Notes From The Veterinary Webinar Feline Aggression - Veterinary Cpd From The Webinar Vet

One of our recent veterinary webinars was a webinar on feline aggression given by Caroline Bower, a veterinary surgeon and diploma holder in companion animal behaviour counselling. Caroline is a partner at The Vet Hospital group in Plymouth and sees a lot of behavioural referrals for her practice and other practices in the south west of England.

Feline Aggression may be directed at other cats or people. Our domesticated cat is descended from solitary hunting cats who sometimes lived in small family groups. Their society is matriachial; there is a lack of hierarchy and the cats are usually related. In our modern multi-cat households we will often put non- related cats together which will often lead to aggression. Modern houses often do not have escape routes or hiding places for cats and this can lead to a sense of insecurity in the house which should be a safe area for them.

Many people do not present aggressive cats to their veterinary surgeon. In fact they will often avoid the vets because they are embarrassed by their behaviour or may be unaware of help being at hand. Without assistance feline aggression can become very serious and may lead to the cat being re-homed. Cat bites to humans may cause serious injury, cat scratch disease and tetanus.

Caroline recommended in the veterinary webinar that it is always better to refer such cases to a vet rather than a non-vet behaviouralist because some of the causes of aggression may be due to medical reasons such as osteoarthritis, systemic illnesses, cognitive dysfunction or brain tumours. A thorough work up including history, physical examination and diagnostic tests should help the veterinary behaviourist to come to a diagnosis. Treatment then may involve a number of modalities including desensitisation, pheromones such as feliway and other medications.

Caroline also noted that aggression in young cats may be linked to them being hand reared or being brought up by a feral mother. The first 6-8 weeks are crucial and if the kittens are reared by an aggressive mother they too are more likely to be aggressive.

Finally, Caroline dealt with aggression in the veterinary practice. Often cats are brought in and end up on the floor next to a noisy Staffordshire bull terrier. This can cause a lot of upset for the cat which then is in an agitated state when it is brought into the consulting room. Separate waiting areas should be considered along with allowing cat baskets to be placed on a height and possibly covered with a towel. The vet should handle the cat gently and use felifriend or feliway in the consulting area. If a cat is agitated it should be given at least 30 minutes to settle down.

Feline Aggression may be directed at other cats or people. Our domesticated cat is descended from solitary hunting cats who sometimes lived in small family groups. Their society is matriachial; there is a lack of hierarchy and the cats are usually related. In our modern multi-cat households we will often put non- related cats together which will often lead to aggression. Modern houses often do not have escape routes or hiding places for cats and this can lead to a sense of insecurity in the house which should be a safe area for them.