Lesson 10 - Handling Aggressive Cats

• Senior Cats
• Ill Cats
• +2
• Vocational Education

Lesson Outline

Theory

Handling Aggressive Cats

Practical

• Dry/Wet Bath + Prep Coat
• Full Groom Scissoring

Models

Dummy Cat Fur

• Theory 1 Hour
  
• Quiz 15mins
  
• Break 15 mins
  
• Practical 2.5 hours
  

Lesson 10

Handling Aggressive Cats

Presented by:

Aggression in Cats

Aggression is the second most common feline behaviour problem seen by animal behaviourists. 

Cats can bite and inflict severe lacerations, which are painful and can easily become infected. 

Aggressive cats can be risky to groom or have at home and can pose a real danger. 

(Can ask students if they have ever encountered aggressive cats)

What is Aggression?

Aggression refers to a wide variety of complex behaviours that occur for different reasons under various circumstances. 

In pet cats, aggressive behaviour can range from cats who hiss and avoid or attack the target of their aggression.

Aggression is threatening or harmful behaviour directed toward a person, another cat or other animals. Virtually all wild animals display aggression to guard their territories, defend their offspring and protect themselves if attacked. 

What agitates cats when they visit a Groomer?

From the cat’s perspective, they are being cautious. 

Especially in a new environment, they are looking out for potential predators. 

As a result, they can go into fight, flight, or freeze mode.

Offensive Postures

• A stiff, straight-legged upright stance
  
• Stiffened rear legs, with the rear end raised and the back sloped downward toward the head
  
• Tail is stiff and lowered or held straight down to the ground
  
• Direct stare
  
• Upright ears, with the backs rotated slightly forward
  
• Piloerection (hackles up), including fur on the tail
  
• Constricted pupils
  
• Directly facing opponent, possibly moving toward him
  
• Might be growling, howling or yowling
  

Defensive Postures

• Crouching
• Head tucked in
• Tail curved around the body and tucked in
• Eyes wide open with pupils partially or fully dilated
• Ears flattened sideways or backward on the head
• Piloerection (hackles up)
• In an anxious cat, whiskers might be retracted
• In a fearful cat, whiskers might pan out and forward to assess distance between himself and the danger
• Turning sideways to the opponent, not straight on
• Open-mouthed hissing or spitting
• Might deliver quick strikes with front paws, claws out

Overt aggression, whether defensive or offensive, includes:

• Swatting, striking with paws
• Biting
• Fighting
• Growling, shrieking
• Scratching
• Preparing for an all-out attack by rolling onto side or back and exposing all weapons: teeth and claws
• In this position, your cat might attempt to grab your hand and bring it to his mouth to bite it

Types of Aggression

• Over-Handling
• Fear Aggression 
• Redirected Aggression
• Pain-induced Aggression
• Play Aggression
• Noise-induced Aggression
• Sexual Aggression

Overhandling

Some cats do not tolerate being patted for a long period. 

In these cases, the cat tends to be very content or tolerant while being patted initially, then suddenly will start showing signs of irritation or stress (swishing tail, dilated pupils, tense body, ears back) and if the person does not end the interaction, the cat will then bite or scratch, jump down, run a short distance, sit and groom, with pupils dilated. 

The bites and scratches are often initially inhibited (not made with enough force to injure/claws retracted) but can escalate to more serious bites and scratches.

Prevention and Management

If your cat shows signs of patting/petting-induced aggression during grooming:

• Don’t pat the cat for a prolonged period, learn how much interaction your cat can tolerate before getting irritated.
  

• Wait for the cat to initiate patting – and then keep it short.
  

• Look out for any signals that the cat sends when they do not wish to be patted anymore and use these as your cue to stop patting (e.g. swishing tail, dilated pupils, tense body, ears back).
  

• Some cats can learn to tolerate more patting through desensitisation. This involves patting the cat for at first very short and then increasingly longer times, while rewarding the cat with food treats for tolerating the patting. This will not work for all cats, and it is important to accept the individual cat’s right to choose what kind of interactions they have with people and for how long.
  

Fear Aggression

Cats usually display fear aggression when they feel threatened, especially when cornered. 

Initially the cat tends to show defensive body language and will attempt to avoid the person they are afraid of, but when cornered they may show aggression in an attempt to create distance between themselves and the person. In this situation, their ears will generally be turned back, and the tail and body lowered, teeth will be displayed, and hissing or growling may occur. 

