Cats Biting

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Feline Follies - Cat Behavior

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Cat behaviorist Dr. John C. Wright, in his book, Is Your Cat Crazy?, estimates that there are at least a half a million people in the United States each year who are seriously bitten by cats. At least 50% of cat bites become infected.

In one study regarding animal bites occurring in Switzerland, conducted by H.C. Matter, and reported in the European Journal of Epidemiology, July 1998, it showed an annual bite and scratch rate of 325 per 100,000 people. Dogs accounted for more than 60% of the bites, and cats for about 25% of all cases reported. The animal bites and scratches occurred most frequently with persons under 20 years of age. In most of the age groups, the incidence was higher among women than among men. The incidence of cat bites was especially high in adult women. Wound infection was reported in 10.9% of cases, with cat bites/scratches becoming more infected than injuries due to dogs.

According to the Cornell Feline Health Center, of Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, most feline aggression incidents directed towards people are either predatory or playful manifesting as stalking and pouncing on a person's feet or ankles. Another frequent type of cat aggression outlined is irritable aggression, resulting when the cat is being stroked too roughly or excessively. Petting the cat more gently and for shorter times and redirecting it to more appropriate prey substitute toys is usually what is recommended.

Veterinarian and behaviorist Dr. Michael Fox, in his book, Understanding Your Cat, writes that if kittens receive insufficient human contact for the first two to three months of life, the cat in question will be literally "wild" and practically impossible to handle. He goes onto say that when kittens do receive frequent positive handling by humans, especially when it is between five and nine weeks of age, it will grow up showing less fear to strangers than cats who do not get this experience.

Colorado Behaviorist Dr. Suzanne Hetts, writing for the Cat Fanciers Association regarding cat aggression towards people, says that cat bites are seldom reported but that they may occur more frequently than dog bites and that there is usually five reasons why, or situations where, cats bite. They usually are a result of:

Fear and defensiveness
Redirecting an impulse
Aggression which was stimulated by something else (e.g. a cat outside) onto their owners
Playing which gets out of hand
In reaction to not wanting to be petted any longer
And/or, the cat views certain people as intruders in its territory

Among the strategies to reduce these bite scenarios, Dr. Hetts recommends:

Having toys available that are interesting from you cat's point of view : e.g., toys that dangle from a fishing-rod type of pole or toys on strings that can be wriggled or pulled alone.
Owners should avoid wrestling or using their hands and feet as toys.
Remote forms of punishment may be used as a means of discouraging inappropriate play only if the cat also has opportunities for acceptable play (similar to our Startle-Wait 5-Redirect-Reward principle). Ideas for remote punishment which startle the cat include: using a squirt bottle filled with water, using noise making devices such as horns from a bike or boat, or giving the cat a puff of air in the face from a can of compressed air.

And finally, zoologist Desmond Morris, in his books, Catlore and Cat World: A Feline Encyclopedia, writes that when a cat aggressively lashes out at its owner due to over-petting, it is essentially stating that it feels severely threatened and feels the need to protect itself. He explains this scenario as stemming from the cat’s association with the owner’s hand as being a symbolic "mother’s tongue," tugging at or smoothing its fur. When it has had enough of the grooming, the cat’s mood changes and the hand changes from the role of "maternal tongue" to "giant paw" of a huge cat—and the cat becomes threatened and lashes out to protect itself. In addition, Morris goes onto say that the "hissing," which frequently accompanies an aggressive display, is a protective verbal maneuver; an imitation of a snake, "to give the enemy the impression that it too is venomous and dangerous."

What to do?

In my experience, cat nipping, biting, and attacking is more common in younger cats (as seen with Willy, Pookie and Teddy detailed above). I also find it more common in un-neutered/spayed cats; cats who are given indoor/outdoor access; cats who reside in a home with invading cats frequently strolling around the outside perimeter of the home; and cats who were not adequately socialized with people between 4-6 weeks of age as kittens, and during it's first 6 months of life at their new home.

In addition, cats that are sexually frustrated or blocked from engaging in redirected instinctive nocturnal hunting behaviors, will tend to lash out at owners. Cats who are ill with a disease, or who have low thyroid hormone levels, or who have been traumatized physically (de-clawed, abused, corporal punishment) or mentally (taken away from mother and siblings too early, neglected) will also tend to act in fearful, asocial or aggressive ways.

