Why is my cat so aggressive?!?! i need help be4 he kills me!!!!?

Question

My cat is a 2nd genoration bengal( his grandmother was literally a asian lepard and hin grand father a regular tabby). We have tried evry thing, like neutering,a spray bottle my father hit him once(i wa so against it) he just atacked him harder andmy dad also ruled out declawing and my mom ruled out having another cat for him to play with. My parents dont seem to see eye to eye with me when it comes to my cat and they always play off the i bought you that 1000$ cat and the truth is i wanted to one from the humane society and i didnt want this one he is sooo sweet alot of the time but he turns phsyco evry 5 minutes wut can i do!!!???

Answer 1

Hi Nikki...most people here will not understand the nature of an early generation Bengals (ALC+ Domestic Bengal=EG). They are not the same as any domestic cat in temperament in any way so they must be treated much differently in order to manage their tendencies of aggression.

Please let me begin by mentioning that squirting them and/or any type of physical reprimands only makes EG's extremely more aggressive as well as unpredictably dangerous. Secondly, because ALC's is naturally drawn to water squirting them is a useless method of training as well. I'll do my best to explain why any type of reprimand doesn't work. Early generation Bengals are closer to their exotic counterpart (ALC) so whenever they are punished by physical means they take it as a form of an aggressive act against them and then retaliate. For an analogy on how reprimands is viewed in their minds...if someone hits you in the face, what's your first emotional reaction...it makes you angry therefore then next response is usually either (1) fight by hitting back (2) pull away (3) cry -- in the cats' case run away and hide. EG Bengals usually will take #1 to defend themselves. This is an exotic cat's instinctive behaviour. Please be sure that anyone around your EG Bengal knows this as this will reduce the chances of escalating the cat's anxieties and turning your cat into a danger to anyone in the home.

There are many remorseful owners who learn that declawing EG Bengals is the most regrettable mistake they could make. It makes them turn to extremely vicious biting and uncontrollable/inappropriately soiling of the home. We have rescued so many Bengals who have not done well with declaws and their owners no longer could manage the vicous attacks or urinating issues as a result. Most need to go through extensive retraining to reduce the biting tendencies, but the house soiling is another difficult problem to tackle, but some can be managed. Few Bengals are the exception to this rule, but the percentage is greater with declaws. I hope you will take this into consideration. EG Bengals would do better with nail clipping once you learn the techniques on how to get them accustomed to having their paws handled safely, which I'm more than willing to take the time to help you by giving you an email to contact me at the end of this answer.

When retraining is difficult as a last resort we will look to supplementing training the cats by using anti-depressants prescribed by a vet. We use a vet who is also a licenced feline behaviourist so that the best anti-depressant is chosen as there are many to consider for cats as well based on many factors--physical weight, overall health, type of anxiety/aggression. Many cats we have put on these do well and this is something you may be able to consider if there doesn't seem to be any other alternatives options available to you.

If you would like more help to work on retraining your cat in addition to nail clipping and looking for additional resources you are more than welcome to email me at this address that I've set up for you: [e-mail]

[edit] I would like to offer any help to you to prevent the worst case scenario. I just read another person here in Yahoo Answers had to put their 7 year old Bengal down recently for a similar problem. Here's the direct link to the question about this: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuJZs28m7dXAnG0EGVYl8McjzKIX?qid=20061103124656AApFfkc

Answer 2

My cat was the same way, I was at the end of my rope with her and getting ready to put her down when someone suggested that she was board. So I got another cat. Now she has a pal to beat up. Ever since I got the second cat she has been the sweetest cat I could ever imagine... Sometimes to friendly though.

Answer 3

I agree with Tillie that a physical problem should be looked into. It may just be the combination of genes in his makeup.

When you have ruled out any physical illness I think you should consider using some flower essences before you let a vet precribe drugs for the cat. In my flower essence book - "Tiger Lily for hostile or aggressive cats or dogs" The essences are inexpensive and easy to use by putting three or four drops on the cat's fur between his ears. I would assume you can get the Tiger Lily through the Flower Essence Society website.

You can also go to www.spiritessence.com. I believe you can email Dr. Jean Hovfe and present your problem (as you have here) and she will suggest one of her remedies for your cat.

Answer 4

ok how is he being phsyco?how big is he?why no declawing?If he is scratching and stays indoors declawing is a great fix,some people think it is mean but an indoor cats claws are unused and can grow to long and give the cat foot problems.Hitting an animal is never the answer it normally makes them more aggressive,not less.I've never tried a spray bottle.Maybe you should try getting a friend or neighbor with a cat to let them play together instead of getting a cat for him to play with especially since he is aggressive and could hurt another cat if not carefully watched.You should try to play with him and give him alot of love,be careful not to distance yourself or avoid him as that will only make matters worse take baby steps with him and he will start acting better .You can also get plastic tips to go over his claws as an alternative to declawing you can get them on petsmart.com.

Answer 5

This is a problem with exotics. They are bred with undomesticated cats to produce unique looking breeds, but they are not and cannot be expected to be normal house cats.

They are very expensive, and, unfortunately, the only way to stop people from cross breeding to get unique looking animals, that often turn out to be less than satisfactory pets, is for folks to stop buying them.

Answer 6

My aunt had a cat that was like that. He would be dead asleep on sec...wake up and attack whoever was closest to him, then immediately fall back asleep. It got to be where we were all afraid to be in the same room with him. Ironically his name was Spook. Eventually she took him to the vet becuz he started pulling his fur out and they put him on a form of kitty prozac and it pretty much leveled him out.

Answer 7

My cat was half mountain lion--half calico and he had a behavior problem that seems similar to what you are describing. The reason for it was because of the "wild" part in him. He will never out grow it because it's in his genes. The only thing I knew to do is, give him away, which I doubt you really want to do, or live with him being a bi-polar kitty :] haha

Answer 8

You need to take him to a behaviorist and see if you can figure out why he is so aggressive. How old is he? If he's still a kitten he's probably just playing and has no idea that he's actually hurting you.

Answer 9

I thought it was illegal to buy cats like that!!!! It's a wild cat and it's going to act instinctively and there's nothing you can do about it. Just love him.

Answer 10

check with your vet. there might be some physiological reason for his behavior.