There is always a time where aggressive cat behavior rises to the fore. No matter how docile they are the majority of the time, even the most laid back and loving animal will occasionally display bouts of temper and fear. Your job is to find the cause of those negative emotions, and do whatever you can to limit or eliminate that source.

Before you try to adjust the behavior of your cat, remember a few simple things. Keep some perspective in mind. Your cat doesn’t care about its own behavior, since it will act as it feels natural to do so. Also, physically disciplining a cat due to problem behavior will never help in the long run.

Problems involving aggressive cat behavior can include the destruction of furniture, going to the bathroom outside the litter box, fighting with your other cat(s) or even attacking you. When solving these problems it is necessary to change the cat’s behavior through non aggressive means, so remonstration becomes associated with the act, not with you.

When your cat scratches the furniture, it is not willfully trying to destroy it or make you angry, so you shouldn’t get angry in return. Instead, purchase a scratching post and praise the cat whenever it uses it. Cats do respond to praise, so the cat will learn to use the post instead. If the cat still tries to use your furniture instead, simply remove it and put it near the post. It will get the idea eventually.

Another example of aggressive cat behavior is when it fights with other cats. If you have multiple cats, then you will quickly learn than cats are territorial creatures. Cats have an innate instinct to hunt and stalk, so other cats (and even your shoelaces) will become prey. To minimize this behavior, you can separate things like their litter boxes and food bowls thereby giving each cat their own space.

Cats have mood swings just like we do. Aggressive felines often take these mood swings and expand them into bigger cat problems. Feline illness also can be the root of aggressive cat behavior, since the cat’s natural reaction is to defend itself. Make sure to get to know your cat’s particular moods so that you can read their behavior and act accordingly.

There will come a time when your cat is not as well behaved as it generally is. This said, before you try to adjust the behavior of your cat to remedy these cat problems, remember that your cat is only doing what is natural for it to do and so physically punishing it for this is not a good idea. Aggressive cat behavior can cause problems such as destroying furniture, not using the litter box, fighting with other animals, or even attacking their owner. To work with aggressive cats, attempt to fix what is bothering the cat instead of harming or punishing it.

- Paul Proctor

There is always a time where aggressive cat behavior rises to the fore. No matter how docile they are the majority of the time, even the most laid back and loving animal will occasionally display bouts of temper and fear. Your job is to find the cause of those negative emotions, and do whatever you can to limit or eliminate that source.

A few things need remembering before trying to correct the behavior of your cat. First, there is the perspective problem. Your cat isn’t really worried about its actions, which seem normal to it. The other is that physical punishment for bad behavior does nothing to correct the situation.

Scratching your living room couch, fighting with other pets or you and using the bathroom other than his litter box are all signs of aggressive cat behavior. Curbing these harmful and destructive behaviors it is necessary to change the change the behavior through non-violent or aggressive means.

When your cat scratches the furniture, it is not willfully trying to destroy it or make you angry, so you shouldn’t get angry in return. Instead, purchase a scratching post and praise the cat whenever it uses it. Cats do respond to praise, so the cat will learn to use the post instead. If the cat still tries to use your furniture instead, simply remove it and put it near the post. It will get the idea eventually.

Fighting with other cats is a common aggressive cat behavior. Having another cat in the home can cause your cat to become territorial. But you can do a few things to lessen this behavior, first offer separate litter boxes, food bowls and water. Cats love to hunt and stalk each other it is a natural instinct, but allowing them their own space will help to rein in some of this aggressive behavior.

Cats have mood swings just like we do. Aggressive felines often take these mood swings and expand them into bigger cat problems. Feline illness also can be the root of aggressive cat behavior, since the cat’s natural reaction is to defend itself. Make sure to get to know your cat’s particular moods so that you can read their behavior and act accordingly.

In order to curb or avoid aggressive cat behavior, you must have a firm understanding of your feline friend. Recall that cats don’t care about their own behavior, since they act as they feel naturally. Physically disciplining aggressive cats never helps in the long run. You should always use non-aggressive methods. If your cat scratches furniture, try purchasing a scratching post and praise the cat whenever it uses it. Cats do respond to praise, and your cat will learn to use the post instead. Cats, just like people, have mood swings. Illness can also cause temporary cat problems that manifest as aggression.

- Paul Proctor