I argue that there is no such thing as an unprovoked attack by a domestic cat. The problem is that we don’t see a reason. That does not mean there is no reason. A recent news story prompted me to write this. A man, Mr Baxter, is suing a woman, who could be his wife, we aren’t sure, for $100k because her cat “without provocation, viciously attacked, bit and clawed” Mr Baxter, while he was attempting to feed the cat.
The incident allegedly happened in 2011 and he sued in March 2013. Odd that. Perhaps he was waiting for the injuries to settle down as Mr Baxter’s claim for compensation says he continues to suffer from the attack. I guess he would say that.
The claim is implausible. It seems to be a attack by Mr Baxter on his wife (if she is his wife!) rather than an attack by a cat on him.
“Unprovoked” means without prompting or motivation. A domestic cat might aggressively attack another domestic animal in the household, out of the blue, for no apparent reason but it may well be the case that something happened between the two animals beforehand that the owner had not seen.
Incompatible Cats
There may well be a history of animosity between two domestic animals in a household that provokes one to attack the other. One cat might be dominant over the other and bully the submissive cat. Aggression and attacks under these circumstances are all predicable and motivated by good reason. Therefore they are not unprovoked. The real underlying problem is putting two cats or a cat and a dog together who don’t get along. That is the owner’s fault, as I see it.
Transferred Aggression
Another possible reason why a cat might demonstrate apparent unprovoked aggression is when aggression is transferred from one animal to another. A cat might have gone outside and had a standoff or a fight with another cat. He immediately comes in and is still aggressive and the aggression spills over towards the cat’s owner. Once again this is not “unprovoked”. The aggression has been provoked by a territorial dispute with another cat. It is up to people to recognise that and steer clear until he cools down.
Unsocialised Cats (and People!)
Some domestic cats might be inherently aggressive because they are unsocialised. They have not been raised properly by playing with other cats, dogs and people when young kittens. If this has happened in a domestic environment it is once again due to a failure by the cat’s owner. Or the cat might be a former feral cat. Although most feral cats can be socialised with patience. If a cat attacks because he is unsocialised he has a reason to attack – he has been trained to behave like a wild cat and is defensive. These attacks are not unprovoked. They are programmed, really.
Wild Cats
In terms of fundamental drives and emotions the domestic cat is very similar to the African/Asian wildcat ancestor. We don’t believe that wild cats make unprovoked attacks. There will always be an underlying reason if we can’t see it or understand it.
People
It is almost unimaginable that a domestic cat will attack a human in an unprovoked manner for the simple reason a human is too big. It is not good for survival for a domestic cat weighing 10 pounds to attack a man weighing 20 times that. It will always be something the person is doing, and/or has done for a while, possibly combined with a cat who has become very defensive for a variety of reasons.
Handling Cats
People can mishandle cats. They can make cats fearful or make them feel insecure and defensively aggressive. People who mishandle cats don’t realise what they are doing. Accordingly, they might think their cat has demonstrated unprovoked aggression or attacks. They would be wrong.
Play
Overzealous play by a person with their cat can lead to getting scratched or bitten. This is not an unprovoked attack! It is play. Someone could claim it was an act of aggression and they would be wrong.
Pain/Illness
A cat in pain, which may not be apparent to a person, may strike out if handled. An ill cat may also be depressed and irritable. These would be underlying reasons why a cat might demonstrate what looks like unprovoked aggression. Once again the aggression would have a reason.
Conclusion
Always look carefully for an underlying reason behind cat aggression and attacks. There will be a reason there somewhere and the reason can always be traced back to people.
Picture credits:
- Hand on left by Andrew Currie
- Open hand by greggoconnell
- Arm bottom right: unknown sorry. Please tell me who you are.
