How To Stop Cat Aggression With a Simple Product
Cat aggression can be so disconcerting! Your sweet, furry friend suddenly turns into a monster and attacks another cat or dog or possibly even you. If your cat is aggressive this product can helpl. If you have had your cat checked out by a vet and there is not a medical reason then you need to address the behavior. There are a number of methods but the most effective I have found is a product called Stop That! For Cats Behavior Correction Spray by the SENTRY brand. It might just be your solution for the question of how to stop cat aggression!
How It Works-Speak Their Language
Stop That! Behavior Correction Spray uses both sound and pheromone technology to stop bad behavior. It comes in a tiny spray can that is so small you can put it in your pocket. The sound it emits is a very loud hiss. This is important since it is not just a loud sound. Hissing is a natural way for cats to communicate. Just like they hiss while fighting and hiss at you if they are really mad or scared, hissing is part of their language. You can try this yourself. If you really need your cat to understand they are bad, just try hissing at them! It works much better than other actions because you are speaking their own language. I read this advice and tried it and could see that it really got my cat’s attention. I would not do this for a minor issue though. This would be for something serious. The hissing sound from the can of Stop That! is loud and any cat nearby will definitely stop and take notice and likely run away.
Use Pheromone Technology
The second part of the product is the pheromone mimicking scent that is released with the hissing sound. It is lavender scented just like the other SENTRY brand calming products and also contains scents that mimick a mother cat’s pheromones. These pheromones calm cats. It seemed very counter intuitive to me at first that the product contains a negative sound with a positive scent! I guess the idea is the sound makes them stop whatever they are doing like fighting and then the scent calms them down. In any case it really works! If you read the reviews on Amazon they are amazing. People love this stuff and claim it works when nothing else did for their cat’s bad behaviors. People use it to stop one cat from picking on another, to keep their cat off counters, out of the kitchen, from scratching furniture or anything else. The Sentry brand products such as collars and diffusers use the same concept of pheromone mimicking scent.
Products for Continuous Calming of Anxious Cats
If you want a constant source of calm for an anxious kitty, one who suffers anxiety, acts dominant or pees outside the litter box, I highly recommend the SENTRY Calming Collars and Spirit Essences brand Safe Space for Cats drops that get applied to the fur. These two products are what I use for my last rescued kitty boy who was jumpy, grouchy and peed all over the house. With the collar and drops he is now a model, cat gentlemen. He follows me around, purrs and likes attention all the time. He does a complete 180 turnaround in attitude when he has these products to make him feel safe and secure! Here is my review of these products for cat anxiety. Products for Cat Behaviors Due to Anxiety.
You can try Stop That! Behavior Correction Spray for about $5 from Amazon. It may very well be your easy solution for how to stop cat aggression!
Please leave a comment or question and let me know how it works. I would always love to get more solutions for cat health and behavior.
Jessica
Definitely bookmarking this site. When I re-homed my last two horses, the barn cats moved, and I now have carport cats, so they are easier to feed. Two of the males occassionaly have “disagreements”, so I will be trying the spray! The entire site looks to be loaded with good information, so I’ll be spending a bit of time here off and on. Thanks.
Hi Joe, I am glad to hear you are finding useful information here! I lost track of the can I had of this when we moved. I want to get another one for the rare occasions one of my boys just gets too rough and won’t stop harassing his “sister”. Generally the Sentry collar and calming drops are enough to keep the one in check.
I look forward to you coming back and letting me know what you think or if you have any questions or comments.
Jessica
So glad I found this article Jessica! I am seriously bookmarking this for my son. He needs to read all of the posts on your blog! I am going to have to get some of this spray. My youngest son and I are literally terrified of this small, cute cat! We can’t even walk down the hallway if we see her. That is how terrified we are! Also, it does not use the litter box either. I will be looking for a post on that! It is a grown cat, and I always thought that all cats used the litter box. I had to recarpet my last home in Texas because of that darn cat!
Hi again Leahrae,
Thank you! Here is post for your son on the going outside the box issue. https://thrivingcat.com/products-for-cat-peeing-due-to-anxiety
I also have some posts on how to clean cat urine in carpet (or on clothes etc). Go to my page and you can choose the category of posts you are interested in. If you choose Behavior Problems you will find all these posts but many are cross listed in Product Reviews etc.
Good luck. It can take time to figure out the cause and find the right solution, but IT CAN BE DONE! Our boy was a nervous wreck who peed on everything. Finding solutions for his behavior was part of the inspiration for this site!
Thanks,
Jessica
Thank you Jessica, I am going to try this product. I’ll let you how it works. Would this also help if he continues to bite me? I am trying some of the other suggestions such as playing more with him or giving him a chew toy when he tries to bite me getting my hands out of the equation. So far nothing is working although at times he can be a real sweetheart. I know he is only 7 months old but I need to try and break all the bad habits before he’s full grown. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I don’t know the exact psychology but young cats do seem to go through a biting stage. All of mine outgrew it. I suspect you just need to do the best you can and it will get better. I have not had a cat quite that young myself. All of mine have been at least 1-2 when I got them. My last boy was still a biter at that age though. Of course he was a rescue and was scared and anxious. It really seems like a combination of getting more comfortable in the home and feeling secure as well as learning that you really don’t approve (but don’t hit him since that will just make it worse) and outgrowing it, that end up solving the problem. Of course different cats have different issues! Try the Stop That spray since it is very affordable and easy. I would also use either the SafeSpace for Cats Drops and/or the Sentry Calming Collar as well. The collar is messy at first since it has white powder on it but I just brush that off before I put it on. The drops are basically odorless for us humans but have a calming smell to cats. They are nice since they just go on the fur. I only use them twice per day (the bottle recommends more often) but I use more each time.
