An aggressive cat may be hard to deal with, but it is important to remember that when a cat is aggressive, there may be some reasons behind it. When your cat is aggressive, she may be afraid or poorly socialized as a kitten. When a cat is aggressive, she may attack you, other people or other animals in your house.
To calm an aggressive cat, especially during an attack, you will need to give them space and divert their attention away from the fight. To change its aggressive behavior, it may take time.
You many need to get to the root of their behavior and make them feel safe and comfortable. you may also need these tips on how to make your cat mood happy.
If you experience an aggressive cat at home, you may need these following 5 tips to calm your aggressive cat. Check them out!
- Give your cat their own space
After an aggressive action your cat shows, it is best to let the cat to decompress and calm down on their own. Avoid interact with their until she has calmed down and come to you for interaction or attention.
There are some things you need to pay attention while giving your cat their own space. First, you may need to keep it sequestered in a room by themselves.
If you do, make sure to provide food, water and a litter box. However, this may not be suitable to all cats, as some cats may not like it and it will instead increase their aggression.
Secondly, just leave your cat alone a lot of time. Give their own space where she can be away from other people or animals in your house. Lastly, you can also provide a hiding place in each room, such as cardboard box. Hiding for a while will help the cats deal with stress. Get to know the signs of depressed cat.
- Never give them punishment
Punishment will make the aggression worse, so try to avoid giving physical punishment. Even light punishment, such as bopping on their nose, may increase their anxiety. Besides, don’t ever hit your cat. When your cat is aggressive, she needs help, not more aggression added to the situation.
Yelling to your cats is also not recommended. Humans commonly yell to their cats as they want to stop a situation or discipline them. This way may work on dogs, but never on your cats.
Some animal experts said that cats do not respond to anything negative. Instead of yelling, you had better build your moments together to have a bonding with your cat. By doing so, your cat will feel secured and safe.
- Have a veterinarian check
In some cases of aggressive cat, underlying health problems can be the causes. If your cat feels sick, she may act out with aggression to let your know that she is sick. To eliminate this as a possible cause, you can have your cat examined by their vet.
There are some medical conditions that trigger aggression in cats, such as arthritis, dental problems, and hyperthyroidism. There are also some common symptoms associated with these illnesses, including lack of appetite, vomiting and diarrhea.
There are some common diseases of cat you also need to know as a cat parent.
- Changing the aggressive behavior
Though it is not that easy to change the aggressive behavior, you should make a try. You need to start your intervention early. Eliminating aggressive behavior since your cat is young or kitten, you can prevent it from becoming a habit.
Then, find out what causes the aggression. Find the root of the problem by thinking what happens to and around the cat. There are some common reasons, such as fear, defensiveness, and conflict with other animals, territorial feelings, and past trauma.
After that, identify the signs of aggression in cats. By identifying the signs, you can stop the stimulus which causes the behavior.
There are some signs you can observe, such as hissing or sitting putting them hackle up, ears flattened back, crouching or squatting and wide eyes with dilated pupils. Find more about it in ways on calming cat aggression.
- Reward them good attitude
If your cat is successfully changing their aggressive behavior, you should reward them. It is important to let them know that she is doing a good job.
You can reward the cat with treats or games your cat likes to play when it is acting nicely or showing the right kind of behavior.
If you want to get the idea on how to make your cats have fun, then you can try these 6 fun games to play with your beloved cats.
If all the tips above don’t work well with your cats, then you should consult with your vet for some tips and treatment. There may be something serious behind your cat’s aggression.
By noticing it earlier, you can prevent it from getting worse. Remember aggression in cats can be harmful both for you as the cat parent, other animals and everyone in your family.