How to Calm an Aggressive Cat

Cats are irreplaceable parts of families and cultures throughout the world. They’re often best known for their goofy, curious nature — or their skittishness and tendency to hide from anyone who isn’t a part of their immediate family. We hear about aggression in cats less often than we do in dogs, and the first thing that comes to mind is usually a scared cat swatting at something approaching them. 

While relatively rare, cats can suffer from conditions that trigger aggression, where they seek out other cats and pets in the household, children, or even adults to hiss, bite, scratch, and otherwise harm. Sometimes these behaviors build over time, sometimes they pop up overnight. 

Understanding why a cat has become aggressive is vitally important to easing the underlying stressor. Once the trigger is identified, you can try to relieve their stress through calming techniques, pain control, anxiety medication, and more — all depending on the cause. 

Signs of aggression in cats

The first step in helping an aggressive cat is correctly identifying signs of aggression. If you can catch some subtle warning signs before things escalate, that’s even better, because they may be easier to reverse. 

Behavioral changes

Cats like routine. If your cat is suddenly avoiding you, hiding, or staying out of (or in) certain rooms, there may be a new problem causing your cat stress. Suddenly failing to use the litterbox consistently, changes in appetite, and avoiding or stalking housemates can all be signs that your cat is unhappy about something. 

Easily overstimulated

Some of the first signs of aggression in cats may be hard to catch. Normal play behavior may quickly become rougher and louder, leaving them stressed, stiff, and standoffish. They may bite harder while playing with you or a housemate, kick harder, vocalize more or louder, or even begin to puff their hair coat. When asked to redirect play to a new object or to stop, they may be unwilling to do so and instead remain overfocused on what they were doing. 

Since this may seem like just an escalation of existing behaviors, you may not recognize the aggression for what it is. 

Hissing

Hissing cats are warning us that they are stressed, do not want to be approached, and may defend themselves or even lash out if they continue to feel threatened. If you don’t know what’s triggering the defensiveness, a cat may continue to escalate even if you don’t approach them. Growling or yowling often accompanies hissing.

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Showing teeth

Cats who bare their teeth, raise their lip, and lick their lips are telling us to stay away from them. They’re stressed, possibly in pain, and want more space. Most cats will also hiss, pin their ears, growl, pace, or even swipe at the air.

Pinning ears

When a cat holds their ears down and back, tight to their head, they are pinning their ears. This lets anyone around know that they know you’re there — and they don’t want you to come closer. 

Tail position

Cats, just like dogs, use their tails to communicate. Although they don’t wag their tails, they can start flicking them back and forth. This is a behavior they show when agitated and unhappy about something. It can also be your first sign that a cat is becoming overstimulated, such as during petting. If they become scared, they may tuck their tails under or behind them, away from the source of their stress. 

When attacking, which may come after they show either of the above tail positions, a cat’s tail will often shoot straight upwards and stay stiff and upright throughout the attack, to help make themselves appear larger. They may even raise the hair on their tail or around their body for the same reason. 

Becoming poofy

An upset cat who is already behaving aggressively or warning you that they will become aggressive if pushed, will often raise the hair around their body. The most common location is their tail, followed by the hair down the midline of their back. If they’re upset enough, all of their hair may go up to make them seem as large as possible. 

Scratching

If a cat has progressed to behaving aggressively, they will likely start scratching or swiping at whatever they are attacking. Some cats are willing to do this without extending their claws, meaning they’re still giving warnings. If they are upset, scared, or threatened enough, though, they will use their claws to harm, often drawing blood. 

Biting

If a cat wants to be closer to what they’re attacking, they may also bite. Some cats do learn bite inhibition from their mother and siblings as kittens: They can choose if they want to bite hard enough to break skin, inflict harm, or cause a wound. Meanwhile, cats who are undersocialized — or were separated from their mom or litter too early — may escalate to severe bites much more easily. Temperament, underlying stressors, the frequency of a threat, and severity or familiarity with the threat can change how a cat decides to bite as well. 

Causes of aggression in cats

There are many reasons cats may show aggression. 

Medical conditions

Anxiety, pain, chronic inflammation, dental disease, high blood pressure, infections, nausea, sudden high metabolism, hormone changes, and more can trigger aggressive behaviors in cats. Sometimes this affects the brain’s fight-or-flight reflexes. Other times, cats are feeling more defensive because their body feels off or painful. 

