8 Types of Cat Aggression Explained!

what is up my kindly cat mojo tears it is your  friendly neighborhood ever loving cat daddy   jackson galaxy here with you today i'm being  over the top friendly because today's topic is   aggression i think aggression is something that  we have to talk about when it comes to cats   not because it happens with all cats and not  because all humans will experience it but it can   happen and when it does happen i want you to be as  well informed as you can be so that you can find   the solution so it's all about taking the fear out  of cat aggression from the human standpoint and   trying to get you to be the best cat detective  that you could possibly be for the benefit of   your cats and you cats are prey predator animals  straight in the middle of the food chain when they   are out in the wild that fight or flight mechanism  is paramount to their existence in their survival   they always have to have their head on a swivel in  order to survive a lot of their wild still exists   within them and sometimes it comes springing  out in different ways if you remember this that   whether it is from an emotional standpoint or just  the raw cats standpoint or territorial it is about   a degree of suffering within your cat that causes  them to lash out keep that in mind that it's not   about just saving your pants uh or any other part  of you but it's also about making your cat more   well adjusted and happy and as that goes so goes  a safer home so let's get going so today i'm going   to tell you about the eight different types of  cat aggression that's right eight different types   if you look in different references you will see  different names for what i'm about to describe or   more or less than the ones i'm going to  list for you this is what has worked for   me over the years based on my research  and my experience so there you have that   so the first type of cat aggression that we're  going to talk about today is play aggression   play aggression is basically when the hunter in  your cat don't forget play equals prey in the   mind of a cat so the idea of attacking something  in the course of play is very much built into them   you're walking across your dining room floor and  all of a sudden your cat springs out from under   the table and attaches themselves to your ankle  you're working at your desk and you're moving the   mouse around and suddenly there's a cat glommed  on to your hand it really may hurt a whole lot   and that's why you guys come to me and you say my  cat just attacked me it's not it's play aggression   and there's one surefire way to sort of get that  done with and that is to play with your cat if   you've got a cat that exhibits play aggression if  that sounds familiar to you what i just described   then if you play with your cat on a daily basis  and you try to coordinate that play with the times   of day when your cat is more or less likely to  just pounce on your ankles or pounce on your hands   then you will drain that energy that hunter  energy out of them in a constructive way   give them what i call the appropriate victim and  that way you're not setting both of you guys up   for failure don't forget your play aggressive cat  sleeps because they're gearing up for the hunt and   then they go ankle could equal squirrel as far as  they're concerned and the way we move across the   floor and if they're sitting there under a table  yeah you get it i know you do so anyway that's   play aggression very common and very easy to deal  with number two on our cat aggression hit parade   is redirected aggression so look at it like this  okay i'm gonna set up a little scenario for you   you've got these two cats and they're sitting  there just you know sitting next to each other   looking out the window watching the world go by  and suddenly in the window up pops a squirrel and   one of your cats who might be more reactive goes  oh my god and in the course of going oh my god   just redirects that aggression onto the other cat  who then goes what the hell why did you and then a   cat fight happens you will see it happen to you  sometimes you want to hear a double redirected   aggression squirrel or other cat pops up in the  window oh my god says one whacks the other one the   other one's like what just happened then there's  a cat fight now you come into the picture pick   up one of the cats to get them out of the room  now they redirect on you why in the hell did you   just attack me you know i was just trying to help  and you attacked me because your cat doesn't know   who you are in that moment you are the next thing  they have to fight off they are in fight or flight   it's all about survival for them and i know that  sounds weird because they're in your comfortable   house in your living room but don't forget it's  all about the raw cat so what do you do with with   uh redirected aggression in that case i would tell  you that you want to have a more vertical place   for your cats to look out the window if they were  elevated a little bit watching out the window they   would see that whatever it is from a hundred yards  away and and that's how cats hunt more effectively   if they can see something far in the distance when  it comes to you just remember this if they holler   let them go don't try to pick up your cat when  they are in that highly agitated state you are   taking a chance it is like sticking your hand in  the trash disposal and hoping it doesn't turn on   so in that case you're just going to try to use  what i call a sight blocker something that you can   put in between the two cats i mean you can even  use a couch cushion i've used flattened cardboard   boxes that i just have at the ready just in case  something happens like this and in that moment   what you're doing is you're breaking that visual  contact and you're better able to sort of guide   one of them into a safer place this is that time  for a time out when your cat's temperature from   an energetic raw cat standpoint is through the  roof then what you want to do is get them into a   quiet even dark place let them sit it out for just  even a few minutes really sometimes it'll just   take a few minutes and it almost sort of allows  them to reconnect with their skeleton just sort   of come back down to this sort of even plane where  energy and body are