Comments on: Pass It Along: Redirected aggression in cats and dogs

By: LMC

LMC — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:56:28 +0000

I have about 30 cats, so we definitely DO have a social hierarchy! Generally the older cats are the top cats. (Funny it should go by age, but that’s the way it works – kittens are low cats on the totem pole.) We do have a King and a Queen. King and Queen are among older cats, but not THE oldest, there apparently are other qualifications for being a cat monarch (such as: cat has to be cat-socialized enough to want to be leader – some are not).
I have one cat also older, neutered female who is intensely disliked by all other older cats. Her name is Caramel. Younger cats tend to ignore her. Just exactly WHY she is such a target for the older cats we do not know, but her behavior shows she has a lot of trouble learning “human” things so maybe she has a lot of trouble learning “cat” things to; “intellectually challenged”. So she could be perceived by older cats as dangerous to the group.
Anyway my King cat Silver is a notorious user of redirected aggression. if he is angry at me or my husband and (especially) if he is also frustrated about something (as at Thanksgiving when he smells turkey roasting and is anxious to share it with us —- but it takes SO LONG to bake)
he will attack other cats. Poor Caramel is a frequent target, but I have also seen him go after somewhat younger males. The other cats apparently find this very interesting and when they see Silver in this mood, they follow him to watch the “fun”. One time, when he went after Caramel, my husband chased him and all the onlookers through the cat door and out of the house (this is what all the cats do to other cats when they really want to make a point; a cat chased out of the house looses face big time) . My husband’s message was that Silver might be King of cats but there is still a BIGGER King in the household. Silver let Caramel alone for a long time after this although he still goes after other catd

By: Free vector files

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By: Behind the Behavior » Blog Archive » What Do I Do Now? Conflict Behavior in Cats and Dogs

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:34:18 +0000

[...] time ago, I wrote an article titled Pass It On, Redirected Aggression in Cats and Dogs. In that article, I wrote: “Redirection of a behavior is one of three forms of conflict [...]

By: BACS

BACS — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:36:04 +0000

Thanks for sharing this group of lesson learned, you have added a few points that I need to go away and consider.

By: Christine Hibbard

Christine Hibbard — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:57:13 +0000

Hello Meredith,

Here is a link to a page on this blog where we discuss how to evaluate Animal Behavior Consultants: http://companionanimalsolutions.com/blogs/finding-a-qualified-professional/

And here are some links to professional organizations where you can search for someone in your area:

To find a Board Certified Veterinary Behaviorist, visit the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists web site: http://www.dacvb.org/

To find a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, visit the Animal Behavior Society web site: http://www.animalbehavior.org/ABSAppliedBehavior/caab-directory

To find a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, visit the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants: http://iaabc.org/

To find a Certified Training Consultant, visit the SFSPCA web site: http://www.sfspca.org/resources/library/for-dog-owners/academy-dog-trainer-referral-lists/academy-for-dog-trainers.html

Lastly, if you’d like to speak to someone at Companion Animal Solutions for help with an evaluation, you can fill out our Contact Us form and I’ll send you an email to set up a short phone intake: http://www.companionanimalsolutions.com/contactUs.php

We’d love to hear how your search for a qualified professional goes and how your case turns out. Good luck!

Regards,
Christine Hibbard

By: Meredith

Meredith — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:26:36 +0000

Hello! I would like to have the prognosis for my dog’s rehabilitation evaluated. How would I locate someone in my area who’s as qualified as yourself to do this? Thank you, Meredith

By: Jim Ha

Jim Ha — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:59:40 +0000

Virginia,

I would make a couple of suggestions:
1. See if you can keep the invading cats out of your yard: one way to do this is through the liberal use of scents… there are a number of products on the market that you can spread around your yard, like coyote urine (yuck, but WORKS!) that tends to drive away cats. I recommend them for people with cats in the gardens.

2. Try using the Feliway product, but only in the plug-in diffuser form, in which it is much more effective. Use one of the diffusers in each room in which your cats can see outside.

3. Finally, working with a veterinarian, you could try one of the modern anti-anxiety medications for both cats, just until they adjust and settle into their new home.

Let me know what happens!

Cheers,
Jim Ha

By: Virginia

Virginia — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:34:44 +0000

Recently I moved into a neighborhood that has many cats who come into my backyard at night and up to the front window. This is causing aggression between my wo indoor cats who normally get along well. My cats will get into a full blown fight, leaving me with no choice but to separate them and re-introduce them. I I have only lived here a month and it has happened twice already. What can I do?

By: Erica

Erica — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:10:27 +0000

I appears Luca may be gaining a couple pounds in “redirection” weight )