150 Chapter 10Preventing Human-directed Aggression
Cats are armed with a mouthful of sharp teeth and four feet with sharp claws, and
they can cause a fair amount of injury if they direct these ‘weapons’ towards us. It is
therefore important to be aware of why a cat might become aggressive and what we
can do to prevent human-directed aggression.
Predatory-type play
Cats are natural hunters and a large part of feline play involves practising predatory
skills. Although fun for the cat, when directed towards hands, feet or any other
human body part this type of play is not so much fun for us.
● Do not encourage your cat or kitten to play with your fingers or toes, etc. It can be
hard to resist wiggling your fingers to get a little kitten to chase and ‘attack’, but this
teaches the kitten that people can be used as ‘toys’. Also as the kitten grows up and
becomes stronger, more force will be applied making this type of ‘play’ more painful
for the victim.
● Do encourage appropriate play with toys (see Appendix 2).
● If the cat or kitten makes a ‘playful’ attack on you: (i) because feline predatory
behaviour is triggered and encouraged by movement, it is best to try to keep as
still as possible; (ii) re-direct the cat or kitten towards a moving toy; and (iii) do
not attempt to punish the cat or kitten because this may increase the aggression
by causing the cat to become defensive.
Defensive aggression
Defensive aggression occurs when the cat experiences pain or fear, or anticipates that
something painful or frightening is about to happen. Minimizing stress, fear and pain
as much as possible is therefore important to reduce the risk of human-directed
aggression.
A cat that has had a good start in life, been well socialized and had mainly positive
experiences with people, both as a kitten and later in life, is less likely to feel fearful of
people or become aggressive towards them (see Chapters 8 and 9). But it is also impor-
tant that positive experiences with people continue throughout the cat’s life.
● Do not attempt to punish the cat physically or in any way that might cause the cat
to feel frightened.
● Cats usually cope with frightening events by running away and hiding, or by
jumping up onto an elevated position from where they can look down on a per-
ceived threat. If they are unable to do any of these, the chances are increased that
the cat may resort to aggression as a defence. Even if you are not the main source
of fear, cats may re-direct aggression onto whatever or whoever is nearest if they
do not have other means of coping. It is therefore important that pet cats are pro-
vided with plenty of escape routes, places to hide and access to elevated spaces
such as the tops of furniture, shelves, tables and work surfaces.
● Because of the risk of re-directed aggression, avoid restraining your cat or attempt-
ing to reassure him by picking him up if he is feeling frightened or agitated.