Redirected Aggression in Cats

Living with a scared cat is not good, neither for the family nor for the feline itself. In most cases these people end up taking him to an animal protection center, or looking for a new home for him; sometimes they even take him to the vet to euthanize him thinking that there is nothing more they can do for him.

Redirected aggressiveness in cats is a problem, and also a very serious and dangerous one for all that it may entail. For this reason, I am going to talk to you about what to do when you live with such a furry one.

What is redirected aggressiveness?

It is a type of aggressiveness that occurs when a stimulus occurs that causes fear, surprise, discomfort or pain. But since that stimulus is not accessible at that moment, the cat attacks the object, person or other furry in front of it. Although the thing does not end there.

With that first attack, a vicious circle begins that will lead the cat to feel fear or aversion for that being or object that it has chosen as its target, to the point that in any stressful situation a new aggression will occur. And if that "target" is a living being, the family will begin to live with stress, frustration and / or fear for their cat.

What can trigger it?

Anything but the most frequent stimuli are:

• Loud noises.
• Existence of other cats, either in the home or around.
• Unknown people who are going to visit the family.
• Transfers and removals.
• Medical problems: Feeling pain in some part of your body can lead you to attack. Nor should we rule out feline hyperesthesia syndrome, which is a very rare pathology that manifests itself as "attacks" of hypersensitivity on the cat's back that can lead it to attack the first one in front of it.

It can be fixed?

In order for the cat and its family to be well again, it is very important to first find out the cause of its redirected aggressiveness. From there, you can start working with both parties (cat and humans) so that everything returns to normal ... and that implies take the feline to the vet for a complete check-up.

The way the family acts will also be crucial for the well-being of the feline. Because of that, you have to regain the cat's trust, and this is achieved by giving him prizes regularly, playing with him two or three times a day for about 20 minutes each time (a tired cat will be a happy cat 😉), and keeping him a lot of company.

In case we feel lost the ideal is to consult with an expert in feline behavior who works positivelybut only after visiting the vet.