just and it doesn't take long   think ahead do not pick up your cat when they  are in the middle of a fight or agitated like   that and then think about timeouts after the fact  so number three on our aggression hit parade today   often it's just called petting induced aggression  now i will take that and i'll say yes petting   induced aggression but i will make it a bigger  category and call it over stimulation aggression   sort of one of the same as far as i'm concerned so  let's start with petting induced over stimulation   there are certain cats who can be pet all the live  long day you just sit there watching tv you and   chester's sitting there chester's purring along  turn along there are some cats where you pet them   three times and they bite you but the signs start  becoming their back starts to quiver a little bit   what i call back lightning or their ears start to  flatten or their tail starts to flick and get to a   kind of wagging point and then one extra touch and  over stimulation is is a physical phenomenon and   it has a lot to do with hair follicle receptors  and a lot of stuff we won't go into right now but   after a certain amount of petting and it depends  from cat to cat their nerve endings just start   to register pain instead of pleasure look  for the signs know when your cat is telling   you they're getting agitated and just back away  and the safest thing at all times with cats who   have established that they are subject to petting  induced over stimulation is to just hang out here   hang out on the cheeks hang out on the head  hang out on the neck right around this area   once you go past the shoulders into the  middle of your cat and their tail in that area   if they're prone to this kind of aggression  that's when they're going to manifest it so just   don't take the chance petting induced aggression  is part in my book of a much bigger thing which is   over stimulation aggression it can also just be  i'm sitting in a house with all of this yelling   going on uh you know the the humans are fighting  or we have uh kids that are running through the   house or i just got chased by someone or  it's just this this thing where the entire   energy that's around me is just too much and  then the next time someone comes up to me i bite   just like with the petting induced overstimulation  aggression you just want to watch your cat's signs   it's just i always talk about that cat energetic  balloon that as they go there's just more and more   air in that balloon and either we let air out  of the balloon or it pops the best thing that   you can do is just get air out by getting them  to run around and chase an appropriate victim   and kill it you know kill something and of course  i mean a toy as opposed to your leg take the over   stimulation and and constructively bring it on  down and you can do that and it will prevent a   lot of over stimulation aggression so number  four of the different types of cat aggression   is pain induced aggression and i coupled this with  over stimulation aggression and petting induced   aggression uh so basically if your cat is hurting  they're going to be more on edge let's say   that you just spent a little bit too much time in  the sun yesterday and you're walking around with a   wicked sunburn today now of course nobody can see  that sunburn because you're wearing a shirt and   you're already kind of ugh because every time that  shirt rubs up against that sunburn you're already   on edge and you got a friend and that friend for  some reason has to be that friend that every time   they walk by you they gotta slap you on the back  hey what's up jackson how are you how you doing   buddy and with that sunburn what's gonna happen  you've all been there i think you get slapped   and it's not just you go oh that really hurt  okay maybe you'll do that once or twice but at   some point they're gonna slap you back and you're  gonna be like chuck could you not slap my back   and that's what your cat could be experiencing  so for instance let's say your cat is arthritic   especially older cats would experience this  and you wouldn't notice it that petting   is going to feel like nails into their skin and  that will cause a reaction and oftentimes it's   that just instant bite or scratch i have seen this  over and over again especially when i worked in   a shelter there were cats that would come in  and they were absolutely fractious i mean it   would get to the point where we're like we don't  think that there's any way we can put this cat up   for adoption but on closer veterinary inspection  something was up a bad tooth actually caused a cat   to act like they were just jekyll and hyde this  cat had an exposed nerve in their in their mouth   or maybe it's an abscessed wound because they were  out there they got into a fight and they have an   abscessed one which makes you feel like you're  on fire so number one thing when you're dealing   with something that sounds like your cat go to  the vet by all means go to the vet and it's not   just about doing blood work and or your analysis  or things like that that we're used to seeing   but it's also about your vet touching and  making sure that i can touch hips or back   i can open their mouth i can look in their mouth  look at everything to make sure that you're not   running behavioral circles around yourself  when your cat has been raising that red flag   and saying ouch and shut up human okay folks  number five on our list of types of cat aggression   is status related aggression and status aggression  belongs to the world of the cat that i call the   napoleon the napoleon complex cat the one who just  feels like i don't feel like i own anything around   here i don't feel like anything belongs to me so  i'm gonna take it and i'm gonna keep taking it   from you even if you tell me go ahead and take it  i i don't believe you so i'm gonna have to take it   anyway so let's say that you've got that cat the  one that i call the beach dweller the one that is   laying in the middle of the floor oftentimes right  in the middle of a doorway and in order for you   to get from your bedroom to the kitchen or more  likely from your kitchen to the bedroom you have   to cross that line you have to cross by that cat  and more often than not they get a little upset   with you when you try to do