What causes aggressive cat behavior towards humans?

Original Question: Dr. Greenway my dad is 92 and is moving into a nursing home. He has a senior cat that is very aggressive and vicious. My dad didn't want to put her to sleep or take her to an animal shelter if he didn't have to. I decided to take her in for him hoping that maybe I could tame her. Getting her into a cat carrier to bring her to my house should have been the first sign that the upcoming weeks would have been a nightmare. She has done nothing but attack (scratching and biting) my daughter, pets and other animals. I ended up putting her in another room away from other animals. When I enter the room to check on her and feed her she charges the door to attack. I spoke to my dad and he prefers to put her to sleep as that would likely be the outcome an animal shelter would do. I am concerned with how this cat would be put to sleep as she is vicious and won’t let anyone near her. Do you have any suggestions on how to possibly tame her? And in the worst-case scenario would a vet be able to put her to sleep? Thank you - Arlette

Mar 5, 2018

Hi Arlette,

Thanks for your question. It is definitely a concerning one and I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. I’ll be able to give you some advice that will hopefully help.

I get very concerned about cases like this when cats attack humans. Safety is of ultimate importance when we’re talking about the behavior of our pets. I would never tolerate an animal that could potentially harm my children. So I always take questions like this very seriously and we need to get the situation corrected.

There are lots of ways I can approach this question but since the nature of it is so serious, I’m just going to cut to the chase. This is a cat that needs intervention. We cannot allow the situation to continue. So I would go right to the strong medications. I often tell people to experiment with gentler things like supplements and behavioral modification techniques. When you’re talking about a risk to human safety I don’t think there’s time to consider those options.

I come across cats that attack people from time to time. It could be a matter of boredom, aggressive play, hunting behavior, or even a medical condition that is stressing them out. I will often recommend that your veterinarian collect blood and urine to do some testing for any underlying medical conditions. I can understand that getting this cat to the vet is difficult but ideally, this would be the first step. Then I would look at aggressive anti-anxiety medications. The first medication I would consider is called Clomipramine. I have used it many times in cats with a similar behavior and it has worked very well. Our biggest hurdle here would be administering the medication to this cat. You would have to ask your veterinarian to have this drug formulated into a treat, a liquid or even a transdermal gel, which you can rub on the ear and it will absorb through the skin. Any veterinarian will be able to do this through a compounding pharmacy.

Using an anti-anxiety medication doesn’t have to be taken forever. You could use it for a few months and this cat may learn to be calm. You can then remove the medication and its calm behavior typically continues.

If this isn’t an option then the only things we can do our options that I don’t like. We could turn this cat into an outdoor cat. By doing that, the environmental enrichment that it will experience may satisfy all of these intense behaviors so that they’re not directed to you or your daughter. Being an outdoor cat will increase the risk of personal injury and it’s not an ideal scenario especially if your cat has never been outdoors before. Having said that, I think you can try environmental enrichment inside your home specifically focusing on cat toys or devices that keep a distance between you and your cat. For instance, using a laser pointer and running it back-and-forth along the base of the walls will really tire out your cat and hopefully get that frustration out of it. By using a toy that you don’t directly touch means that the intensity is directed elsewhere rather than on you.

Lastly, it would be my great hope that this could be dealt with without going through with euthanasia. To answer your question, the vet will know how to handle putting the cat down. They can administer a sedative before administering the final injection so that if this truly has to happen, it will be peaceful.

Euthanasia is a difficult decision that you need to discuss with your family and veterinarian. Try the advice I provided and hopefully you find a solution.