Forms of Aggression

If a cat cannot hunt, it may satisfy its natural predator)' needs by stalking, pouncing, and biting its owner's ankles or a resident dog's wagging tail.

This unpleasant, antisocial behavior can be diminished by giving indoor cats an acceptable predatory outlet.

Toy manufacturers have created a vast array of stalk-and-capture toys for felines, but even a simple table tennis ball with a few grains of rice inside will make a satisfying toy.

In Aesop's fable, Belling the Cat, mice try lo outwit a cat by putting a bell on its collar, but there is no evidence that a "belled" cat is any-less successful as a predator.

Dr. David Paton at the University of Adelaide in Australia found that belled cats were just as successful as hunters as those without bells, perhaps because rodents and birds have not learned to associate the ringing of a bell with danger.

Predation is not the only form of aggression; others include aggression between two cats in a household, maternal aggression, dominant aggression, fearful aggression, and, perhaps the most exasperating to owners, petting aggression.

Having seemingly enjoyed being stroked, a cat suddenly lashes out with teeth and claws and jumps away, only to return seconds later for more petting.

A possible cause of this behavioral quirk is conflict in the feline's mind. Being stroked is pleasurable; it is reminiscent of its mother's grooming.

However, cats have evolved to have no body contact with other cats in adulthood other than during mating, an occasion particularly fraught with conflict.

Petting aggression can be avoided by restricting your stroking of prone individuals to short episodes.