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My cat stalks and scratches my sister. Why is she doing this?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Cat | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 1 year and 4 months old | 10 lbs

Hello, My cat Lucy. Is a little over a year old and fixed. She isn't aggressive to anyone but my sister who gets scratched and stalked at every other day. Is there a reason why she would do this?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By David Darvishian

Veterinarian

Published on September 27th, 2017

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Lucy. Cat behavior is very complex and trying to figure this out might be impossible. For some reason, Lucy has taken it upon herself to stalk and lash out at your sister. Unfortunately, without spending a lot more time and detail the exact triggers and their relationship in general, it would be extremely difficult to answer this completely in this forum. It could be the way they interact with each other, how your sister behaves around her, how Lucy behaves around your sister, Lucy's predatory instincts, etc. I would advise discussing this with your local veterinarian who can gather a detailed history, explore the relationship between Lucy and your sister, and possibly do an examination to make sure Lucy is in good health and not acting out due to some medical problem that isn't apparent yet. Seems like this is strictly behavioral but medical problems can definitely cause abnormal behaviors towards people and other pets. Either way, behavioral or medical, your vet could then discuss moving forward. This could involve consulting with a cat behaviorist, trying behavior modification, trying some behavioral drugs, etc. Good luck with this confusing and complex problem. I hope your sister and Lucy can work this out.

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