San Francisco cat attacks his owner after playtime

Expensive JOAN: I’m composing about my mate in San Francisco and her 5-year-outdated cat.

He is lovable to her. He wants a large amount of focus, which she makes sure he will get. She plays with him a large amount. Rather of just strolling absent, like most cats I know do when they’ve had sufficient, he starts off likely following her and seriously bites her legs.

No make a difference what she does, he does not quit. I never know if he receives overwhelmed or far too wound up. Any concepts how to offer with this would be welcome. She has had him checked by a veterinarian.

Sonya Abrams, Walnut Creek

Expensive SONYA: It seems like the cat has some thing referred to as enjoy aggression, which is frequent in cats but more pronounced in some.

Cat participate in entails stalking and searching behaviors, and people urges are much better in the early morning and evening, moments when their historic ancestors were being out looking foods. Cats normally spend a good portion of the day snoozing in cozy, cozy corners, but when the looking instinct kicks in, they are complete of energy.

Some cats are extra active than other folks, and simply because you say your friend’s cat demands a large amount of interest, he very likely is 1 of individuals.

How your mate performs with her cat will make a variance. We must by no means include our arms in the perform action. Cats commence to acknowledge them as toys and handle them as such. We can toss toys for the cat, but utilizing toys suspended on rods or poles is the safest selection.

As you say, most cats ultimately wander away soon after they’ve experienced enough playtime, but whilst your good friend may well be drained of it, it appears the cat is not and is continuing its engage in by attacking her legs.

When that transpires, she requirements to redirect his consideration to a toy that he can perform with by himself, maybe a ring that has a ball inside of for him to bat around, or a mechanized mouse he could chase. There are a lot of interactive toys on the market.

She really should shut him down quickly when he goes right after her. That indicates providing him some thing to engage in with, but if not disregarding him. He probably thinks her reaction to becoming attacked is just aspect of the play. If distracting or ignoring him doesn’t get the job done, she ought to quietly depart the place.

Yelling, scolding or placing him in a time out will not work for the reason that he could turn into scared of her, and she’s placing herself at threat by choosing up an extremely excited cat.

There is a probability that he’s also a little bit bored the relaxation of the time and is building the most of playtime. She must seem at enriching his surroundings by adding much more toys he can play with by himself, and cat trees and tunnels he can investigate.

In time, he’ll accept the boundaries and discover to perform properly.