Recognizing Aggressive Body Language

Body language which portends an aggressive or uptight kitty include:

Pupils constricted (narrowed)
Arched back
Ears backward
Ears flat against head
Quick flick of tongue over lips
And either a bristled or lashing tail

Aggression in cats

As we wrote in "Dogs on the Couch," where we detailed twelve types of dog aggression, cats are also capable of similar types of aggression. These types of aggression include:

Fear aggression (taking a defensive aggressive stance to an unknown or traumatic situation)
Dominant aggression (in defense of territory, as with an invading tom cat or new animal introduced to the home)
Predatory aggression (hunting mice, birds, lizards and stalking owners’ ankles)
Maternal aggression (protecting its litter from other cats and predatory animals)
Play-induced aggression (triggered by excessive play and handling by the owner or children)
Redirected aggression (as with "Wolfie’s" story in Chapter 4, where he took out his aggression on his sibling cats in reaction to an invading outside tom cat)
Intra-(among)-species aggression (cat-cat aggression, again see Chapter 4)
And Inter-(between)-species(cat-dog) aggression

Treating the Biting Cat

In applying a treatment program for the cat who is biting or attacking its owner, there are several things one must do:

First, make sure the veterinarian does a full medical exam, including blood, urine and feces, to make sure the cat is not experiencing a hormone imbalance, disease or painful condition which could be contributing or causing the aggression.
Second, using family systems therapy, the owner must be sure that he/she is not becoming overly "enmeshed" with the cat, responding to its every whim, petting, carrying, or playing with it for too long or intense amount of time.
Third, using behavior therapy, the owner must notice good, quiet, non-aggressive behavior, and reinforce that through praise, "good quiet, good kitty," cat nip, treats and redirected cat toys.
And finally, a corrective de-sensitization program, needs to be consistently implemented over an eight to sixteen week period, to eradicate the biting or attacking The program includes the following:

1. Remove all triggers for the aggression and implement a "cooling-off" period. No teasing, rough housing, excessive handling, frequent picking up or intense over petting of the cat.
2. Implement the "one-on-one anti-stress focus sessions," we talked about in Chapters 4 & 5, whereby, twice a day, without distractions or other people and animals, you and your cat have a 20 minute mediation period, where you spread out copious amounts of cat nip, treats and cat nip filled toys, while utilizing a soothing voice and, initially, no touching or petting the cat at all!. You want to get a way from making your hand the cat’s exclusive toy or prey objects to lash out against.
3. Obtain wand toys,cat nip mouse prey substitutes, ping-pong balls, rolled up aluminum foil balls, to redirect the cat's natural hunting instincts and to avoid your hand being too close to cat's mouth.
4. When the cat is calm and relaxed (look at it's body language: it should be: relaxed, purring, ears at half mast, tail relaxed or softly "wagging," and so on), praise and treat your cat.
5. Starting week number two or three: Begin adding one finger at a time stroke on the cat, at its least sensitive area for a brief second or two, paired with the cat nip, treats, and then redirect to a 10 minute play session with the appropriate cat toys, like the wands and pull toys.
6. Each day, add one additional finger and finger stroke, so by the end of five days, you are using your entire hand to stroke the cat five times.
7. Any aggressive displays, either redirect immediately to a chase, throw or cat nip toy and praise the cat for pursuing the appropriate prey substitute toy, or, startle without getting physical (e.g., depressing ultra sound device or squirt of water), and say off!, and ignore the cat for the rest of the day and phase back in attention the next day.
8. If the attacks are serious and frequent, wear long pants and gloves while you implement the several week re-conditioning program to protect from serious injury and/or infection.
9. Over the 8-16 week period, you should be able to increase your petting and handling of the cat to include both hands, all fingers, any place on the cat, and for longer (but still not too long) periods of time (at least 5 minutes.)
10. Pay attention to early warning signs and take a time-out like in a domestic violence anger-management situation: as soon as the cat begins to tense, or ears go back toward the sides of the head, or the tail starts strongly swishing back and forth, STOP all petting and walk way, leaving the cat with its appropriate toys, cat nip, cheese treats, etc.
11. By the end of the program the cat should not be attacking or biting you and the cat should appear generally relaxed.
12. If required, your veterinarian may need to prescribe some temporary medication (12-20 weeks, then gradual wean-off) to help increase the safety while the behavior modification techniques get a chance to kick in. BuSpar, Elavil, Clomicalm (although it may be contraindicated with some types of aggression) or Valium may be needed.

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