I believe my boy is showing signs of redirected aggression (as does my poor ripped to shreds legs).
Whenever he spots another cat in our garden he properly attacks me, it's only happened twice last time I was on antibiotics because my leg became infected!
He spotted a cat in the garden tonight some quickly shut the door on him to keep him away from me, he wasn't too happy about it and was howling away. I'm beginning to become scared of him and I obviously dont want that. No also don't want him to become stressed. What can info to help the situation? I'm also terrified he'll turn on my two year old.
I love him to bits and want to make him happier at home.
Please help, redirected aggression.
-
Ruth B
- VIP Cat Chatter!
- Posts: 1998
- Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 11:31 am
- No. of cats in household: 3
- Location: Wolverhampton
Re: Please help, redirected aggression.
The first thing I have to ask is, is he neutered? If he isn't then this would go a long way to helping the problem and give him a longer, healthier and happier life.
Assuming he is neutered I would recommend getting one of the Purrs, Frenzy, or Da Bird toys with a long wand and then one of the heavier toys to attach to it. I have a Frenzy wand that is about 5 or 6 feet long and has an additional 6 foot of string on it. I got mine for a very nervous cat so I could play with her without getting close, for your lad it means you can give him something to direct the aggression onto and then when he has calmed down give him a fuss and a treat. If you spot the cat before he does you could also use it as a distraction. As for the attachments, mine like the standard feathers as they fly through the air and can be chased and pounced, I did get one of the Ratatouille but found that it was rather heavy for them to chase through the air, but great for kicking and biting when caught, so something like that would probably be good for you to use.
If you also give him a lot of play time with it generally, hopefully he won't have as much pent up energy when he sees another cat and so is less likely to suffer the aggressive response.
Also I would advise washing any cat scratches and bites in a good antiseptic wash, my prefered option is the Hydrogen Peroxide solution I have for cleaning my contact lenses, it stings but I have never had a scratch get infected if I have cleaned it with it. A cheap alternative is salt water solution, a good shake of salt in a bowl of water used to wash any scratches will also normally kill off any infection before it starts.
Assuming he is neutered I would recommend getting one of the Purrs, Frenzy, or Da Bird toys with a long wand and then one of the heavier toys to attach to it. I have a Frenzy wand that is about 5 or 6 feet long and has an additional 6 foot of string on it. I got mine for a very nervous cat so I could play with her without getting close, for your lad it means you can give him something to direct the aggression onto and then when he has calmed down give him a fuss and a treat. If you spot the cat before he does you could also use it as a distraction. As for the attachments, mine like the standard feathers as they fly through the air and can be chased and pounced, I did get one of the Ratatouille but found that it was rather heavy for them to chase through the air, but great for kicking and biting when caught, so something like that would probably be good for you to use.
If you also give him a lot of play time with it generally, hopefully he won't have as much pent up energy when he sees another cat and so is less likely to suffer the aggressive response.
Also I would advise washing any cat scratches and bites in a good antiseptic wash, my prefered option is the Hydrogen Peroxide solution I have for cleaning my contact lenses, it stings but I have never had a scratch get infected if I have cleaned it with it. A cheap alternative is salt water solution, a good shake of salt in a bowl of water used to wash any scratches will also normally kill off any infection before it starts.
Re: Please help, redirected aggression.
Thank you. He is neutered thankfully.
We have one of those toys which he loves, I'll defo give that a try.
We have one of those toys which he loves, I'll defo give that a try.