by Janet Farricelli CPDT-KA

Created on: May 24, 2009

While most cats upon feeling threatened will escape and retreat to their favorite hiding spot, when cornered with no outlet, a cat may resort to its last weapon of defense: fear aggression. Veterinarians know these fellows too well, they are the cats they meet in their practice that will use teeth and claws to avoid that painful injection and do what it takes to fight being restrained. As an owner, you want to stay away from a fearful aggressive cat, it is no secret that cat bites are one of the most likely type of injuries to get infected, and in some cases, cat bites have cost their owners one or more fingers, being amputated from a severe infection.

What Causes Fear Aggression in Cats

In order to be able to better understand the dynamics behind fear aggression, it would be helpful to understand the most likely causes of this fear. Fear aggression is pretty much a self explanatory term depicting a form of aggression deriving from fear. Cats are generally tranquil creatures that enjoy quiet and solitude. On the contrary, they dislike loud noises, confusion or anything that creates chaos in their lives.

In nature, cats tend to avoid confrontation, often opting for raising the white flag and retreating. Their favorite areas they resort to when feeling defenseless are trees or small hiding spots where their opponents may have a hard time reaching them. However, in an urban environment, often cats have a hard time finding a place to retreat, and if cornered, they may attempt desperately to bounce of the walls or as a last resort, attack the offender.

The most common situations that cause cats to become fearful are the following:

-Finding themselves exposed to unfamiliar people/animals

-Finding themselves in previously traumatic situations

-Finding themselves in unfamiliar territory

-Finding themselves cornered with no other options left

-Finding themselves under a highly stressful situation

-In some cases, no culprit is found

Types of Fear Aggression in Cats

-Redirected Aggression

A pretty common form of fear aggression in cats is called ''redirected aggression''. In this scenario, a cat becomes overcharged with fear and may then resort to attack anybody finding themselves nearby. A typical example is a cat seeing a dog from a window and then attacking its owner that is passing by in that moment.

This form of aggression is quite challenging to treat as it may take some time for the cat to quiet down ans resume normal behavior. The best way

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