My Cat Is Attacking Me

[FatherJohn]

i really need help! My cat Samson has always been an aggressive cat. The maintenance personnel at my apartment complex are terrified of him. If I sneeze he attacks me. If my leg cramps up on me and I scream in pain, he attacks me. If I raise my voice for any reason he attacks. This morning when I raised my voice on the phone, Samson attacks me. He had me on the ground this morning. Samson is a loving cat but he turns into Mr Jekyll. I don’t know if I can keep on like this. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to take Samson to the shelter

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Samson could be doing this for a number of reasons. Here is an article that talks about cat attacks and what some of the causes might be. See if there is any information in here that might help you identify some possible reasons that are specific to Samson.

Why Do Cats Attack?

Perhaps this will allow you to give us some more information about what is going on and other members might then be able to give you specific tips/advice.

 

[Kflowers]

If you could describe the attack in detail, starting say 5 or 10 minutes before it happened. What was going on ten minutes before - everything that you can think of no matter how mundane - did the kettle go off, did the trash truck drive by the house?

From what you said he seems to be noise sensitive. Was he abused before you got him? Did someone yell at him then attack him? Did he see that happen to his siblings or mother?

The attacks maybe the result of several things happening at almost the same time.

 

[FatherJohn]

After we had finished his play therapy, I started getting ready for work. When I sat down to put my shoes on, I noticed him looking at me than he went into the bedroom. He looked anxious and tense. I went into the bedroom to get into the bathroom and I didn’t see him anywhere. I was in the bathroom and I was trying to get SIRI to do something. I was getting frustrated. I turned around and Samson attacked. This is the first aggressive cat I’ve ever had and I know I’ve made some mistakes. However I’ve been doing a lot of research on aggressive behavior to try to improve my relationship with Samson and I will not get rid of him until I’ve exhausted all means to save him. I have an appointment with a vet this afternoon who is a cat specialist. Any help you give will be appreciated. I will continue to post more information to enable everybody to help me

 

[Kflowers]

Except for the sneeze from what you said Samson attacks you when you are frustrated.

Cats do sense our emotions and respond to them. It might help if you focused on avoiding frustration - Wait, there are ways to do that. When you feel yourself getting frustrated -1- think of something pleasant or -2- practice long slow deep breaths (that's the easiest and works fairly well or -3- recite a poem or a song - for example the Beatles Let it be.

I'd suggest doing it for anger too.

People with large dogs, or extremely loyal dogs have to learn to do this for their safety and that of their dogs. If you have a very loyal and sympathetic dog and are away from home and get angry the dog will sense it. I noticed the pattern. When I didn't get angry house was fine when I got home. When I let myself get angry while away from home, dog had tried to get out to get to me to help.

Samson doesn't know why you are frustrated. He can't see the 'enemy' so he re-directs his anger to you.

Generally, when I suggest that someone control their emotions I'm told I'm daft and it can't be done. But love can move mountains. I believe you can do this to save Samson.

 

[sargon]

You should definitely try behavioral options first, and I have a few suggestions that have helped with my own cat, but it may be worth talking to your vet to see if they feel that your cat is a good candidate for medication, such s "Kitty Prozac."

It isn't appropriate for all cats ( which is why you need to talk to a vet about it, even if, for some reason, it isn't a controlled substance where you live), but it has really helped with my cat ( and a lot of others), who have serious aggression issues. Plus, the vet can check for physical issues, which can be a trigger for aggression.

Anyhow, there wee a few other things that helped besides "play them to exhaustion" and medication. ( and even if you do end up going the medication route, you'll still need behavioral work, since the aggression is an established habit)

In no particular order...

-Additional vertical space. I'm a big fan of the kind you put on windows with suction cups, but tweaking furniture arrangements so that your cat can climb on bookshelves is an easy way to get some (extra) vertical space for your cat.

-clicker training. It is a very gentle way to establish that you are the top cat, which can help.

-time outs: a 4-5 minute time out when your cat is aggressive is both a mild punishment and a way to let your cat calm down.

 

[Jem]

It seems from your description that his aggression towards you is because you get mad or stressed - leading to "loud noises". This also explains when you sneeze, they can be loud, and even if you're not a "vocal sneezer" the air pressure can emit a high pitch that your cat may find threatening.
I would describe what your cat is doing as fear aggression. Our cat was the same way. the nicest and sweetest thing for the most part, but would get highly aggressive when he perceived something as a threat. He also had other forms of behavioral aggression such as redirected, dominant, over stimulation and play aggression. Ours would get really workup as I hustled around the house to do my cleaning, and would follow me around attacking my feet and hands. He did not like loud noises or fast/constant movement. He attacked (sometimes) when we sneezed too. There was also a connection to him sensing when we were stressed. The higher our stress the more "violent" his attack was.
We were able to get him to not be as aggressive with us with A LOT of time and patience, but it took some heavy sleuthing to figure out which aggression he was displaying at the time of aggression and to really find the trigger.

For example, he was afraid of the telephone, and would attack me when I was using it. So we tried different ringtones and there were a few of them to which he did not respond as fearfully to when it rang.
I also had to learn to not get up too fast to get to the phone, and also not to run to the phone if was far from it. If I could not get to the phone calmly, before the last ring, I let it go to voicemail. Let's face it, if it was an emergency they would leave a message or call back. But what made things confusing was that the use of the telephone was also when he displayed dominance aggression with me as well. So in those instances, I had to do the "complete ignore" trick. He eventually became OK with the phone and my using it.

 

[FeebysOwner]

F FatherJohn - lots of good advice and tips that I hope you will try BEFORE you go down the 'let's drug him up' route. Giving meds like that should always be a last resort...