Stress

Stress is one of the most common causes of aggression in cats. It can be triggered by a health condition, changes in their routine, lack of access to a clean litter box, new people or pets entering the home, moving, loud or abrupt sounds, and more. The longer the stress persists, the more likely aggressive behaviors will escalate. 

Overstimulation

Overstimulation usually happens when a cat starts out OK with an activity, then suddenly no longer tolerates it — or is uncomfortable or in pain if the activity continues. Common examples include petting-induced aggression and play aggression. Cats who experience something negative in one area — such as a loud sound, a fight, or a painful stimulus — and then search for something to attack, can sometimes fall into this category as well. 

Other cats, pets, children, or people

Because cats consider their home their territory, the introduction of new things into the home can cause significant stress for a cat. In particular, introducing other cats into a home can trigger the urge to compete with them for resources. This can lead to bouts of aggression. 

Even when a mother cat gives birth for the first time, they can sometimes show aggression towards their kitten. This can also start around weaning time, or if they sense something is wrong with a kitten. 

Human children, who may be loud, move suddenly, and fail to recognize a cat’s warning signs of stress and requests for space, are at increased risk of attack from certain cats who are scared by the situation.

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How to calm an aggressive cat

Not all is lost if a cat starts behaving aggressively. There are steps you can take to calm your cat. And if you can identify any underlying triggers, you have even more options to get your cat feeling like themselves again. 

Speak to a veterinarian

The most important first step is for them to see a vet. If there is an underlying medical condition causing your cat’s aggression, they will know how to find it and treat it. They can prescribe anxiety medication, behavioral modification medicines, and more. They are also prepared to guide you through this process, even if a medical cause isn’t the problem. 

Calming pheromones

Plug-in and spray pheromones can help ease tension in cats. They are a great starting point for a cat who shows any of the above aggressive behaviors, but can also be used to help avoid aggression. Using calming pheramones before and during stressors — such as moves, the arrival of a new pet or baby, times when family may be around, or your schedule changing — can help avoid the issue entirely.

Provide a safe space

A cat is less likely to defend their space with teeth and claws if they know they have places where they won’t be bothered. A room in a house is great, but an area in each room is even better. Enrichment, such as tall, cat-climbing trees (where no one can get to them), can go a long way to help a cat feel secure. 

Making the house feel safer for a cat may also include adding additional litter boxes, setting up separate stations for food, water, and litter for each cat in your household (so they don’t feel the need to compete for resources), and making sure each feline has enough beds, sun spots, favorite chairs to lie in, and so on. 

Supplements

Supplements such as probiotics can help cats regulate anxiety, maintain calm, and build resilience to negative stimuli. 

Behavioral modification

Giving a cat something to do — so they won’t attack — can go a long way. This may look like more mental or physical stimulation throughout the day. It can also look like having treats or toys ready to scatter if a cat becomes suddenly aggressive.

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Know cat body language

It helps to know how to communicate with your cat and understand what their body language is saying. Avoid direct eye contact with a stressed cat. Move slowly, speak quietly, and try not to tower over them. Avoid turning your back while moving away from them, as well as running away if scared. Watch their tail position, ear position, and the sudden dilation of their eyes, which are signs of an imminent attack. 

Talk to the professionals

If modifications around the home and speaking to a vet haven’t done the trick, it may be time to loop in additional professionals. Trainers, behaviorists, and veterinary behaviorists in particular are all specialized to help with this specific problem. 

Commonly asked questions

Why is my cat suddenly aggressive?

Sudden aggression in cats can occur for a few reasons. If there is a change in the household, like visitors or a new pet, that can cause a sudden problem.  If you don’t think anything around your cat has changed, yet they’ve suddenly become aggressive, it’s time to take them to a vet as soon as possible. There may be an underlying medical reason for this. Extreme pain that goes untreated risks permanent changes in a cat’s behavior, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. 

Why is my cat biting me?

Some cats bite during play. But if your cat is biting you hard enough to hurt you, they may be overstimulated, in pain, sick, stressed, or scared. 

What are the best medications for aggressive cats?

Anxiety medication, pain medication, and medication that treats any underlying health conditions are the best ways to treat aggressive cats. 

References

Orlando, Jillian M. “Human Directed Aggression in Cats.” Veterinary Information Network, Cattle Dog Publishing, 2020, www.vin.com/cattledog/default.aspx?pId=26671&id=10431462.