Cats becoming aggressive???

Question

ok, im 38 weeks pregnant, and all of the sudden my oldest cat is attacking me, and really not listening, he use to be really good, never got on the table, and he taught our kitten to behave, like mothering or something, but as i near labour, he has gotten so crazy, like we got him neutered forever ago, so i dont think that would hit him now...and im afraid of having a baby, and him acting like this, i mean he literally jumps out from no where and bites onto me, and wont let go, whats wrong with him? my kitten started doing this shortly after, and im afraid ill have to get rid of them if they dotn stop, the water bottle method doesnt work, and the older cat keeps running into my room under my bed, or jumps in the babies bassinet, and i want it to stop, we keep the bedroom door closed, its just when im trying to put landry in there, he sneaks in, please any advice

Answer 1

Cat owners sometimes have difficulty understanding why their cats seem friendly and content one minute and may suddenly bite and scratch them the next. Aggressive behaviors are part of the normal behavioral patterns of almost any animal species. Cat bites are seldom reported, but probably occur more frequently than dog bites. Aggressive cats can be dangerous, so attempting to resolve a cat aggression problem often requires assistance from an animal behavior specialist who is knowledgeable about cat behavior.

Types Of Aggression
Play Aggression
Play-motivated aggressive behaviors are commonly observed in young, active cats less than two years of age, that live in one-cat households. Play incorporates a variety of behaviors, such as exploratory, investigative and predatory, and provides young cats with opportunities to practice skills they would normally need for survival. For example, kittens like to explore new areas and investigate anything that moves, and may bat at, pounce on, and bite objects that resemble prey.

Playful aggression often occurs when an unsuspecting owner comes down the stairs, steps out of the bathtub, rounds a corner, or even moves under the bedcovers while sleeping. These playful attacks may result in scratches and inhibited bites which don't break the skin. People sometimes inadvertently initiate aggressive behavior by encouraging their cat to chase or bite at their hands and feet during play. The body postures seen during play aggression resemble the postures a cat would normally show when searching for or catching prey. A cat may freeze in a low crouch before pouncing, twitch her tail, flick her ears back and forth, and/or wrap her front feet around a person's hands or feet while biting. These are all normal cat behaviors, whether they're seen during play or are part of an actual predatory sequence. Most play aggression can be successfully redirected to appropriate targets, however, it may still result in injury (see our handout: "Managing Your Kitten's Rough Play").

"Don't Pet Me Anymore" Aggression
Some cats will suddenly bite while they're being petted. This behavior isn't well understood, even by experienced animal behaviorists. For whatever reason, petting which the cat was previously enjoying, apparently becomes unpleasant. Biting is the cat's signal that she has had enough petting. Cats vary in how much they'll tolerate being petted or held. Although people often describe their cats as biting "out of the blue" or without warning, cats do generally give several signals before biting.

You should become more aware of your cat's body postures, and cease petting or stop any other kind of interaction before a bite occurs. Signals to be aware of include:

Restlessness
Your cat's tail beginning to twitch
Your cat's ears turning back or flicking back and forth
Your cat turning or moving her head toward your hand
When you observe any of these signals, it's time to stop petting your cat immediately and allow her to sit quietly on your lap or go her own way, whichever she prefers. Any kind of physical punishment almost always makes the problem worse, because your cat is more likely to bite either because she is fearful and/or because petting becomes even more unpleasant if it's associated with punishment.

If you want to try to prolong the amount of time your cat will tolerate petting, use some food rewards. When your cat first begins to show any of the behaviors described above (or even before she does so) offer her a special tidbit of food like a tiny piece of tuna or boiled chicken. At the same time, decrease the intensity of your petting. Continue to lightly pet your cat for a short time period while offering her tidbits. In this way, she'll come to associate petting with pleasant things and it may help her to enjoy petting for longer time periods. Each time you work with your cat, try to pet her a little longer each time using the food as a reward. Be sure to stop the petting before she shows any aggression. If a display of aggression results in the petting being stopped, then this unacceptable behavior has worked.


What Not To Do
If your cats are fighting, don't allow the fights to continue. Because cats are so territorial, and because they don't establish firm dominance hierarchies, they won't be able to "work things out" as dogs sometimes do. The more often cats fight, the worse the problem is likely to become. To stop a fight in progress, make a loud noise, such as blowing a whistle, squirting the cats with water, or throwing something soft at them. Don't try to pull them apart.
Prevent future fights. This may mean keeping the cats totally separated from each other while you're working on the problem, or at least preventing contact between them in situations likely to trigger a fight.
Don't try to punish the cats involved. Punishment is likely to elicit further aggression and fearful responses, which will only make the problem worse. If you attempt punishment, you may become a target for redirected and defensive aggression.
Because their social organization is somewhat flexible, some cats are relatively tolerant of sharing their house and territory with multiple cats. It's not uncommon for a cat to tolerate some cats, but not get along with others in the house. However, the more cats sharing the same territory, the more likely it is that some of your cats will begin fighting with each other.

