Cats are NATURALLY aggressive. Discuss.

Dr Bruce Fogle in his book 'Complete Cat Care' makes a statement which caught my attention: "Cats are naturally aggressive". We don't think of it like that very often. But it is true. And it is a source of potential trouble in the human-to-cat relationship. 

Despite the beautifully relationships between cats and their caregivers all over the world, the domestic cat is a top predator armed with weapons: claws and teeth. 

And they like to use them in play because play for domestic cats is play-hunting. All play is centred around hunting and hunting employs sharp canine teeth and even sharper claws on their forepaws.

They are programmed to hunt and kill. It is their major activity in life. And we know how cats act on instinct. This makes their genetic programming more effective as it is not tempered by rational thought.

Man used hand as a cat toy. Bad idea. Image in public domain and modified by MikeB.

Sometimes a cat caregiver can become annoyed and emotionally hurt by their cat as they feel that they've been respectful and gentle with them only to be scratched or bitten in return. 

Perceived behavioural problems can lead to a breakdown in the relationship and the surrender of the cat at a rescue centre or to a neighbour. Aggressive behaviour is in the top 10 reasons for giving up a cat. Understanding the deep emotional need to be aggressive for cats helps to restore the relationship.

The classic form of feline aggression that pops up from time to time is the 'love bite'. It sounds innocent and loving but the cat love bite is not the same as the human version. We know that.

Another description of 'love bites' is 'petting aggression'. Your cat is relaxed and enjoying your company. You gently pet your cat without thinking too much about how you are doing it and wham, your darling cat companion crunches down on your hand with her sharp canine teeth while holding on with the forepaws.

To release from this uncomfortable situation, distract your cat with the free hand and in that window of opportunity release the trapped hand slowly. Or use the free hand to scruff your cat's neck and then release the other.

RELATED: 11 types of domestic cat aggression and how to resolve them.

Cats' teeth are designed to pierce the skin and break the spinal cord of prey animals. Stroking triggers mixed emotions. Domestic cats enjoy touching their human caregiver and other pets normally.

My cat likes to reach out with his paw to touch my hand when he is with me. They like to be physically connected with their human companion, but they can become worried by it because the domestic cat's adult wildcat ancestor does not make physical contact with others except to mate and fight (normally). 

Although community cats and domestic cats form friendships and can rest together in close contact. But there is a different relationship between cat and human. And there is a big size difference which can work against the relationship. Humans can be intimidating to cats.

When a domestic cat becomes 'emotionally confused' during petting, as Bruce Fogle describes it, they may start to become instinctively aggressive. 

Human caregivers need to spot the signs of feline irritation such as a flicking tail and a tenseness developing in the cat's face and general demeanour. Your cat is warming up for an aggressive act by our standards. Not hers. It is play but all cat play is aggressive.

For people it is all about understanding cat behaviour and respecting it. All feline aggression in the home towards humans can be avoided and should be avoided by reading cat body language and understanding feline behaviour and their deep-seated instincts inherited from their wild cat ancestor which are just below the surface.

Berkeley cat has sudden aversion to being petted

I have taken the title from The Mercury News. The reason why I am writing this note is because a reader of that online newspaper asked a question of their resident expert, Joan. They said that their nine-year-old beloved indoor cat had suddenly taken to clawing at her after she petted him for more than a minute. She found it very odd because he is usually very docile. She wanted to know the cause. I'd like to throw my hat into the ring.

Cat being petted. Image: Getty.

Joan suggested two possible causes: that the cat was feeling pain for some reason and petting him exacerbated the pain causing the inadvertently provoked aggression in response. And secondly she thought that he might be feeling stressed because of a change to his lifestyle as a result of the pandemic.

It's a good question which implies that for many years this woman has been petting her cat in a completely acceptable way. Therefore nothing has changed in the way that she is petting her cat. Therefore the change must come within the cat i.e. there is pain or the environment has changed.

The most likely cause would be that this middle-aged cat has developed sensitivity to petting. This could be quite easily investigated. It may be a certain area of his body which is tender. The owner could do what veterinarians do namely palpate her cat which means to feel her cat and apply a bit of gentle pressure. She can then observe her cat's response. An aggressive response after palpitating a certain area would clearly indicate pain in that area. She could then telephone her vet is there was no external injury.

Cats perceive these circumstances as the person being aggressive towards them. They don't rationalise the fact that they are injured and the person is trying to find the injury. They just feel pain and the pain is being caused by a person so they think that person is deliberately causing them pain. And this would apply even if they have lived with that person for many years in a very good relationship. It's instinctive.

If that doesn't produce any results then you need to look to the environment. I don't believe the coronavirus is the problem (but see below). There may be something else in the environment which is upsetting him. For example, there may be a cat outside which he has noticed which is irritating him because that cat is invading his territory. He wants to attack the cat but can't because he's an indoor cat. Therefore he redirects his aggression at his owner. Petting can irritate under these circumstances and therefore he claws the owner. This, I believe, is the most likely kind of environmental issue causing this abnormal response to petting.

There might be someone else in the home which is upsetting them. Or the owner might be away a lot more than before. On reflection Covid might be a factor on this basis because if the owner was home all the time and then it suddenly away from home the cat might be upset. However the aggressive reaction under these circumstances is unlikely.

The first thing to do is to check health as Joan said (the most likely cause) and then to go through the environmental tick box possibilities until you hit the right answer. The problem might subside naturally with patience.