Cat scratching ONLY one person?

mumofthreemonkies83

Hi everyone,
Im new on the pets board, please be gentle

Im looking for advice on my cat, hes 6 and a half and weve had him since he was a kitten.Hes been neutered (within the first year if I recall correctly) and weve never had a problem with him.
Hes a fantastic cat, very loving and tolerates my 2 year old, 7 year old and one year old amazingly well, even when the babies are chasing him round the house

In the last year or so though hes taken to attacking my eldest DD (11)
Shes very loving with him and im certain its not vicious attacks, its more like a game of cat and mouse :rolleyes:

Her legs are quite badly scratched now, he doesnt bite or intend to hurt I dont think, he lies in wait for her and as soon as she passes he pounces
Ok i know I shouldnt laugh but

Shes been telling me for a while and I never saw it, it wasnt until I watched her leave the room and head up the stairs when I saw the cat watching, he tilted his head like he was thinking, dived through the bannister rail and chased her up the stairs :rotfl:

Does anyone have any clues why? He never used to do things like this, as I said to dd, maybe hes annoyed that hes sleeping in her bed....she nodded then looked at me then blurts "hang on, its my bed not his!!!" :rotfl:

Anyone? please help if you can, dd is mithering me to put him up for adoption and we cant do that.Hes been one of the family for years and its his only fault.

Thanks everyone, any help appreciated:A
Mumof4 xx

tealady

Hi. He is playing I think but this needs to be stopped. Have you thought about geting some toys like Da Bird to wear him out. Also if he goes to attack your daughter she needs to hiss at him (thats a cat way of saying "Go away").
HTH

Ruby_Moon

Your daughter has encouraged play and now the cat is playing as he knows how to, and thats by stalking and pouncing. Trouble is, they have sharp claws
She will just have to shoo him away when he does it. Give him a loud hiss or a clap of the hands. He will stop it.

mumofthreemonkies83

Thank you for the replies Ruby Moon and Tealady
Problem is dd is too much like my Mum, a real animal lover and ive lost count of the amount of times ive told her to be stern with him :rolleyes:

Ill show her this thread when she comes home, perhaps when she sees this is how other people would react she'll start listening to me instead of thinking im being cruel :rotfl:

Many thanks ladies
Mumof4 xx

Fire_Fox

Why don't you get your daughter clicker training with the cat if she loves animals? £3 for a clicker from Pets at Home, some treats or even the usual dry food (don't free feed as well!), all the instructions are on YouTube.

paddypaws101

We used to have a cat that had a penchant for attacking me, only me! when I was about that age. He was a pretty unfriendly cat....But I ADORED him and maybe bothered him a little. But saying that the attackes were un provoked...he would get that crazy black eyed look and launch himself at me with real force so I would have to literally have to batter him off with a rolled newspaper. Luckily he seemed to grow out of it!
Obviously with younger children in the house you want to put a quick stop to this behaviour. Maybe you could try a Feliway diffuser which can calm a cat down...or even a homeopathic or Flower Remedy, they work very well with cats!

RacyRed

It sounds as if he is playing chase with your daughter. Ask her to hiss at him when he catches her with his claws out, then walk away and ignore him (that is important).

If, on other occasions, he tags her with his claws retracted then she could tell him he is a good boy and play more with him. If at any point he forgets himself and scratches he gets the hiss then ignored.

Sounds to me as if your cat thinks your daughter is his special friend and he is just expressing his affection for her. The reward/ignore approach should help him learn. Hissing is not at all cruel, it is a language cats understand.

paddypaws101

This post from Racy Red is a very good idea.
I was probably Toby's best play mate and would often initiate chase games outside...so maybe he thought I was fair game inside too!
Doesn't explain those scary dark eyes though... I will never forget that!

RacyRed

paddypaws101 wrote: »

This post from Racy Red is a very good idea.
I was probably Toby's best play mate and would often initiate chase games outside...so maybe he thought I was fair game inside too!
Doesn't explain those scary dark eyes though... I will never forget that!

The dark eyes (dilated pupils) express excitement, my tom does it a lot when he wants to play. The girls do it occasionally but it is not nearly so noticable and mostly when they have catnip.

I agree that it is scary at first though, I thought the boy had gone nuts! Now it makes me reach for the toys

jess1974

When i was growing up we had a huge fluffy black female cat, 'Blackie' used to stalk me in the garden, until i was backed into a corner, once i tried to make a run for it she would pounce and claw my legs to ribbons.

I can't remember how old i was but i can still remember the fear as she pounced and chased me, my mum and dad were watching from the lounge window in hysterics.

I do know that this stopped once i got bigger and the cat dare'nt do it anymore, i do hope your cat can stop this because it really hurts...

butler_helen

We find that he's (my bootsie) nicest when everyone in our house ignors him. He eventually gets the hint and comes nicely to us! Although it's helped by three feliway diffusers.

Good luck!! Xh