AR-News: (US CO) Approaching 'attack cat' takes kid gloves

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

By Suzanne Hetts and Daniel Estep, Special to the News
March 29, 2004 
Have you ever seen a true "attack cat"? We saw one recently that had attacked 
her owner, who was quietly sitting in bed reading. Although the woman could 
pet the cat if she approached from behind, the cat would bite and scratch if 
her owner reached toward her to pet her. 
With her front legs and paws, this cat also grabbed the sleeve attached to a 
fake plastic hand and repeatedly bit the hand. The cat worked her way up the 
sleeve, biting as she went. After a second attack on the hand, the cat lay on 
the hand and proceeded to take a nap. 
Somewhat unusual behavior for a cat! The most common types of aggression cats 
show to people are play-motivated, defensive and fear, and occasionally 
redirected aggression. Cats - unlike dogs - are rarely territorially aggressive 
toward people. This cat's behavior clearly did not fit into any of these 
categories. 
Some behaviorists would want to label this behavior "dominance aggression," 
but we're not sure that's a good fit, either. And it's often more productive to 
just work with the behavior you see than to attach a label to it, anyway. 



full story:

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/pets/article/0,1299,DRMN_64_2761917,00.h
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