Opinions please "excitable aggression"???

maichelle1996

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I am currently fostering a 8 month old neutered male "Tom" . When I got him 3 weeks ago he was SUPER afraid of people. Tom came with his sister who was MUCH friendlier and she got adopted last weekend. I've been working with Tom and he has gotten much better as far as not being shy but has developed a new problem. When I go in the "cat room" where I keep Tom he will now come running happily excited, tail up and rubbing my legs. The problem is he will be all "giving love" but then all of a sudden attack my feet/legs unprovoked. I'm not petting him or touching him at the time. I also will feed him treats by hand which he LOVES. The problem is he will again RUN up to me extremely excited to get the treats BUT will attack my hand with his claws aggressively to get the treats. I've had this happen when petting a cat when they all of a sudden attack you BUT never had this happen when you were NOT touching the cat.

Tom was also VERY lonely when his sister left crying so I put one of my super friendly adult cats in with him. Tom immediately ran up to my cat VERY happy to see him, stopped crying and even rubbed up against him BUT then attacked him for no reason! I took my cat out and Tom started crying again so I put my cat back in and Tom stopped. Tom will be friendly to my cat but for no reason attack him out of the blue. My cat who is always been super friendly to other cats will hiss whenever Tom gets near him. Opinions why Tom has this excitable aggression towards people and other cats?
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. I am guessing he gets easily overstimulated, and it could be from some form of boredom and/or not understanding boundaries. Perhaps, he was taken from his mama too soon and wasn't taught 'cat manners'? I am including a couple of articles that might contain some ideas you can try to tone down his enthusiasm.

Bored Cat? What Cat Owners Need To Know (including 10 Actionable Tips) – Cat Articles
How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat – Cat Articles

Hopefully, you will soon hear from other members who may also have some suggestions/ideas for you to try!!

Edit: I would also use a treat ball or some other way to give him treats for now.
 
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Sylvia Jones

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I agree that he just doesn’t know his actions are unacceptable. Poor guy! Hang on I’m sure experienced members will chime in with corrective measures. Pictures?
 
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