Let me know how it goes! I really hope these products work for you like they do for my cats.
Jessica
Shrieking or loudly saying “ouch” in response to the cat biting you gets the message through quickly, and in the same manner a mama cat does. (Well ok, mama cats don’t literally say “ouch” haha. They do produce a kind of kitty shriek in response to inappropriate biting though.) Your loud response indicating pain must be IMMEDIATELY after the bite- like within a split second- for it to be effective.
Thanks for your answer to this question Angela. I appreciate you stopping by!
Jessica
Jessica, thanks for this informative article. I had no idea a product like this exists. It sound like a better idea to me than the squirt bottle. Tonight I was lying on my bed reading with George on my lap. All of a sudden, he grabbed my foot and started to bite. I reflexively kicked my leg, and George flew off the bed and hit the wall. I felt terrible. Didn’t mean to kick him off, was just trying to prevent the bite he was attempting. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt or afraid of me. He did go lie in his own bed for awhile, though. He’s back in my lap now helping me type. 23daioijgreioap………….. That’s George Latin (not Pig Latin) for “Hello to Jessicas’s furkids!” I will check out ordering the
Hi Carol and George,
If he is biting your feet under the blankets that is just plain old hunting behavior and instinct. That is a bit different than biting you directly. Does he bite any other time? The Stop That spray should still work regardless since it surprises them.
I also bet he will grow out of it eventually like all mine have. It seems to be a combination of growing up, getting comfortable in a new home and learning that they are not supposed to do certain things.
I hope it gets resolved for you soon!
Jessica
Hello, Angela. Thanks for your comments about speaking the cat’s language. I automatically holler “Ouch” or “Stop That” without even thinking about it when George bites me. It’s just an automatic reaction to pain for me! Speaking the cat’s language and mimicing Mama cat’s behavior makes so much sense. I’m planning to order a can of “Stop That!” and practice hissing when he bites in the meantime.
Carol
Interesting. My cat has never attacked me but she has gone after other cats that invaded her territory. She feels she owns the place. I just assumed that was in their nature.
Territoriality is in their nature but the calming products I recommend here can help. These products will help your cat feel secure in her position and therefore she won’t feel such a need to attack other cats.
Thanks for stopping by,
Jessica
Kinda of late coming into this conversation but I have a 9-year-old indoor female and we have a 4-month old male kitten. We’ve had him since he was born . She literally hates him. I’ve tried the plug-in pheremones and it has had zero effect on her. She has her own food and sleeping quarters. He just wants to play with her but she growls, hisses, and swats at him…Not sure what to do at this point. She’s fine as long as he leaves her alone but I’d like to see them become friends. Any suggestions?
Hi Cynthia,
I have heard it is quite common for an older cat to be mean to a kitten that seems to be invading their space and it is always stressful when a new cat is added to the household. I highly recommend Jackson Galaxy’s line of cat drops. They can be applied to the fur so no need to make your cat ingest anything. I use the “Safe Space for Cats” drops on both of my boys and they work wonders. They make both of them more calm and happy.
Here is the link to my review of this line of drops. https://thrivingcat.com/jackson-galaxy-cat-drops. I would use either the Safe Space for Cats or the Bully Solution.
Hopefully they learn to love each other. Whenever we get a new cat there are fights and tension for quite a while. All of my 4 cats have learned to either tolerate or love each other now. In time I hope your girl will accept the kitten too!
Thanks for your question,
Jessica
This is all great information. I am definitely going to try the calming collar on my rescue cat, Fletcher, tomorrow. He can be so sweet and loving, but then he will attack me out of nowhere. I mean teeth and all four paws and claws in my arm, leg, hand, foot, whatever. He is not being playful when he does this, because it seriously seems like he wants to hurt me. It has become almost a nightly thing and I end up bleeding a lot of the time. I hope the calming collar works, because I love him and really don’t want to get rid of him, but I can’t keep being attacked every night. I have had to explain my scratches and bites to my family, and they think I am crazy to keep him. The vet has ruled out any medical issues. I have tried meowing, hissing at him, making him fight a stuffed animal, covering him in a blanket, leaving him in a room and closing the door on him (time out). Short of biting him back, I have tried absolutely everything I can think of. Praying the calming collar works. It is so crazy for me to be abused by my cat, whom I love so very much. 🙁
I hope the collar helps Laura.The collars are a bit annoying at first since they are covered in a powder. I knock off the excess in the trash before I put it on. I would also recommend Jackson Galaxy’s line of drops that you can just put on your cat’s fur. You put some in your hand and then pet your cat. They really help as well.
I have had a bit of aggression from my cats but not as bad as yours it sound like. I am sorry it is such a struggle. Is Fletcher still young? It seems this is common with young cats. My boy seemed to outgrow his biting.
Good luck!
Jessica