Aggressive cat

[DebbieC]

My cat growls, hisses and scratches when we try to pet her. We have had her since a kitten so i know she has never been mistreated. She has been neutered so it cant be a frustration thing. I thought she would improve when i started letting her out, no luck. I have tried leaving her alone and letting her approach me but she still hits out. I have a baby on the way and am worried what she will be like with baby. Does anyone have any ideas how to tame her?

[MrsCheeks]

Is this a recent thing or has she always been this way? From the sounds of this though she is very hostile and if your cat is like this now then she WILL stay like this - if you are havig a baby then I hate to say that I think you need to either have the cat rehomed or put down. Sadly I had a cat that began to react like this to anyone and I had to have him put down on the advice of the RSPCA, Cat Protection League and vet as it would have been impossible to rehome him. At the end of the day you must do what is best for you, your baby AND the cat - speak to the vet and get their advice.

[DebbieC]

Thanks for your advice, was hoping to avoid rehoming but might be for the best. She started acting up at about 3 or 4 months old, shes 11 months now.

[SmarterThanU]

kitty prozac

[NetSquirrel]

Seeing as your cat is still quite young, there may be time yet to calm her down. Firstly, I don't think your cat is actually "spiteful" but perhaps just frightened. Try this: wait until she is in a quiet room with no distractions or loud noises, then go in yourself and close the door. Hopefully this shouldn't trigger the hissing. Sit quietly without looking at her - perhaps read a book or something. From then on, just take small steps to see how much she will trust you. A good start, I've found, is to place some food or treats on the floor near you, and to ignore the cat when she eats them. Add more treats, so the cat can see you doing it, but only move your arm very slowly (as this might be what she finds so terrifying) and still ignore her. If you find yourself getting scratched at this stage, pulling away tends to make things worse. Our cat used to enjoy clawing hands and feet, but would get bored and let go if I just let him scratch as much as he wanted, with me staying still. If this doesn't work you could push towards your cat when she lashes out at you (they seem not to expect this) and hopefully she will not retaliate.

The most important thing is to take things slowly and to never attempt to pet your cat until you're sure she will accept it. A hand swooping down towards her might seem alarming at this stage, so show her your hand first, at ground level. Most cats would want to inspect and sniff the hand, and this is usually a good time to introduce food. If all goes well, after a few weeks, she shouldn't see you as a threat anymore, and might even accept food from your hand and let you gently stroke her. All cats are different, though, so some will always be a bit scratchy. I hope things work out for you, Debbie.

[DebbieC]

Thanks NetSquirrel. I have also started stroking her as i put her food bowl down, maybe she will start to associate me with good things. Hopefully!