Originally Posted by
Katzztar
I am no animal behaviorist but I gre up with cats. I'll try to give some advise.
Never NEVER use those actions to "calm" a cat, it will have the opposite affect. This makes the cat fear you and stress them out. And Stress can make a cat act like more that, so addign mre stress will make it worse. She will start to attack because she starts to see you as "Danger" and not as a comfortable person to be near.
That is the answer to the question "why is she like that?" Cats are creatures of habit. Her habit changed when some of the family left. She was likely just starting to adjust after mom and brother left 6 weeks ago then BAM! anotehr person leaves and there is more change int he household. So while not fully adjusted from mom and Bro then more is added, that is a lot of stress to her.
Okay is she following you around because you are the only one there now? Cats that are family oriented will follow a person around when they are upset and want comfort BUT a nervous cat is easily aggitated to attacks.
To comfort her ask some questions on her bahavior=
=Who was she closest to? If she was close to mom or brother, can you allow her into thier rooms? the scent of the favorite person will help some.
She was closest to me
=who fed her all the time? if it wasn't you then she is stressing out over another change in habit. make sure you feed her on a scheuldue so she identifies you as a care giver.
I feed her all time
= are you tensign up as she nears? Cats can tell the tension and when people around them get tense, they get tense. ITS a very hard area but on several Animal Planet shows they tell that the person needs to calm down when with the cat or the cat also tense up/
= was there a certain time they would cuddle with her? MAybe at that time she would me more willing to allow a few minutes of petting. but likely not a lot, more on that below
Yes i am. she is very scary when she gets like that.
From her actions on the video it is obvious she is not feeling safe,
I can tell you had follow her around to video the behavior. I noticed she came out as you approached her under the bed. She went to the bed to hide, leave her there and don't approach her, give her space to feel safe. Dont get on the floor and stare at her (I know some people had in similar situations) Cats take being stared at as a challenge, so again, she would not feel safe. IF she follows you around try sitting in a chair, don't reach out to her, let her make the first move ... and no i don't mean attack.
Have you heard of the saying "cats know when someone doesn't like them and they will go strait to that person"? Well there is a reason for that behavior. Cats feel more safe with strange people that don't reach out to them unexpectedly or stare at them and are likely to go up to those people to sniff the hand than go near the person that tapping the couch while staring at them going "here, kitty, kitty"
Try to watch her body lauguage fromt he corner of your eye. A twichting tail means agitation in a cat. So act that lets you pet her for a few minutes then starts to tail twitch is likely saying "I've had enough" and thats when to stop.
Try not to keep her shut up in a room, that can actually make things worse, by addign stress. Try acting to her like you would a little sibling that is tryignt o
start a fight, as you are in the room, ignore her. If she follows you around, dont try to kick her, talk to her softly, make sure she identifies you as not dangerous.
If you can get to this=
If she approaches do not tense up, she will react to that. Take a deep breath and just watch for tension in her, if she lets a soft mew and a (hopefully) a rub of side of head, let her dictate how long the petting, if she tail-twitches or moves her body you recognize as a pre-attack, remove hand, but do not yell or jerk away.
Living with a cat is a lot like having a baby or toddler, they have a instinctive way to act and we cant assume they understand us.
I hopw you can get some .. if just a little bit...help from this.
But remember do NOT kick or throw water on a cat, it will only make things far far worse by making the cat not trust you.
My Cat is attacking me furiously
Reply With Quote