that that's status  aggression right there um and that can go for your   cats just trying to claim a piece of furniture for  the other cats if they walk up to that chair and   another cat is there they will chase them away  it can go for things like food or or dishes or   anything like that anything that symbolizes you  know something of importance within the home   they can do something really annoying like that  and when i say annoying i mean they could really   lash out it could be very aggressive now whether  it's human related status aggression or cat   related status aggression or anywhere in between  another sort of surefire way that i've been able   to approach this over the years is to add more  stuff is to make sure that that your napoleon   feels like there's enough things to go around  that they don't have to argue over resources   they don't have to guard certain areas if your cat  is guarding the doorway to your bedroom one of the   reasons is because you spend a whole lot of time  there and your scent is really strong in there so   let's create another area like your living room  there's more spaces there you can you know invite   your cat to hang out on the couch along with  the bed and also another thing you can do is put   your scent around different places in the house a  nice thing that i like to do is to take a t-shirt   that's already been worn and put it on your cat's  tree the more places that they have to lay the   more beds the more cat trees um spreading out food  supplies so that there's not just bowl on top of   bowl right if you if you have three cats and you  have three bowls right next to each other then   that little spot becomes really hyper important  for your napoleon cat and they're gonna they   might guard it and there's no way that he can try  to defend or she can try to defend all of those   those little spots at the same time so increase  the peace by just increasing the catification   increasing the environmental enrichment  that's sort of a sure-fire way of getting your   status-related napoleon cat to just relax a little  bit number six in the cat aggression hit parade   would be territorial aggression now i know that  there might be sort of a skinny line here between   status and territory but let me try to widen that  line just a little bit territorial aggression   by now everybody knows that cats are territorial  animals that is just something that is just   baked in uh to their evolution over the years  they protect what they have fiercely you know   by and large from a historical perspective  to protect their food supply to say i know   that i can hunt in this area right here and by  the way i can reproduce in this area i can own   this area this is mine and if somebody comes in  here there's going to be hell to pay and and that   in in its very essence is the root of territorial  aggression now how does that play into our cats at   home so for instance let's say that you have got  um feral cats who uh feed around your home who and   and i know we we do this in a very well-meaning  way but we feed those cats right outside our home   on our front porch or something like that those  cats their scent becomes incredibly strong in   that area a lot of those cats will pee around that  area because what are they doing they're marking   what now they perceive as their territory you know  oftentimes there will be a cat outside your window   your cat inside the house goes tearing towards  that window or the screen door or whatever and   just starts ramming that thing if i if it's put  to me jackson what about this what about if cats   are peeing territorially on the perimeters of  the house hmm jackson you're right i hadn't   thought about that should i actually classify  that as aggression i don't know i kind of   think you might want to well right then after  i've conferred with my better half i would say   that you could even look at territorial peeing  around the house as being aggression in a way it   kind of is it's showing those interlopers  the barbarians at the gate the ones who   are threatening my very existence that this might  be my castle but this is my moat let's move on to   the other part of territorial aggression and that  happens often when there's a new cat in the house   and your cat may just perceive that this new cat  is just there to take everything away from them to   absolutely take apart the sanctity of their  territory and that's where these incredible   fights happen and and i i know that a lot of you  guys who have introduced cats not the right way   have seen these ridiculous fights because uh it's  a stranger there's a stranger in my house who   smells like cat and and if they come into the area  that i'm in and it smells like them i am going to   go into this primal fear that everything is going  to be taken away from me whoever tells you that   the way to introduce cats is to just bring them  on in and let them work it out they have not had   enough cats in their lives and they'll say to  you oh yeah you know i've done this a hundred   times before and i've never had a problem i  don't know what the cat guy's talking about   that's what i say introduce cats the right way  do it carefully because what you're trying to   to really impart to your resident cat is that  nothing is being threatened that every time   they see or smell this other cat actually good  things are going to happen positive associations   need to be built instead of this let them work  it out cats are fiercely territorial if they   feel like something is being threatened from a  territorial perspective they are going to go to   war more times than not it's aggression  it's aggression territorial aggression   damn it our seventh type of cat aggression is  something that we've talked about at length before   again take a look at the video over my head right  here non-recognition aggression and the example   that i use in that particular video is that you  take your cat to the vet and you've got two cats   let's say you take your cat to the vet and one  cat is left at home you bring that cat home and   they've been at the vet maybe they've been there  for a while even if they've been there overnight   something like that they come back smelling like a  whole different animal because they smell like the   vet's office and so if your resident