My cat is getting unusually aggressive?

Question

My cat is about a year old and has been living with us since she was about 2 months old. She does bite and scratch when we play but i didnt mind since it didnt hurt as much as i expected. My babysitter recently got a baby pitbull and kept it in our house. Ever since then my cat has been growling terribly and biting and scratching harder than usually. I tried to get her to calm down by setting her down next to me with a comfy blanket but she just tries to escape and walks away hissing. I try to keep her away from the dog but she just keeps going back to try to attack it (the dog is a few inches smaller so the cat keeps trying to maul at it). Any tips on how to calm her down when she gets vicious?

Answer 1

Tell the babysitter that the puppy needs to be left at home. It is bothering your cat, and it is possible that if your cat becomes agitated enough, it could attack the children. Cats will display what is called 'Redirected Aggression'. What that is basically, the cat becomes agitated by something that it cannot do anything about, (like the puppy). Since it cannot get the puppy out of it's territory, the cat will take it's aggression out on the closest thing, which will be human or other things.

One thing you can try, when the cat seems to be getting agitated, is to throw a hand towel in her general direction. Many times the cat will go for that instead of people because it's closer. She won't care what it is, she will just attack the towel. That way she can release her built up aggression on an inanimate object instead of a person.

And why is the sitter bringing the puppy to your house anyway? I have no problems with the breed of dog. That is not my issue. My issue is bringing a puppy into someone else's home where they are supposed to be watching the children. I don't know how old your children are, but I wouldn't want my sitter's time and attention divided by a puppy over my children.  

Answer 2

Your cat obviously doesn't like the dog. That's your problem. Getting her to calm down... that will take time. Time for her to get used to the dog. Getting a dog when you have a cat usually goes like this.  

Answer 3

keep her in another room

Answer 4

That's not unusually aggressive. She feels her territory is threatened.

Why does your babysitter bring her dog to your home?  I wouldn't be cool with that at all. Especially when it is upsetting the family cat.

Until your cat calms down and gets used to the dog, don't play so much. Pet and love, but don't play. She might bite harder. If she isn't spayed, that might help. She probably just needs to adjust to the perceived threat of the puppy.