Causes:

• Cat’s living situation and people’s interactions with them
  
• Lack of socialisation
  
• Genetic predisposition
  
• Cat’s general personality
  
• Inappropriate human-cat interactions (e.g. History of punishment, can lead to the development of fear aggression)
  

Cats with fear aggression generally do not approach; they are displaying aggression in an attempt to keep the person they are afraid of away from them. Fear aggression can occur at any age.

Prevention and Management

• Avoid potential triggering situations
  

• It is important to accept the individual cat’s right to choose what kind of interactions they have with people but if the triggering situation cannot be avoided, patient and empathetic desensitisation can be attempted through by gradual exposure of the cat to the fearful stimulus.
  

• Give the cat a food treat while they are calm during the trigger situation. Rewarding with a food treat whilst calm reinforces relaxation during exposure to the fearful event. This is known as ‘counter-conditioning’ (associating a fear-evoking situation with a pleasant experience).
  

• Sometimes medication can be used in combination with behavioural modification (your vet will advise).
  

• Synthetic pheromones can also have a calming effect (e.g. Feliway)
  

Avoid potential triggering situations

This is sometimes inevitable during grooming, because the cat is already out of the house which is their comfort zone. But we can prevent the cat’s fear from escalating by how we approach the cat, being gentle yet firm with handling and using the right tools to avoid us and the cat from getting hurt in the event they do try and cause harm.

It is important to accept the individual cat’s right to choose what kind of interactions they have with people but if the triggering situation cannot be avoided, patient and empathetic desensitisation can be attempted through by gradual exposure of the cat to the fearful stimulus.

Always respect the cat’s need for space. Evaluate when and how long it is necessary to restrain the cat and when to give it breaks in between the groom. If the cat is not comfortable with long sessions, try to keep the sessions as short as possible and slowly working your way up to longer sessions to avoid stressing out the cat too much.

Give the cat a food treat while they are calm during the trigger situation. Rewarding with a food treat whilst calm reinforces relaxation during exposure to the fearful event. This is known as ‘counter-conditioning’ (associating a fear-evoking situation with a pleasant experience).

Cats that are very food-motivated can be “bribed” with treats during grooming. While they are eating, you can use the opportunity to try and groom the areas where they would not allow you to touch without the treat. You can also use the treat to immediately reward them while giving them a quick break.

Sometimes medication can be used in combination with behavioural modification (your vet will advise).

The most common drug prescribed for cats that are easily stressed out during grooming is gabapentin which owners can get from their preferred vet.

Synthetic pheromones can also have a calming effect (e.g. Feliway)

Feliway works for some cats, you can try spraying it on your table or a towel before the groom. If the cat is easily stressed out at home, you can also advise owners to use Feliway at home to help ease their stress.

Redirected Aggression

Redirected aggression occurs when a human attempts to handle a cat who is aroused by something unrelated to the person, such as being chased by a dog or fighting with another cat. 

When the aggression is directed towards cats or towards humans, redirected aggression is likely to occur repeatedly unless the trigger can be removed.

Prevention and Management

• Take steps to avoid the trigger situation from occurring, e.g. keeping other cats out of their sight
  

• Avoid handling the cat if they appear aroused by something
  

• It may be possible to systematically desensitise the cat by gradual exposure to the fearful stimulus
  

• Medication may also be used in combination with behavioural modification
  

It may be possible to systematically desensitise the cat by gradual exposure to the fearful stimulus

Like using a counter-conditioning approach in which you give the cat a food treat while they are calm during the trigger situation. Rewarding with a food treat whilst calm reinforces relaxation during exposure to the fearful event.

Pain-induced Aggression

This form of aggression may be shown in response to pain, or the anticipation of pain. 

These include aggression shown during handling of a cat who is painful or if the cat associates handling with pain and acts aggressively in an attempt to avoid the pain.

Pain-induced Aggression is often due to chronic pain such as arthritis or an acute injury or a painful procedure being performed. When conducting check-ins for first timers, it’s advised to check how old the cat is and whether or not they have any health conditions to be aware of. If the cat is a senior cat, handling will need to be gentler. If the cat has just recovered from surgery, we need to know where the incision spot is and be extra careful when grooming around those areas. 

