Hey there, 1. I just found your blog and you are wonderful. 2. Ignore this if you’ve already answered it but: my cat is really aggressive but only in play. The big problem is he attacks my lil feets when I walk and my head when I sleep. I’m covered with scratches, it looks like I self harm sometimes. I just read your post on spray bottles and that’s what I’ve been using. I don’t know how else to get him to release his grip when he’s latched on and it’s upsetting. Thoughts?
First off, thank you so much!
So the biggest thing, if you haven’t already done it, is to BAN play of fingers and feet. What do I mean by that? It’s a VERY common response to wriggle our fingers so cats and kittens will pounce on us and try to “hunt”, while it’s very cute, it can lead to only kitten syndrome, where cats who grow up without siblings, or once they’re separated from their litter mates, may lose that important claw and tooth control as an adult. Hands are ONLY for gentle petting. Meaning if you pet your cat, and he turns around and gives you a little nibble, you disengage completely. This is the most important aspect of getting a cat to stop using claws on humans.
Disengaging is going to be your biggest tool, essentially. It’s how mom cats deal with little brat kittens who just want to play hard and mom’s had enough of their crap because she’s raising this litter and working two jobs and one’s overnight and she’s tired of hearing from her coworker Brenda just how much sleep she got last night.
Disengaging is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Stop whatever you’re doing. Go slack if you have to. Be very careful not to respond to the clawing in any way. No yelling, and definitely don’t shout at the cat. Even saying “No” is seen as reinforcement, and will encourage them to continue. Cat moms will physically get up and ignore their kitten once they tip over that threshold into “too much”, but what’s important is that you need to solidify that ANY claws are “too much”, and mimic the behavior of the queen.
If you’re walking down a hallway and he attacks your feet, stop moving, don’t give him a moving target, and walk away. If he chases your feet, stand completely still. Do not look at him, talk to him, or acknowledge him. And try as hard as you can not to move your feet (even if it hurts). Distract him if you can with another toy, encourage him to use that instead. It may require you to keep a toy on hand, but he’ll get the idea pretty quickly.
Ideally, you want to be able to get to him BEFORE he starts attacking you. So encourage play beforehand (if you can), so he’s otherwise distracted.
And just a casual reminder to trim your cat’s nails! If they’re getting you badly, it may be time for a trim!
