The Top Five Ways to Handle Feline Aggression
Cats have a reputation for being a little irritable. While they can make extremely loving and loyal pets, they do tend to have a mind of their own and in some aspects they can often act a little 'wild'. This often comes to light in the form of aggression and many cat owners often find themselves the victim of their cat's temper. So what causes this aggression and how can you successfully deal with it? Read on to find out the top five ways to handle feline aggression.
1. Know Your Cat
Before you can deal with any problem you need to first understand it. No animal acts a certain way without a reason. The first thing that you need to understand about your cat is that it is a hunter. You may feed them canned food, give them plenty of love and spend hours playing with them, but their instinct is to hunt and kill. Even the most domestic of cats will still try to hunt whenever they can. So you need to understand that there will be times when your pet does turn into a slightly more aggressive, moody character.
Now, that you know about the instinct to hunt, you will need to start noticing when they are in hunt mode and avoid them. Cats have schedules so notice what time of day they tend to be in this state most often. This will help you from being the prey in their hunting games. Then, you can just wait until your cat has settled down and turned back into the loving, affectionate, house cat you love to play with. However, if your cat seems to be getting more aggressive or is aggressive all the time then could be steming from something more serious and needs to be attended to promply. Your cat may be suffering from serious stress from recent changes in their lives or even illness. Have them checked by a vet as soon as you can to rule out any health issues.
2. Patience
Not matter what the case may be it is important to stay patient. If your cat is aggressive when playing the hunting game then you have to understand it's only instinct. If your cat is seriously stressed out and crying out in aggressive behavior then look into www.secretsofcats.com for some helpful tips and be patient with them they'll come around. If your cat is aggressive because of an illness get them medical help and remember they just cranky. Just like humans get cranky when they don't feel well. Be patient. Never force your cat into any situation they are not ready for. This will surely end in some act of kitty aggression.
3. No Biting Ever
When your cat is a kitten it can be fun and even cute to let them nibble on your hand. However, when your kitten becomes a cat this behavior won't be cute or fun anymore. If you would like to avoid your cat aggressively biting you then don't let them bite you ever. Even the slightest nip is still biting in your cats mind. If they bite you, even when you are playing, then yell 'OUCH'. If you do it loud enough it will shock your cat to where they are no longer biting you and they will think before doing it again. Remember, this can't be done just once and have your cat understand. It must be done everytime they bite. In a short time they will get the idea.
4. Be Persistent
Patience keeps you ready to train as long as you need to persistence will make the training work. Persistence is doing the training repeatedly until your cat knows what you expect of them. If you yell one day for a certain behavior and not the next, your cat will never learn which behaviors are OK and which are not. You will only confuse and stress out your cat. Leading to more aggressive behavior.
5. Socialize Your Pet
Socializing your cat works best the younger the cat is. So as soon as you bring your cat home, start socializing them. Introduce them to as many different types of people, dogs, and other cats as you as able too. Introduce them to any other animals you think they will encounter in life. The more your cat familiarize themselves with those people, dogs, cats, or other animals the less likely it will be for them to be scared when they are all grown up.
Have a cat behavior problem that needs solving? If so, visit http://www.secretsofcats.com today to get expert information on how to train your cat and eliminate cat problems quickly.
Published July 28th, 2008