A cat who has had a painful grooming experience due to a matted coat may anticipate that grooming will be painful and may attempt to avoid this by displaying aggression.

Prevention and Management

Avoidance of the trigger, including provision of adequate pain relief for conditions resulting in acute or chronic pain.

Once you have ensured the cat is not in pain, systematic and gradual desensitisation to situations that were previously associated with pain.

Give the cat a treat while they tolerate or are relaxed during the trigger situation.

Play Aggression

One of the most common types of aggression is play aggression. Vigorous play in cats is part of normal cat behaviour.

These cats are usually young, energetic cats living as single cats in a household and sometimes have a history of being taken early from their mother and siblings. 

Play aggression typically involves the cat stalking the person and then leaping onto them. 

There is usually no warning growl or hiss. 

The cat may hide in wait behind a barrier, intensely focused, and with their tail twitching. 

The cat does not show characteristic signs of fear or retreat from or avoid the person. In fact, the cat often hides behind some furniture and waits until a person walks by, and then dashes out and attacks the person’s ankles.

Often, owners contribute to the problem by playing roughly with the cat when it is a little kitten, rewarding it for biting and clawing by continuing the play.

Play aggression during grooming can manifest in the cat trying to bite grooming tools such as the comb or scissors or your hands. It is important to highlight these behaviours to their owners so that they can start building good habits at home.

Prevention and Management

Do not encourage aggressive play: this involves ignoring unwanted behaviour (not reinforcing it with your attention). If the cat tries to play aggressively, distract the cat and do not react.

Positive reinforcement training also involves rewarding ‘good’ behaviour. 

Confrontational reactions such as physical punishment, or reacting to the aggression with fast movements or high-pitched vocalisations, may simply reinforce the aggression (via negative reinforcement).

Do not encourage aggressive play: this involves ignoring unwanted behaviour (not reinforcing it with your attention). If the cat tries to play aggressively, distract the cat and do not react.

No reaction means that your cat receives no attention for the unwanted behaviour and thus they are less likely to continue that behaviour if they learn that they won’t get any attention when they do it. Learn how to predict when play aggression is likely to occur and redirect the behaviour before it happens.

Positive reinforcement training also involves rewarding ‘good’ behaviour

When the cat is playing with their cat toy or when they are calm and relaxed, you can reward them with a food treat.

Confrontational reactions such as physical punishment, or reacting to the aggression with fast movements or high-pitched vocalisations, may simply reinforce the aggression (via negative reinforcement)

This is because any reaction even negative is still attention, and some cats would prefer to have negative attention than to have no attention at all.

Noise-induced Aggression

Cats may respond to certain sound frequencies with aggression. Examples include another cat crying, high-frequency whistling, a baby crying, or squeaking sounds.

During grooming, noises that can trigger a cat can be:

Sound of the shaver or scissors

Doors closing too loudly

Sound of water running

Dryer sound being too loud

Other cat sounds

Sound of things dropping

Always try to maintain a calm and peaceful environment in the salon. When working with animals, especially cats, we need to ensure that we are calm at all times so we don’t pass on the anxious energy on to the cats.

Prevention and Management

Avoid trigger sound frequencies (where possible)

Where appropriate and safe, you can attempt desensitisation and counter-conditioning. 

Desensitisation to noise means playing the ‘trigger’ sound at a very low volume and if the cat remains calm and relaxed, they can then be rewarded with a food treat (counter-conditioning). 

The volume is then very slowly increased over time and the cat continues to be rewarded as long as they remain calm and relaxed during the sound.

In Nekomori, we use shavers that are softer than usual so it doesn’t stress out cats that are triggered by the loud shaver noise. 

Sexual Aggression

It is more common for male cats to exhibit sexual aggression. 

The cat will mount a person’s arm or ankle, grab the skin with his teeth, and initiate pelvic thrusting. Attempts to dislodge the cat at this point will result in increased aggression..

While a female cat’s thick scruff generally protects her from actual harm due to the males nape-bite (scruff of the neck), human skin is not so well protected and can result in injury. 

Prevention and Management

Learn to recognise the triggers for an aggressive sexual mount and then avoid the situation (e.g. leave the room).

When this behaviour starts, distract the cat with a toy instead or food (food treats should not be given if the cat is already showing aggression as this may negatively reinforce the behaviour).

