Question: "How can I stop kitten attacks?"
Andrea and Jim live with two cats. Smooch is a seven-month-old neutered boy, and Mango a four-year-old spayed girl. The cats share one covered box, and the food and bed areas are 20 feet distant.
"Mango is docile and friendly enough except when Smooch attacks her and clings to her," says Andrea. "He jumps on her, attacks her all the time and Mango hisses and runs. Smooch stalks Mango around the house, pounces on her and she runs, and it repeats all day and sometimes all night. This is a big problem. Smooch sticks to her like Velcro."
Smooch had an exam about 10 days ago, and got a clean bill of health. The behavior began when Smooch became larger than Mango. "James hits the cat on nose and bum, I yell and tap on his bum," says Andrea. "I now put Smooch in cage when he attacks Mango, but he does not seem to mind."
Amy's Answer
There are many kinds of cat aggression and more than 10 common causes. Aggression can be related to health, environment, personality, and even the response of the other cat. Experts look at the cat's physical and emotional health, as well as traits of instinct to help figure out what's going on and find solutions. Think of this as the H.I.S.S. Test, which stands for health, instinct, stress, and symptom solvers.
H=Health
Pain and illness are two common reasons cats act out with aggression. Don't you feel short tempered while under the weather? In this case, though, based on the recent veterinary exam, a health issue isn't at the top of my list for Smooch. However, you don't mention how recent Mango had an exam. Other cats sometimes act aggressively toward the ill cat because she smells or acts abnormal.
I=Instinct
Cats practice the art of stalk, pounce and attack not only in earnest, but as a pastime and game, especially with kittens. Play aggression is hardwired into kittens, and most outgrow the behavior. Any sort of movement, including another cat running away, can stimulate the chase instinct, too. Without a willing play buddy or cat able to draw the line in the sand, the behavior can get out of hand.
S=Stress
Stress always is involved in cases of cat aggression. Several scenarios may be involved. The attacking cat may feel threatened and become defensive or offensive. The victim cat nearly always has elevated stress as a result of the attacks. However, sometimes the victim cat's existing stress levels actually "invite" attack by behaving as if wearing a virtual "kick me" sign.
S=Symptom, Signs & Solutions
At seven months old, Smooch is still very much into his kitten play fighting phase. He's at that juvenile delinquent stage that many kittens ultimately outgrow, in the meantime, this can terrorize the victim cat. Unfortunately, Mango appears unwilling or unable to put the cocky youngster in his place. The more Mango becomes used to expecting Smooch's attacks, the more likely she is to behave like a victim and as a result, possibly invite more attacks. The behavior has become a pattern, and is highly entertaining (rewarding) to Smooch.
Corporeal "hands on" punishment of hitting the cat is a no-no. First, it teaches the cat nothing since he's very unlikely to connect the smack with chasing Mango. Second, it CAN teach the cat to fear human hands-hands that are no longer associated with petting, but instead with pain. Some of these cats turn to retaliation and instead target the hands with bites. Third, it simply does not work-as you've discovered. Cats don't learn nearly as well from physical training as they do with positive reward-based training.
Interrupting the behavior works well , especially when Smooch doesn't expect it. Try tossing a thick towel over top of him. A long-distance squirt gun aimed at his tail (not his face!) also can cool the jets of some cats. A loud noise such as clapping hands or an air horn also may stop the chase, but take care this doesn't also further stress out Mango. You'll find more tips in the article on play aggression.
A "time out" in the cage also is an excellent technique. Done with consistency, it will teach even a hard-head juvenile delinquent cat that chasing=time-out. Be sure, though, to find an alternate behavior that is inconsistent with chasing. For instance, since Smooch loves chase games why not invest in a sturdy fishing pole style toy or a stuffed toy, and entice him to chase/play/attack that instead? Rub it with catnip to make it more appealing than wrestling with Mango. And once Smooch matures, his jets should cool a bit on their own.