Troubles with my cat.... being aggressive...

United States
December 11, 2007 12:04pm CST
Well, my cat is almost two years old now. I have been through a lot of stages with him. He seemed to scratch and bite a lot but I spent a lot of time playing with him and teaching him when he got too rough. I thought he was getting better. I was patient with baby-step progress. He seems to be a nice cat as he's always purring and hanging out with me. However, lately he seems to be a little more aggressive than usual. He will be sitting on my lap and as of right now I am doing a ton of applications for jobs so I really can't have him pawing at my screen. I am in the process of graduating from college this week and trying to find a new job. It's very stressful for me, and I don't know if he's noticing the stress level in me. The past week he has clawed me really bad but it wasn't just him swiping his paw at me. If he's on my lap and everything is just fine I'm petting him, suddenly he flips out does a loud yowl and basically viciously attacks my hand. Twice in two days he's attacked hard enough to make me bleed. He doesn't seem to "dislike" me and that's why he's doing it. He sleeps next to me or at the foot of my bed every night, and follows me from room to room like a puppy. He purrs all the time and greets me at the door when I come home. I am not understand why he's doing this to me. I thought he was getting better about his biting and scratching but all of a sudden it was like he took a huge leap backwards.
1 person likes this
3 responses
@scribe1 (1203)
• United States
11 Dec 07
If he jumps on your lap, don't pet him. And if you do, watch out for signs that he's reaching the threshold of scratching you and stop immediately. He doesn't have anything against you personally, as something may be bothering him and he will come around. Just meet him on his own terms and he'll be fine! My five-year-old Mimi is the same way. She'll jump on my lap and lash out at me if I ignore her switching tail and continue petting her. So I've stopped doing that and we're still the best of friends.
2 people like this
11 Dec 07
Has he been neutered? It's often the problem that cats are more aggressive if they haven't been fixed.
1 person likes this
• United States
11 Dec 07
He was neutered over a year ago, when he was about 8 months. And you're right I have heard of cats being more aggressive if they haven't been neutered.
• United States
13 Dec 07
Some cats will never be lap cats or be friendly. Have you taken him to the vet? Usually when there is a drastic behavior change, there is an underlying medical condition that causes it. I had one a while back that was a sweet, loving cat, but he got a UTI and became violent and would scratch if we picked him up. A trip to the vet revealed the UTI and a round of Clavimox cleared it up. I'd suggest a vet trip if he were my cat.