You & Your Pet by Dr. Wise

Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association P. O. Box 3 · Cumberland, RI 02864 (877) 521-0103 (866) 277-0238 Toll-Free ·Fax

My 8 year-old cat seems to enjoy being petted most of the time, but occasionally she will turn suddenly, bite my hand and jump off my lap.  Why does she do this?  Is she in pain?

This particular problem is a perplexing one for cat owners.  What is evidently happening is that your cat perceives the petting you are giving her as an act of dominance.  It is interesting to note that behavior specialists believe that grooming behavior, which includes petting, is more commonly done "down" the social hierarchy.  What this means is that the more dominant cats tend to do the most social grooming.

From your cat's point of view, it is okay to solicit attention, but intense petting may be construed as aggressively dominant behavior on YOUR end!  For a dominant personality cat, this may be hard to swallow.  These cats are typically the ones who act agitated and restless while being stroked.

There are cues you can pick up on to tell whether your cat is getting agitated.  Most cats will flatten their ears, lash their tail and begin to growl.  You might also notice that your cat's pupils will enlarge.  The important thing to do at this point is to stop petting and stand up to let your cat slide off your lap.  Do not touch her in any way.  When you do this you are stopping her from making an attack and also reinforcing that you are in control of the situation.   Punishment after an attack is never appropriate and can worsen the situation, particularly in these cases, because your cat would be receiving what she would consider as more extreme dominant behavior.

There are ways you can increase your cat's petting tolerance threshold.  Probably the most important thing to do is stop all petting sessions long before any restlessness occurs on her end.  Food rewards can be helpful during the petting process, but be careful not to inadvertently reward aggressive behavior.

Check with your veterinarian for any other helpful tips for dealing with this problem.  Be sure, too, that any medical reasons for personality issues have been explored, especially if the problem is a new one for a middle-aged or older cat.

This information, prepared as a public service by the Rhode Island Veterinary Medical Association, answers problems Rhode Island veterinarians currently are seeing in their practices, as well as new developments in animal care.