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Why cats attack
Pioneer Press ^ | 4-16-05 | DR. MARTY BECKER

Posted on 04/16/2005 9:31:21 AM PDT by Rakkasan1

One minute you are enjoying a tender moment petting your purring cat and then, suddenly, your lovey-dovey kitty whirls around and attacks you.

Cat lovers pull away wondering, "What just happened?"

"Most of these problems can be linked to people who acquire kittens too young in the belief that they'll develop a closer bond with the cat," explains Carolyn Osier, a breeder of cats for more than 30 years and an all-breed judge for the Cat Fancier's Association.

Having watched almost 300 litters of kittens develop, Osier notes that, just like children, certain feline social skills develop at different times. A kitten acquired at six weeks of age may be fully capable of eating from a dish and using a litter box but still needs to master social skills such as learning how to fight and play together. Kittens learn their more serious fighting and predatory skills by engaging in what look like serious tussles but actually are play battles that don't involve the use of teeth or claws. If a kitten chomps or claws too hard, the game is over, and he learns he has to control himself with family.

Given the importance of these skills for the cat's survival, missing these lessons sets the stage for problems later.

(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: attack; cats; funwithcats; killer; kittiesarepeopletoo; kitty; kittyfun; troll; viking
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To: Dallas59

I love that.


21 posted on 04/16/2005 10:15:53 AM PDT by Rakkasan1 (The MRS wanted to go to an expensive place to eat so I took her to the gas station.)
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To: Dallas59

That is hilarious!


22 posted on 04/16/2005 10:19:08 AM PDT by andyandval
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To: Slings and Arrows

23 posted on 04/16/2005 10:20:08 AM PDT by andyandval
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To: Maceman

"Last week we had to put down our beloved 18-year-old cat..."

So sorry to hear that, I still miss my beloved "Normy", best cat I ever could have!


24 posted on 04/16/2005 10:22:46 AM PDT by jocon307 (Irish grandmother rolls in grave, yet again!)
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To: Dallas59

ROTFLMAO!


25 posted on 04/16/2005 10:23:17 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("The Internet, where men are men, women are men, and little girls are FBI agents..." --Unknown)
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To: andyandval

o/~ C'mon baby...let's do The Twist... o/~


26 posted on 04/16/2005 10:24:34 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows ("The Internet, where men are men, women are men, and little girls are FBI agents..." --Unknown)
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To: Dallas59

Thats the best! LOL!


27 posted on 04/16/2005 10:24:36 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco (After 32 years of dealing with stupid people I still haven't earned the right to just shoot them.)
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To: Rakkasan1

This cat adopted us. He's HUGE and mean. He attacks me when I stop petting him. Ha! We named him Rock. Can't let him in the house because he hates our 3 indoor cats and he'd rip them to shreds. He has the run of the yard and we have no problem with other critters coming on our property, including dogs.

Our neighbor witnessed Rock running up on the FRONT PORCH of another neighbor and chasing their two dogs right off their own front porch.

Rock attacks because he can and because he likes to.


28 posted on 04/16/2005 10:27:35 AM PDT by Saundra Duffy ( Theresa Marie SCHINDLER - We will NEVER FORGET! - IMPEACH JUDGE GREER!!!)
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To: Dallas59

Cat Mauls Man Showering Parrot
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=80716&page=1
Abcnews.com


29 posted on 04/16/2005 10:30:00 AM PDT by Rakkasan1 (The MRS wanted to go to an expensive place to eat so I took her to the gas station.)
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To: Rakkasan1; grizzfan; 4mycountry; TheBigB; VRWCmember; Zavien Doombringer; jriemer; mhking; ...
Just for grins, Kitties. :)

30 posted on 04/16/2005 10:31:00 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP (There is only one GOOD 'RAT: one that has been voted OUT of POWER !! Straight ticket GOP!)
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To: Rakkasan1

I have a cat who, when younger, deliberately knocked over glass objects so he could enjoy them smashing on the floor. I had to hide everything glass. He'd leap up on a table or shelf and go hunting. Maybe he was bored, but he stopped when there was nothing left to smash to bits. Now he contents himself with sitting on whatever you're reading or trying to write. Also smacks my mini dachshunds around from time to time. Nothing serious, no blood spilled on either side.


31 posted on 04/16/2005 10:31:07 AM PDT by hershey
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To: Maceman

Methinks your snake will love your new putty


. . . once


32 posted on 04/16/2005 10:34:38 AM PDT by Quix (HAVING A FORM of GODLINESS but DENYING ITS POWER. 2 TIM 3:5)
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To: SubMareener

When my daughter, Heather, was a teenager, we had a Siamese cat who thought she was Heather's mother. She tried to teach her to hunt, to be a proper cat. You could read the disgust on Katie's face as she thought how bald H was, and why wasn't she down on all fours, for heaven's sake! And the lack of a tail! H went off to college, and Katie was furious. After a few weeks, she transferred her maternal eye to H's younger brother, and when he went off to school, was again furious (mad at me). She saw the empty boxes in the hall and knew, then yelled at me, demanding that I stop him. You could read this cat like a book, and she had 'the death stare', that she'd bore into the back of some other luckless cat. After a minute, the fur on the victim's back would begin to twitch, then he'd turn around, goggle at Katie and run for his life. It was like living with Attila the Hun.


33 posted on 04/16/2005 10:40:24 AM PDT by hershey
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To: Rakkasan1
Social skills?


34 posted on 04/16/2005 10:40:52 AM PDT by SolidRedState (E Pluribus Funk --- (Latin taglines are sooooo cool! Don't ya think?))
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To: Rakkasan1
I love this part

"It was a real carnage: there was blood all over the place — on the the ceiling, the floor and the walls. The cat was really traumatized by the water," Theriault added.

What the heck! the cat was traumatized? what about the old guy whose blood was "all over the place"...

35 posted on 04/16/2005 10:44:52 AM PDT by N3WBI3
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To: Rakkasan1
My Abigail loves to play tag at night. It's something my children really don't like, since around bedtime I will hear yowls of, "Abby bit me." More of a small nip. I told them to give her a small kick when she does that.
Btw, she's a homeschooled kitty. ;-P
36 posted on 04/16/2005 10:46:04 AM PDT by HungarianGypsy (Walk Softly, For a Dream is Born)
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To: martin_fierro

OMG! That is hilarious!

Thanks for posting that.

Best laugh I've had all week.


37 posted on 04/16/2005 10:46:26 AM PDT by KimmyJaye (Susan Estrich: A face for radio and a voice for pantomime.)
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To: Rakkasan1

"A kitten acquired at six weeks of age may be fully capable of eating from a dish and using a litter box but still needs to master social skills such as learning how to fight and play together."

My two current (adopted) cats are total "social retards." They're sisters who were always fostered out and have never had a permanent home before our house. They've been with us nearly three years now, but I don't trust them around visiting kids because they will do the old "Please pet me, I wuv you! / I WILL KILL YOU!" bait and switch.

I can tell when they're getting over-stimulated, so I just walk away from them when they're getting "weird" that way. No scratches so far; a hiss once in a while.

The things we do for love...


38 posted on 04/16/2005 10:48:52 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: Dallas59

That would be one dead cat if it were mine


39 posted on 04/16/2005 10:51:31 AM PDT by Figment (Ich bin ein Jesuslander)
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To: hershey

I have 2 cats. One can be mean. She gets on the table and if the other cat is on the floor near the table she knocks things off trying to hit the other cat on the head.


40 posted on 04/16/2005 10:52:07 AM PDT by muggs
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