When you introduce cats to each other, one of them may send "play" signals which can be misinterpreted by the other cat. If those signals are interpreted as aggression by one of the cats, then you should handle the situation as "aggressive."

The factors that determine how well cats will get along together are not fully understood. Cats that are well-socialized (they had pleasant experiences with other cats during kittenhood) will likely be more sociable than those that haven't been around many other cats. On the other hand, "street cats" that are in the habit of fighting with other cats in order to defend their territory and food resources, may not do well in a multi-cat household. Genetic factors also influence a cat's temperament, so friendly parents are probably more likely to produce friendly offspring.

Answer 2

Yes cats do become aggressive. Not many people know this but the cat smells you changing and the baby growing in side of you. I've had cats all my life and when I got pregnant my cat didn't get aggressive, but cats act differently.When I had my second child my husband brought one of her hospital blankets home. That will get the cats use to the baby before she/he comes home.If your treating her differently that may be why,I bet she just wants attention, so give her and your other cats extra love.Also if the cat gets to aggressive take her to the vet, something maybe wrong and she's giving you warning signs.
**Good Luck**

Answer 3

Cats are very jealous sulky animals..if you have a baby or even have another animal they will act up..either getting aggressive or going the opposite way and hiding and not eating....I think perhaps you have changed the way you treat him and he knows there is something different happening within the household and as for the kitten he is just copying.....if you are worried about the babies safety I would see about rehoming your cats...

Answer 4

it's a jelousy issue. he can tell that the baby will be here soon. my mom's siamese did the same thing to me. we had to stick him in his kennle for a kitty time out. you could put velcro on the edge of the bassinet and in the door ways to the bedrooms. cats hate the feel and sound of velcro. balloons also work. you could pop on ever time he goes into the rooms or tries to attack you. we used both methods with my kitten when he was jumping into our babies crib. the vet actually advised it.

Answer 5

Cats are very intuitive to situations. Its sounds like your cat is acting like an older sibling when a baby is about to be born. Even if you don't think your actions have changed towards your animals, I guarantee they have.
Since it sounds like your cat is getting a little scared about its place in your home and is crying out for attention and acceptance by trying to play with you and be your friend. Now that you have locked him out of the room he probably no longer feels part of the family.
My recommendation would be to buy him his own bed or make one out of towels, put your kitty on it and pet and love him. Feed him special treats and play with him when he wants to be played with. Just as you are excited and aprehensive about bringing home a new baby, so is your cat. To get him adjusted to the new sounds, put a tape recorder in the bassenet and play a baby crying and cooing.
Please remember that you adopted the cat as part of your family, to love and care for not just when its convenient for you. When you are adjusting to new changes you have to give them some time and attention with the adjustments as well. No, cats won't steal the babies "breath" but yes they can get jealous. So help him out a little and things should work themselves out just fine.

Answer 6

My opinion, it sounds like your cat is bored. I might no be right but that is what I think. What I would do is go to a store with pet stuff in it (Wal-Marts and Dollar Stores are fine) and by some toys for it to play with. My cats were raised outside, this winter we brought them in. After about 2 days they seemed to be bored out of their minds. They would search for holes to go in and places to jump onto. One cat even jumped onto a chair that was under our table. Within the next few days they started playing "tag" with each other. (They would chase each other around the house.) After about a week they were jumping on each other and they even started chasing their tails. It was funny, but sometimes annoying. The next day I went to Wal-Mart, and bought some balls with bells in them and a dangling bell with ribbons on them. The cats loved them!!! (They are four years old too) If getting them toys doesn't work, start treating him like a untrained cat. (Reward them for being good by petting them, or punish them for being bad (flicking their nose or anything) that is what my vet said to do.) I hope that I solved your problem. I hope your baby is healthy. :)

Answer 7

he probably just wants some attention. You are to busy, Mine acts like that however he attacks my face! the mothers tale says cats get jealous easily, and they say they will lay on your babies face. I have never heard that all the times I see that when you have the baby the cats treats it like its own. Good luck your call.

Answer 8

i dont know why the cat is doing this all of the sudden but if you feel this cat will be a threat find a new home for it.

Answer 9

well try to find a home for it if it is a danger to ur baby, it might just b lonely or jealous