How to Deal With an Aggressive Cat

Knowing how to deal with an aggressive cat presupposes that one should have knowledge about why cats become aggressive in the first place. You see, there are many reasons why cats behave aggressively at times, and maybe due to their territorial nature, they often compete for space, resources, and attention.

Sometimes they even use their claws when they feel threatened or uncomfortable. If your cat is aggressive towards other cats, there are several ways to de-escalate, when the aggressiveness starts.

To know how to deal with  their aggression, follow the steps given below:

1/ Keep calm with your cat

It’s very necessary that you never raise your voice or engage in any other aggressive behavior if your cat becomes aggressive. Unlike dogs, cats are known to hardly respond to punishment. You should never use physical force. Some people try to stop aggressive cats by going after them. That should never be done. Never try to hit an aggressive cat, but rather be very calm.

It is reported that most aggressive cats become calm after the owner takes a cat toy their pet loves and starts to play with it alone. Examples are:

2/ End the fight

If the aggressiveness is as a result of your catfighting with another, scare the attacking cat with a shot from the Shark-Shaped Water Gun or the Seahorse Water Gun, if you have one, and force it to flee. If you don’t have one, you can order them here:

You should only take this measure in exceptional cases, as the aggressive cat may associate the fright with its fellow cat in the long run, and the relationship could worsen even further.

3/ Ignore the cat

There is this common practice in animal psychology, which is, “it is better to ‘punish’ the aggressive animal” by ignoring it immediately after the undesired behavior. Instead, pay more attention to the more peaceful cat. This is how your aggressive cat learns that he will not gain anything with his behavior (especially not your attention).

By ignoring the aggressive cat and trying to play with the other one, or catch their attention, you can use any of the following. Simply pick the Oscar Cat Dish and pretend it’s feeding time:

4/ Reward the peace:

If the recently aggressive cat behaves calmly and friendly towards one that he was aggressive to previously, give it more attention and a treat every now and then. You see, cats are very smart and will learn from the episode that peace is desirable since it brings rewards.

What about giving the now good-behaving cat a treat from any of the below?

5/ Don’t feed them together

Feed your cats spatially and/or temporally separate from each other. Get a separate food bowl for each pet.

This will mean having a separate feeding area, and/or utensils for the feuding cats. We at PetsImpress recommend these:

7/ Have time for them

For house cats, create enough time and opportunity to play, so your cats can exercise themselves physically. You can get quality, yet cheap cat toys for their recreation. We recommend any of the following for your cat.

8/ Create separate retreats for your cats.

Every cat should have their own scratching post or other high-altitude retreats. This is more important if you have more than one cat.

The Cat Scratcher Refill Pad will satisfy your cat’s scratching and grooming needs. The corrugated cat scratching pad will help protect your furniture and belongings from damage. It gives your kitty companion a safe spot to scratch and groom his claws.

The pad comes with a package of dry catnip as an added incentive for cats to utilize it.

On the other hand, the Castle Cat Scratcher House will provide your prince or princess with the palace of their dreams. When your cat needs to get away from royal duties, it can lounge inside the condo or play with a hanging toy for hours of pleasure.

The supplied catnip is sure to lure your rather royal aristo-cat, while a retractable scratchpad promotes her scratching habit.

8/ Be careful

You have to be careful if there is any other factor that is constantly irritating one of your cats. Sometimes the problem is not caused by the conspecifics (a member of the same species) at all. It could just be one of the usual frustrations that living beings encounter now and then.

Our takeaways

If your efforts do not bear fruit even after a few weeks and you notice that one cat is noticeably suffering from the aggression of the other (for example, through refusal to feed, withdrawn or fearful behavior), you should consult a veterinarian or animal psychologist.

We hope this insight has given you some answers. Let’s hear your thoughts on how you are dealing with your cat.

Take care!