While male cats are usually the ones that wander around and get into fights frequently, females are actually not behind with potential aggressive behaviors.
Actually, you might notice your female cat having an aggressive outburst out of nowhere, which might come as a surprise.
What’s happening? Why is my female cat suddenly aggressive?
There are 7 most common explanations for this type of behavior in your cat. Let’s look at them, as well as ways to handle them.
1. Overstimulation
Have you ever been petting your female cat, thoroughly enjoying your time together, only to have her suddenly display aggressive behavior?
If your perfectly calm cat suddenly grabs your arm and bites you, for example, this might be due to overstimulation.
Some cats love to get pets from their owners. If your cat is one of them, this is a great thing, but it's necessary to be careful here.
When petted for too long, cats can become overstimulated, causing them to act aggressively towards their owners.
You shouldn’t pet your cat for too long at one time, and you should also be careful about the way you’re giving her cuddles. You can find some useful advice in our cat petting chart.
2. Lack Of Stimulation
Lack of adequate stimulation, mentally or physically, might also cause sudden aggression in your female cat.
If your cat gets bored, and has too much energy that she doesn’t know what to do with, this can easily lead to destructive behaviors.
Therefore, you should make sure your cat is stimulated enough. Give her enough attention and don’t let any day pass without playing with her for at least 10 to 15 minutes.
It would also be good to provide her with interactive toys, scratching posts, and cat trees.
Ideally, you should also offer opportunities for your cat to hone her hunting instincts. If you don’t feel comfortable with letting her wander outdoors, wand toys and toy mice can be helpful here.
Interesting Read: Are Laser Pointers Bad For Cats?
3. Redirected Aggression
Seeing your female cat suddenly acting aggressively could be due to redirect aggression.
As Cornell Feline Health Center explains, a cat might get excited by a stimulus that she cannot respond to directly, which can make her to redirect the aggressive behavior toward her humans or other pets.
Some of the most common stimuli here are, for instance, your cat seeing a stray cat through a window, hearing some loud noise, or her having conflict with another cat in the household.
If your cat is in conflict with your other pet, she might redirect her aggression towards you.
The solution for this type of aggression is removing or, at least, avoiding the stimuli. If seeing other cats outside is causing redirected aggression in your female cat, you should pull down a window shade.
Additionally, it's essential to prevent conflicts between your pets to reduce the likelihood of redirect aggression.
4. Mating-related Aggression
It’s possible for a female cat to show aggression towards males they’re mating with.
For example, female cats might attack males after mating due to pain they feel during intercourse, since male cats have small keratinized spines on their penis that makes mating painful for females.
Also, female cats feel a burst of hormones after mating, which might cause them to suddenly become aggressive towards their mates.
The only way to be sure your female cat won’t show mating-related aggression is by spaying her. A spayed cat will not go into heat, meaning that she won’t be fertile anymore, and won’t attract males.
Moreover, as Lisa M Howe explains [1] spaying can be beneficial for a female cat’s health, since cats spayed before a year of age have been reported to have an 86% reduction in the risk of developing mammary tumors compared to intact cats.
5. Territorial Aggression
Male cats are usually believed to be far more territorial than females, but the truth is that females can get to be very territorial as well: They’re just likely to defend smaller areas in comparison to males.
Therefore, your female cat’s sudden aggression could be due to her attempt to defend her territory.
One of the best things to do here is to distract your cat. As soon as you notice that she is about to have an aggressive outburst, you should distract her by clapping your hands, or offering her favorite toy or some treats.
Since a cat’s attention span is rather short, she is likely to instantly forget about her aggression, especially if you have distracted her with something she really enjoys!
6. Aggression Caused By Pain
If your cat is normally very calm and docile, seeing sudden aggression in her can be very surprising.
You should be aware that this might be caused by pain, meaning that your cat could have underlying health issues.
Every time you try to touch her, she can get annoyed and scared by the discomfort she’s feeling.
The only thing you should do in a situation like this is reach out to your veterinarian. Also, make sure your cat is feeling safe and protected, and don’t be stubborn in trying to examine her, if she’s obviously refusing to let you do this.
7. Fear Aggression
Finally, a female cat can become aggressive all of a sudden due to fear aggression.
According to PetMD, fear aggression in felines is a response to an unfamiliar stimulus that they might perceive as threatening, such as a new person or animal in their environment, or a loud noise in their vicinity.
In some cases, you might be able to prevent this type of aggression in your cat. To do this, you first need to identify the exact stimuli that’s stressing her out, and then, avoiding the triggering situations.
Of course, you shouldn’t yell at your cat or punish her, since this can only worsen her fear response.
If the fear aggression problem seems to be too severe for your cat, you might want to consider consulting a veterinarian or a pet behaviorist specialist.
Final Thoughts
Why is my female cat suddenly aggressive?
Female cats might get aggressive just like males, due to several reasons, as we have seen.
Of course, this is a highly unwanted behavior, and something you should stop as soon as you notice it happening.
In some cases, you’ll be able to detect the type of aggression in your cat on your own and quite quickly.
In some other situations, you might even need to ask for professional help to put an end on your cat’s aggressive behavior.
No matter if your path is the simpler or the more complicated one – the only important thing is to find the exact cause and prevent your female cat from displaying aggression any further.
References:
[1] Howe LM. Current perspectives on the optimal age to spay/castrate dogs and cats. Vet Med (Auckl). 2015 May 8;6:171-180. DOI, Retrieved September 1, 2023.Read Next: Why Do Cats Like Laps?
