Feline Aggression: Understanding & Managing Behavior
Feline aggression is a common behavior problem in pet cats, but management strategies, supplements and medications, and simple behavior modification steps can help improve our chances of restoring successful relationships within the home.
Management Strategies
Aggression directed at human family members
- Avoid verbal and physical punishment—punishment is typically associated with the person doing the punishing and not the unwanted behavior, so punishment usually escalates the cat’s aggression instead of helping it.
- Avoid physical interactions like picking the cat up, as this is a common trigger for fear-based aggression.
- Keep petting sessions brief and focus under the chin and around the whiskers, which is where cats typically groom each other.
- Avoid interacting with your cat when she is aroused (ie. sees another cat outside, just returned home from veterinary visit). She may need to be lured into a closed room until she’s calmed down.
- Increase play with interactive feeders and hunting toys. Cats quickly lose interest when they’re unable to capture, kill, and eat when “hunting,” so keep each play session limited to 5-10 minutes, and consider switching toys midway through play sessions to increase interest. Play and hunting opportunities, especially with feeder toys that dispense food, can replace missing predatory behaviors and reduce incidences of aggression.
Aggression directed at visitors
- Avoid interactions by confining the cat into a room or floor of the house without access to the visitor.
Aggression directed at other cats in the home
- Reduce interactions by setting up separate areas with separate resources for each cat. Feed in separate rooms and offer water dishes, litter boxes, scratching posts, and climbing towers in separate locations.
- Consider physically separating the cats with 2 stacked baby gates or closed doors.
Aggression stemming from presence of outside cats
- Make your yard less attractive to other cats—don’t leave food or water out, take down bird feeders. Consider using a motion-activated sprinkler system to discourage other cats from visiting your yard.
- Cover or use frosted privacy film over windows or block access to rooms with windows to reduce visibility of other cats.
Supplements & Medications
Medications can also be used to reduce fear, stress, anxiety, and agitation as a secondary step. Aggression is a strategy cats can use when scared, so addressing the underlying scared feelings can sometimes help reduce a cat’s urge to behave aggressively. There are no FDA-approved medications for aggression in cats, but many options have worked well for individual cats:
- Feliway diffusers or spray contains a replicated cat pheromone that has been shown to reduce conflict between cats. Use where cats spend most of their resting time.
- Anxitane contains L-theanine, the calming amino acid in green tea, and can reduce anxiety and fear. Also included in Royal Canin’s Calm diet and Hill’s c/d Urinary Stress diet.
- Zylkene contains alpha-casozepine, a milk protein that helps produce serotonin, the “happy” neurotransmitter. Shown to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress.
- Medications that increase serotonin levels, like fluoxetine, clomipramine, amitriptyline, trazodone, and gabapentin, have anecdotal success for aggression. Use may vary depending on whether aggression is frequent or predictable:
- Frequent/unpredictable aggression: daily medication like fluoxetine may help.
- Infrequent/predictable aggression: trazodone or gabapentin before triggering events often works well.
- Some cats benefit from a daily medication plus a second medication for high-stress events.
Behavior Modifications
Behavior modification is our third step for addressing aggressive behaviors in cats. Easy steps can include:
- Increasing the cat’s territory
- Scheduled play sessions at consistent times daily
- Feeder toys like the NoBowl system or puzzle feeders
- Hunting toys
- Training cats to go to a target location on cue to safely redirect them when aroused
Additional Challenges to Consider
- Keeping everyone safe is more difficult with children, elderly, or cognitively impaired family members.
- Administering supplements or medications can be stressful for both the cat and the family.
- First unfriendly or aggressive introductions between cats reduce the chance of improvement.
- Behavior change is gradual—weeks to months are usually needed, requiring patience and diligence.
Information adapted from Feline Aggression, Amy L. Pike, DVM, DACVB, Clinician’s Brief, Jan/Feb 2021.
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Dr. Alison Barulich