cat the one  that was home all day smells the cat that went to   the vet doesn't recognize them it can be game on  in that moment non-recognition aggression if you   recognize non-recognition aggression just know  that it can be approached it can be remedied if   you know what it looks like then you know how  to walk it back and really that's about like   i said in the territorial aggression piece it's  really all about uh reintroducing your cats in a   very logical step-by-step non-threatening way now  before i get to the eighth type of cat aggression   i'm going to have some honorable mentions  i really sincerely hope that you're saying   and or neutering your cats because if you don't  that's when these honorable mentions come in   for females and i mean i've seen this time and  time again and anybody who has had a mom with   kittens knows that that mom gonna protect their  kittens uh not all of them but because number one   they're not feeling so great you know go back to  that whole sunburn thing and uh but it's it's a   whole lot worse than a sunburn i'll tell you that  and uh and also that they're just being fiercely   protective of their young if you go in there  and you try to pet mom you try to do anything   then aggression will happen all mom cats are  different but it's something to watch out for then   we've got unneutered male aggression so it's it's  sort of a sexually based aggression these these   guys these cats have testosterone coursing through  their system and not only is their main objective   in life to propagate but it's also to fight off  anybody that they perceive to be a threat to   propagating so that's why so many males beat up on  other males out in the streets that's why so many   male cats wind up with diseases that come from  bites or deep scratches or something like that   once your your male cats have been neutered  this kind of of male aggression will will just   pretty much not be a factor so our final category  of cat aggression is idiopathic and idiopathic   if you need to know what idiopathic means well  it's right here right there there you go the   magic of video basically idiopathic means that  there is no known cause for why they're doing it   if we go through this checklist of what  could possibly be threatening your cat and   you go through all of them and you're  like no that's not it i could just be   sitting there and i look at my cat he looks  at me suddenly his eyes dilate and he's on me   uh or we're just sitting there and suddenly he  springs to life and attacks one of my other cats   none of the things are happening that i've listed  there is no threat there are no cats outside   there's no there are no raccoons or squirrels or  anything i live in a 12-story apartment there's   nothing going on and yet my cat is exhibiting the  signs of territorial aggression in that case we   have to remember that cats are just like humans  in this way mental illness is real in animals   it's real suffering is real and suffering  doesn't have to be a broken leg suffering can be   something chemically that's happening in your  cat's brain that is giving them information   that is not real go to your vet have a real frank  discussion with your vet about this likelihood   and consider getting your cat on some kind  of psychiatric medication there are plenty   of holistic approaches that you can take to this  kind of aggression as well i've seen great strides   taken with certain cats by getting acupuncture  or even cranial sacral work or or using flower   essences that i work with and i'm just saying from  this side to this side and every stop in between   the solutions for your cat's well-being in terms  of medicine um can is like this huge apple tree   and you can pick apples from anywhere on that  tree and something is going to help so whether   that's eastern western or anywhere in between  then it's worth a try for the sake of your cat's   well-being and the alleviation of their suffering  all right you guys those are the eight big types   of cat aggression and like i said at the beginning  of this my hope is that you'll be able to identify   what might be going on with your cat or  cats just don't forget this is about their   well-being this is about the alleviation of  suffering even if it's territorial suffering   it's still something that your cat wakes up with  and goes oh i got to do something and you can   do something about it to some degree or another  and that's what i hope you do so before i leave   you guys i just want to mention i have spent a  long time working with cats working with their   humans and i'm really proud of all the products  that i've either made or gathered up in my store   whether we're talking about toys whether  we're talking about beds that increase   territorial confidence whether we're talking  about my flower essence solutions or my books   all of these things are available at  jacksongalaxy.com so please check them out   i answer these questions and make these videos  because you asked me to do it so leave me   something in the comments below uh that tell me  what you want to know about when it comes to your   cat and i will do everything i can to shed some  light on it if i can and in the meantime if you've   got a friend or family member with an aggressive  cat please pass this video on to them because   there's nothing like aggression to break down  that human animal bond and we want to stop that   from happening before it happens and uh and don't  forget hit the bell subscribe all that you want   to know when the next video is coming out don't  you of course you do i'm not being aggressive i   swear i'm not all right until next time you guys  all light and all love and all cat mojo to you   meow

Channel: Jackson Galaxy

Views: 1,583,080

Keywords: Cat Aggression Explained, jackson galaxy, cats, cat guy, cat expert, cat advice, cat behavior, cat issues, cat aggression towards humans, cat aggression jackson galaxy, cat aggression towards other cats, cat behavior problems, why is my cat aggressive, why is my cat so aggressive all the time, jackson galaxy videos, cat symptoms, signs your cat is sick, signs your cat is upset, how to deal with aggressive cats, jackson galaxy cat agression, jackson galaxy cat attacks me

Id: RS5aI8zdHAY

Length: 23min 22sec (1402 seconds)

Published: Sat May 01 2021