Discourage Aggression in Your Cat

[Texasmujer]

Discouraging aggressive behavior in your cat helps nurture a healthy relationship not only between you and your pet, but also between your cat and any other person or animal with whom she may come in contact with.

Aggressive behavior, such as biting or scratching people or other pets, in not uncommon in cats. However, if yoru cat shows signs of aggression, consult your veterinarian to rule out medical causes.

COMMON CAUSES FOR AGGRESSION
In the absence of medical causes, common reasons for aggression in cats are fear, boredom, maternal or territorial instincts, control issues, limited tolerance fror physical affection, or an umfamilarity with appropriate play boundaries, which is common in kittens. Your first job in controlling aggressive actions in your cat is to identify which situations may inspire inappropriate behavior.

Next, a dedicated program of behavior modification can help reduce or eliminate aggressive behaviors.


ADDRESSING AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS

1) RECOGNIZE THE WARNING SIGNS: Certain body language, such as a twitching tail, flattened ears, and dilated pupils, may ti you off to an emminent mometnt of aggression and help you defuse the situation before it gets heated.

2) RESPOND APPROPRIATELY TO AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR: If your cat gets too rough during playtime, call a timeout; immediately end the play session and leave the room. In other situations, you can discourage aggression by startling (NOT scaring) the cat with noise---such as a shaking jar of pennies or usig a compressed air canister---and then redirecting the cat's attention to an appropriate toy. Never respond to aggression with attention, affection, or physical reprimands.

3) REINFORCE POSITIVE BEHAVIOR: Use treats and affection to reward good behavior.

4) BE CONSISTENT: A zero-tolerance policy from you and all the people who come into contact with your pet is necessary for effectively discouraging inappropriate behavior.