My 12-year-old male cat has a history of intermittent petting vs play aggression. This comes in two presentations. In one case, he’ll pounce on my arm, pull it toward him and start bunny kicking with or without mouthing/biting like he does with his toys. He never breaks the skin or uses his claws. In the other case, he’ll suddenly lunge forward and nip at me and then pull back. Generally, it seems consistent with petting aggression, though he’s been known to do it when he’s just sitting on my lap or next to me on the bed and I’m not touching him.
This by itself isn’t a serious problem. I’ve never gotten him to stop entirely, but I’ve been able to discourage it by ignoring him or putting him on the floor until he calms down. The problem is now he seems to be redirecting toward the kitten. He’ll be dozing on my lap and then abruptly get up and jump on the kitten like he would my arm. On the whole the two get along relatively well with a lot of friendly/curious sniffing and even intermittent play. My assumption is that his redirection is either a dominance or overly-intense play thing and she’ll set limits with him. However, because it is so similar to behaviors he directs towards me, I feel some obligation to ensure I am not the cause or inadvertently encouraging him. So I thought I’d get some second opinions.
This by itself isn’t a serious problem. I’ve never gotten him to stop entirely, but I’ve been able to discourage it by ignoring him or putting him on the floor until he calms down. The problem is now he seems to be redirecting toward the kitten. He’ll be dozing on my lap and then abruptly get up and jump on the kitten like he would my arm. On the whole the two get along relatively well with a lot of friendly/curious sniffing and even intermittent play. My assumption is that his redirection is either a dominance or overly-intense play thing and she’ll set limits with him. However, because it is so similar to behaviors he directs towards me, I feel some obligation to ensure I am not the cause or inadvertently encouraging him. So I thought I’d get some second opinions.
