How to stop my outdoor cat from attacking me and new kittens?

Question

My female cat has attacked me multiple times, aiming for my face on all the various occasions. She whittle around unprovoked and claws at me. She also harasses one of our newest kitties. They are all outdoor cats. She was recently startled while I was holding her and scratched my hand badly in an attempt to file the "attacker". Since she is an outdoor cat and I live on a mountain with a lot of natural predators declawing would be dangerous to her well-being. What should I do to stop the attack? Pet's info: Cat | American Bobtail | Female | spayed | 2 years and 5 months old | 8 lbs

Megan, DVM, CVA · Accepted Answer

I hate to hear this. Since she is an outdoor cat and obviously easily startled I would try not to hold or pet her too much just to keep you safe. Bite and scratch wounds from cats can become very infected. If this is a new behavior then I would try to consider when it started and did anything change when this happened as this might be why she has had a change in behavior. Also if this is a new behavior she could be painful somewhere or not feeling well so I would talk to your vet about doing a work up on her if possible. Your vet will be to see if she is painful somewhere, perform a urinalysis, blood work and possible X-rays if needed. Now, if this is a behavior that isn't new then this could be her personality and it could get worse with anxiety (the new kitten). You could consider giving her a low dose of anti-anxiety medicine and sometimes this will calm her enough so she isn't attacking others but it won't change her personality or subdue her too much where she can't protect herself if needed. You can likely get this compounded into a liquid with tuna flavor that y'all may be able to hide in some food. I hope this helps and I understand the difficulty of this situation. I hope y'all are able to find a solution.

How to stop my outdoor cat from attacking me and new kittens?

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