Learn to recognise the triggers for an aggressive sexual mount and then avoid the situation (e.g. leave the room).

When this behaviour starts, distract the cat with a toy instead or food (food treats should not be given if the cat is already showing aggression as this may negatively reinforce the behaviour).

During grooming, you may encounter unsterilised male cats. They can be more territorial if they smell the scent of another unsterilised male cat. We do not advise owners to bring their cats in for grooming if they are in heat as they can be unpredictable in a foreign environment. 

Classification of Aggressive Behaviour

We can try to understand the cause of the cat’s aggression and their motivation for it before we can suggest ways to help.

Some questions to ask:

Who did he aggress toward?

When and where did it happen? 

What was going on before the lead up to the incident? 

What was about to happen to your cat? 

Determining the answers to these questions can clarify the circumstances that trigger the cat’s aggressive reaction and provide insight into why it’s behaving this way. 

If the cat has been aggressive in the past or you suspect he could become aggressive, take time to evaluate the situations that got it upset. 

Classification of Aggressive Behaviour

Keep in mind that a number of medical conditions can cause or contribute to your cat’s aggression, including toxoplasmosis, hyperthyroidism, epilepsy, abscesses, arthritis, dental disease, rabies, trauma, and sensory decline or cognitive dysfunction in older cats.

Aggressive behaviour problems in cats can be classified in different ways. A good way to understand why the cat is aggressive is to think about the function or purpose of the aggression. 

If you consider all the reasons why cats behave aggressively, you can determine what motivates the cat to do so and identify what it might gain from his behaviour.

Between Cats

The most obvious and easily understood type of aggression between cats occurs between unneutered males. As males reach adulthood, they often begin to challenge each other for access to mates and territory.

Tom cats who roam will get into threatening stand-offs and actual fights. They sit or stand stiffly, their hackles up, and stare at each other. Their ears are swiveled backward, and they often growl, hiss and howl loudly. One cat might eventually slowly leave, or one or both of them might attack.

Fearful or Defensive?

Fear aggression can occur when a cat perceives a threat, and it escalates if he can’t escape. 

The more threatening the person, animal, object or sound seems to the cat, the more heightened his fear reaction will be. 

Aggressive signals are especially likely to be displayed if a cat can’t escape the thing he fears. 

Often the best way to deal with a defensively aggressive cat is to simply avoid him until it calms down.  

Ask students what are some typical body postures associated with fearful of defensive aggression.

Combination of defensive signals (such as crouching, flattening the ears, tucking the tail, leaning away or rolling onto the side, and pupil dilation) and aggressive signals (such as hissing and spitting, piloerection, growling, swatting, biting and scratching). 

Territorial

Animals of many species strive to expel or keep out other individuals from their territory, and cats are no exception. Both male and female cats are territorial, but males may defend larger territories than females. 

Cats’ territorial aggression is usually directly toward other cats, but it can be directed toward dogs and people, too. A cat can show territorial aggression toward some family members and not others and toward some cats but not others. Cats mark their turf by patrolling, chin rubbing and urine spraying. They may stalk, chase and ambush a targeted intruder while displaying offensive body postures, including hissing, swatting and growling.

Tools to use

• Muzzle
  
• Air muzzle
  
• Towel
  
• Boots
  
• Happy hoodie
  
• Bite Gloves
  

Cats’ territorial aggression is usually directly toward other cats, but it can be directed toward dogs and people, too. A cat can show territorial aggression toward some family members and not others and toward some cats but not others. Cats mark their turf by patrolling, chin rubbing and urine spraying. They may stalk, chase and ambush a targeted intruder while displaying offensive body postures, including hissing, swatting and growling.

Bathing an Aggressive Cat

• Keep the muzzle on if necessary 

• Maintain a firm grip to prevent any injuries to the cat of yourself

• Towel dry the cat, use more than 1 towel if necessary

• Keep the bath short to avoid stressing out the cat too much

• Ensure that your tools are within reach

Grooming an Aggressive Cat

• Be calm and firm

• Ensure that your tools are within reach

• If possible do what triggers the cat last (e.g. Nails or ears)

• Anticipate what the cat might do and be prepared

• Getting the help of another groomer

• If the cat is too stressed and keeps attempting to strike, stop the groom and split the session up

What are some signs of an aggressive cat?

Name 3 types of aggression in cats

Name 5 tools we use when handling aggressive cats