This is an excellent way to get some natural Kitty aggression, stalking, pouncing and attacking directed into proper play. Also another important bonding experience with your furry friend. This will teach them to play in an appropriate manner.
We can take the cat out of the jungle, but we can’t take the jungle out of the cat. There is a little tiger in every house cat, a solitary predator that needs to exercise its hunting skills on a regular basis. We may have confined this little tiger within four walls, provided them with the finest of feline foods, but we can’t ignore their basic need to do that for which it was so perfectly designed – to HUNT. Fortunately, it is not always necessary for the prey to be alive, but it must move.
Owners are often frightened by the playfully aggressiveness in cats and kittens because they look quite intense when they play. They silently ambush feet and ankles as they pass by surprising, upsetting, and sometimes, even hurting a family member. In some cases the cat owners have not intentionally trained their cat to be a feline terrorist by playing with it as a kitten with their hands or feet. The solution is to direct the cat’s playful, predatory, energies toward toys instead of moving hands or feet.
Of course, the easiest solution, and perhaps the best, is to get another cat or kitten of the same sex and approximately the same age and activity level as a playmate for your them. Although you will now have two mouths to feed, the wear and tear on you and your home will be greatly reduced, or eliminated. If getting another pet is not possible, then it will be your responsibility to provide your playful cat with scheduled sessions of controlled play.
Schedule two or three (more, if necessary) interactive play sessions a day for times when Kitty is most rambunctious. Cats love routine, so try not to change the play times. Depending on how athletic your cat is, the sessions may last 10-20 minutes each, every cat and kitten will be different and require more or less time. A fishing pole type toy enables the pet parent to be stationary while controlling the cat’s activity level with a flip of your wrist. Some of the best commercially sold toys for this purpose are the “Da Bird” and the “Cat Charmer”. The play sessions should not stop until the cat is exhausted, lying on their side and batting at the toy because they are too tired to jump or chase after it.
During the play session make the toys move as wild prey-a little mouse or bird would. Don’t dangle the toy in the cat’s face. It should hide behind objects in the house and occasionally jump into the air. Build up Kitty’s confidence and enthusiasm by allowing plenty of “captures” and praise. After play fishing pole toys should be carefully stored out of the cat’s reach, if left out they could become entangled in the toy which could cause great harm and fear.
As kittens mature, the play patterns of male and females change. The rough-and-tumble, pounce-and-play sequence of male play behavior will continue and may not be appreciated by the female. When she is older he may be greeted with hisses and spitting, this is normal, she is simply telling him to slow down and back off. Both kittens and cats need these play sessions, it will keep them trim and very happy.
First of all, playful attacks are not bitting with hissing and growling. A natural reaction to being grabbed or bitten, even playfully, is to swat at the cat. Don’t do this! Physical punishment may cause your cat either to fear you or to engage in even more aggressive rough play, where they will think they are being attacked and challenged. If your cat becomes afraid of you, you may face a bigger problem – that of defensive aggression. If the attack can be anticipated, a blast of air from a compressed air can (obtained from any office supply store), a squirt from a water gun, or a shaker can (empty soda can with pennies in it) may discourage the behavior if produced at the moment of the attack. Timing is everything. If “used” a second or two after the incident, the means of distraction will not be connected with the attack in the cat’s mind and no training will take place, the cat will be frightened of you and confused. You can also carry a supply of soft toys to be given to the attacker, to redirect the play aggression from your skin to a toy.
Perhaps the best means of distraction is the one that is always at hand – one’s voice. A loud and shrill “Eek”, followed by a sharp “No!” can be very effective with some cats. You don’t need to YELL, just be firm with your voice and they will know there is something they have done wrong. The next step is to shun the cat for the next ten minutes. This means paying absolutely no attention to the cat. Don’t lecture or scold the cat and don’t pick them up to put them into a separate room. Any attention at this point can be reinforcing the bad behavior, so totally ignore the cat. This is precisely the way a kitten learns to inhibit his biting when playing with another kitten. If one becomes a little too rough, the victim will squeal and run away. The aggressor will watch his playmate run away and wonder what happened. Eventually he learns that if he wants to extend the play session (which he always wants to do), then he will have to be more gentle.
stalking. chasing, pouncing, batting, catching, throwing, fishing and communication
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