Ninja by name and Ninja by nature, this feline fighter has had Vikki’s visitors and vet running scared. 9 month old Ninja bites, claws, hisses and spits and even growls at everyone leaving bite and scratch marks that have actually scarred, “they hurt and they’re painful” says owner Vikki, who has brought Ninja along to the clinic as a last chance saloon.
Marc is keen to quickly rule out any underlying potential medical causes for Ninja’s overtly aggressive attacks. Fever, for example can lead to irritability and other conditions can mean the cat behaves in a more defensive way. After a few questions and an examination, Marc suggests that Ninja’s condition is a behavior based aggression and not medical and is keen to find out when Ninja is fed. Finding out that Ninja has food available to her all the time, Marc is keen to address this and give the balance of control back to Vikki who is instructed to reward feed Ninja based on good behavior.
Vikki returns home to follow Marc’s advice and put his food plan into action. Two weeks later Marc visits Vikki at home to see how Ninja is progressing and also to bring along Feline Behaviour Specialist Sarah Fisher. Identifying that Ninja has a sensitive trigger on her back that when touched stimulates the aggressive behavior, Sarah quickly seeks to calm the violent reactions to being handled. Using long handled touch poles to gently make contact from a distance is a less threatening way to handle Ninja and it’s not long before the cycle of defensive aggressive is identified and broken. Sarah also suggests large toys that allow Ninja to practice her hunting moves on something other than human flesh.
Back at the Pet Shame Clinic Joanna and Marc are in awe of a much more chilled out cat and a much more relaxed Vikki as she explains “every day is happier and it’s enriched our lives”.
Beth Skillings, Cats Protection’s Clinical Veterinary Officer says: “Feline aggression is an extremely complex area and we would recommend that owners of cats exhibiting aggressive behaviour seek the advice of their vet to rule out any underlying medical disorder which may be causing the reaction. The reasons for aggression in cats can differ from cat to cat, and each case requires a detailed examination of that cat’s medical and behavioural history. Your vet may be able to help you identify the possible causes of your cat’s aggression or may recommend referral to a suitably qualified behaviourist, so that an appropriate behavioural modification programme can be implemented to ensure both cat and owner can live happily together.”
An information guide to cat behaviour can be found here: www.cats.org.uk.
