BehavioRx Case of the Month
for June 1997

The Attacking Cat

The HelpLine received a frantic call from a client whose 6 year old neutered male tabby had started attacking the new female kitten. The kitten had never fought back and had started spending her days hiding under furniture in spaces too small for the male to reach her. It was so severe that the male had to be kept in a separate room, where he almost incessantly paced and yowled. Both pets were in excellent health and no obvious problems were found which might cause the male to re-direct aggression toward the kitten, such as outside cats perching on window sills.


As it turned out, the owner, a single woman in her twenties, had always allowed the male to sleep on her bed and spent the evenings with him on her lap. When the kitten first arrived, the male had only attacked her when he was on the owner's lap. The owner had swatted his rump with a rolled up newspaper, scolding him loudly. When this didn't work, she would forcibly hold him on her lap when the kitten was in the same room. However, the male began stalking the kitten within a couple of weeks and the situation was intolerable within a month.

We explained the cat's association of her negative punishment with the kitten, which she quickly grasped. She even suggested ways that she thought she might turn the negative to positive feelings about the kitten. These were; withhold food from the male and feed him when the kitten came out from hiding, and pet him only when the kitten appeared. [As it happened, the client was a university professor of psychology.] We congratulated her, suggested she try these measures and phone back with a report as soon as she noted the male's reactions. She called two days later to report that he was getting worse.

We then suggested she board the kitten for four days in order to relieve her constant stress created by the fear of being attacked. During that period of time the owner was to ignore the male completely at home. She was then to take the male in a carrier to the kennel and introduce the two in the kennel office, making an affectionate fuss over the male. If he reacted favorably, i.e. did not attack the cat or even show friendliness, she was to take them both home in carriers.

Back home, she was to put the male [still in the carrier] in the bedroom, then release the kitten in an area with no hiding places, where she was to pet her pleasantly and make her feel comfortable. The kitchen was selected as the reunion site. The next step was to bring in the male and release him, making the same pleasant fuss as at the kennel. If things went smoothly, she would need to continue the program until she felt the two pets had adjusted comfortably to each other. If things didn't go well, she would need to re-board the kitten and try again.

Three weeks later the client called to report that she had to board the kitten twice before the male responded amicably to the kitten's presence in the kitchen at home. She then opened the kitchen door. Surprisingly, both cats walked calmly into the living room, sniffed around and settled down for a nap.

Turning negative social associations into positive ones is usually more successful than working with food-based programs. All of which tends to support the concept that pet cats may be far more sensitive to their owners' emotions than most dog owners appreciate.

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May 1997
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