudy only go after you when you separate the roughhousing, or at other times too?
• How long have you had both cats? Was the behavior issue gradual or more sudden?

Getting more context would help provide suggestions. In general, try redirecting to toys, providing more vertical space, and positive reinforcement when they play nicely together.

-when i separate them jasper runs away and rudy will just sit there and side eye me debating if he wants to end my life hahah and then when i make a slight movement he’ll come for the closest body part
-rudy has had this behavior since a kitten where we would for example give belly rubs and he would lightly nibble to be like no thank u and i would then stop and then he would just keep lunging at my arm over and over again till i had to scruff him to try and calm him down (sometimes that would work sometimes i’d just leave the room)