How to Control Cat Aggression

Cats are notoriously known for their bad moods, self importance and arrogant behavior. However, sometimes cats can be a little too aggressive, especially if they have not been socialized properly. An aggressive cat is a potentially dangerous cat and so it is important to train them to lose part of that aggression whenever possible. So just how do you train a cat to be less aggressive?

Understanding Your Cats Aggression

Most cat aggression problems stem from a traumatic experience that the cat has previously had. For example, perhaps as a kitten your cat was hurt by another person? Or perhaps they were abandoned and that has taught them to be more wary of things around them?

Most of the time the aggression that your cat is showing you, is fear based aggression. So by understanding what your cats fear is, it is then easier to know how to train them and teach them that everything is ok. However, there are other causes of cat aggression and they include over excitement and illness. If your cat is ill for example, if you touch them in a certain place they may feel pain and they will strike out at you. Also, if you stroke your cat for long periods of time, it could become irritable and once again strike out at you.

By understanding what it is that makes your cat aggressive, you can then work on changing that behavior as best as you can.

Changing Aggressive Behavior

Changing a cat’s aggressive behavior can be hard but it is done similar to how you would train a dog not to bite or nip you.

Firstly it is always better to avoid the situation where possible. So if you know that certain things set your cat off, then make sure that you avoid doing it whenever possible. This could include playing with the cat where they become too excited within a certain time limit. If you know that the cat is going to get irritable after a few minutes, stop playing with them before that time and you will have successfully avoided the cat’s aggressive behavior.

Another thing that you can do to train your cat or kitten not to bite you is playing with them gently at first and keeping an eye on their behavior. As long as they are gentle with you, praise them. Eventually start making the game a little more excitable and look out for signs of claws being retracted and any signs of the cat going to bite you. If they do, stop playing and act dead and this should calm them down. If it doesn’t say ‘ouch’ as loud as you can.

Overall avoiding the behavior is always the best way to stop cat aggression, but if that isn’t possible then ignore the cat and do not give them any attention for a while.

All of your cat training secrets and tips at my blog entitled Cat Training.