My two year old tuxedo cat attacked me this morning while I was sleeping…. SLEEPING, how is that not unprovoked? I’ve had him since he was 4 weeks old, he’s never been abused/mistreated or played with rough. He and I have always had a loving relationship, he cuddles me to sleep every night. Someone please tell me how I provoked him while I was sleeping? This was completely out of the blue and now I’m bleeding from my EYE!!! This cat has never attacked me before, not even once
I have published your comment even though it is very arrogant and insulting of me. Don’t do that again. Don’t you think it is you who is the moron in insulting the site’s owner in a comment?!
For instance you state:
No, you misunderstood. I am saying that if you go back far enough you’ll find a human cause. I am not saying what you have presumed. I am not being contradictory. I am saying that the environment created by the human leads to territorial aggression. I am surprised that someone as arrogantly overconfident as you failed to understand that obvious statement.
You are wrong. Cats send subtle but clear body language signals it is just a case of reading them. Obviously you are confused by cat body language.
You’re writing absolute claptrap and you are probably Woody the notorious troll.
Don’t comment anymore. It won’t be published.
Barbara’s right: you are a moron: a person who is notably foolish or lacking in good judgment. Dimwitted, stupid, halwitted, simple…whatever synonym you would like to use. And here’s why:
1) You contradicted yourself in your own blog post stating that another animal may be responsible for the pet’s aggression (territorial aggression, animal fights, etc) before you conclude with: “There will be a reason there somewhere and the reason can always be traced back to people,” which blatantly states that aggressive provocation is human-related.
You might have meant that a person’s resulting wounds from an attack could be indirectly their fault because they weren’t aware ahead of time of the animal’s aggressive mood, but that’s not what this states. Which leads to my next point.
2) Regardless of whether or not the animal was indirectly provoked by the person or an external source, it is impossible for pet owners (and their visitors) to monitor the animal every moment of every day; especially if they work, aren’t home, or the animal was outside of their field of vision, socializing (or fighting) with other animals.
Furthermore, cats are notorious for sending mixed body language. Even experienced cat owners are occasionally caught off guard by attacks (as they readily admit), because the cat doesn’t always show signs of impatience, annoyance, or anger prior to an attack. They may be very affectionate as they ask their owner for food and then attack micro-seconds after the food is served, without even taking their first bite and without any prior record of territorial aggression over their food or eating space.
Barbara made a simple declarative opinion that it’s not safe to keep an aggressive animal in the home regardless of the source of provocation.
Michael then ignorantly accuses her of advocating euthanasia, which was entirely off topic and probably an erroneous presumption on his part (another moron in the group. Surprise. Surprise).
3) Thirdly and finally, the fact that she called the cat “it” doesn’t signify anything other than her grammatical execution of objective & nomitive pronouns. Your comment, however, illustrates your combative reception, and perhaps a deficiency in your reading comprehension.
Barbara, for instance, also called the cat: “him,” “these animals,” “this cat,” and “he,” indicating personal and objective indentification of this individual animal.
To suggest that her omission of affectionate pronouns is somehow indicative of her lack of emotional attachment and, by extension, the cat’s aggressive nature, is outright ridiculous, bigoted, and irrelevant. You sound like someone looking to preserve your ego by attacking/discrediting others who insult or contradict you.
Perhaps you should disable your comments section or otherwise avoid social commentary (blogging) altogether if you’re so adverse to contradictory opinions–because it will come regardless of your intentions. How you handle it is what matters…provoked or otherwise.
exactly!!!! good post Dee Its never the cats fault
Barbara Ross…
Just in case you check in here, I can assure you that you are in the wrong place.
You need to google, “Cat Haters Anonymous” and you will get the support you are seeking there. The chairperson is, likely, someone named Woody.
To all of us, I agree that we don’t have a full picture from BR as to what is really going on.
But, I’ll bet that we would all say that there is an incredible amount of turmoil going on in that household. My guess would be that this poor cat is scared to death and takes refuge in that laundry room. Her intrusion scared him very badly.
SOMEBODY needs to be rehomed. I think it should be Barbara.
Exactly michael its the humans who are supposed to be looking after the cat in my opinion and im sure others agree.