Attack Mode

[KittyGurl]

My cat, Mickey, is nice and friendly. Well, sometimes he is. When I play with him or pet him, all of a sudden he goes into "ATTACK MODE!" He bites, scratches and attacks you. After awhile he will stop, but if you go and pet or play with him again he will start to attack you again
Is there anything I could do to stop this. I really don't want Mickey to attack my baby sister. Help Please!!!

[Dreamer]

U can get him declaw and put something in his mouth so he dont bit!

[kb2yjx]

Sounds like Mickey gets a bit over stimulated when he is played with. When you see a change in his behaviour, his ears go flat, or his pupils dilate(the black part of the eye gets big), stop playing with him. Let him calm down, and tell him he is a good boy.

[kittycats_delight]

U can get him declaw and put something in his mouth so he dont bit!

NO absolutely DO NOT DECLAW!!!!

Declawing is a mutilation of your cats feet. A declaw on a cat is like having your finger removed to the first knuckle. They take nail, bone, muscle, tissue...everything. And declawing can lead to more serious problems.

Right now it seems Mickey is doing this to play. Is Mickey young? Everytime he gets rough and bites and scratches you need to stop touch him immediately and tell him sternly NO! Do not hit him as cats do not learn from punishment.

Also you can try putting him on time-out like you would a little kid when he attacks. When he attacks you pick him up and bring him into a room and close him inside. After a little while you can release him again. Make sure you are consistant with this. Each time he attacks place him in a room by himself for awhile.

I am sure you will get other suggestions as well.

Good Luck and keep up posted.

[KittyGurl]

Is Mickey young?

Mickey is over a year old almost two.

[kittycats_delight]

Mickey is over a year old almost two.

Is Mickey Neutered?

[KittyGurl]

Is Mickey Neutered?

Yes. Mickey was neutered when my grandma found him on the streets.

[kittycats_delight]

there goes my idea that maybe he would grow out of it if he was a kitten and maybe if he was unaltered then he would calm down when he was neutered. Good thoughts anyway but definately those things won't help if he already an adult and neutered.

[barncat]

He is playing...but people skin isn't protected by fur.... try the time-outs, but check with your vet. Sometimes even fixed males will have excess testosterone and when they get too excited the get rough.... sometimes a short time of taking hormones (ovaban was what one of mine took briefly) will settle him down. Some cats do play rough and consistently giving time-outs can retrain them.

good luck.

[freckledimple]

We had a kitty like that. We warned everybody that she was bi-polar . We learned her signs and left her alone when she would start to get rough. It went on beyond kittenhood, but she got calmer as she got older. Unfortunately, just as she was starting to show signifigant improvement, she was stolen. Just hang in there, and have patience. Some cats are slower to change than others. Good luck.

[Catlady711]

Now I could be wrong on this but....

I see this all too often at work.

My only question is:
Does ANYone in the house wrestle with the cat with their hands or feet??

If so then they MUST STOP!! It simply teaches a cat that it's ok to bite and scratch human hands.

I agree with the time out suggestion, also a squirt of water and a firm no sometimes helps too.

[KittyGurl]

Does ANYone in the house wrestle with the cat with their hands or feet??

I don't. I play with my cats with cats toys. I'm too afraid my cats will scratch me! LOL
But my dad does. He only does it to Angel though cause she won't scratch him. She jump up and run on two feet for a second or two. It's actually pretty funny! Angel might be mean to everyone else, but she is an angel around my dad! LOL

[Taz_Zoee]

Do you cut your kitties nails? I cut Taz's when I think about it. But I think you're supposed to do it like every two weeks. I usually do it when he playfully snags my leg when I walk by and his nails gets stuck in my skin. That's when I realize, oh, time to clip your nails.

If you do not know how to do this, I am sure someone can give you tips. I just started doing it early with Taz. At first just pet his paws alot so he gets use to the touch. He is really good with me, but as he gets older he gets more annoyed with it.

[sprokett]

eddie does that but it not to bad we havnt got small kids i the house errrrrrrr
do not declaw spraying probably wouldnt work i find spraying is more punishment but time out works

[Medusa]

How do you play w/him? If you rub his belly, this could be a sexual thing to him whether he's neutered or not. If so, stop rubbing his belly. And don't declaw.

Blessings,
Mary