Need help with an ill-tempered(?) cat

I have a 1-year-old female Maine coon. I got her last December, and she was able to adjust to my house fairly quickly (within a week). For a while, she was a very sweet cat.

Recently, however, she’s become more violent, often scratching and biting when someone tries to pet her. However, she’s often purring before, during and after the act, so I’m not even sure if it’s anger or a misunderstanding of play.

Any advice on calming her down? I’ve tried playing with her, but that doesn’t get rid of the aggression.

Is your cat spayed?

Yes.

cats will purr even when they’re angry.

She might have a wound or even an abcess that’s bothering her, and if you touch that area, it hurts. Or she might have mats that are pulling at her skin. So the first order of business is to get her checked out, physically. It’s going to be kind of hard, given the amount of floof on the average Maine Coon, so take her in to the vet.

Well, that would explain it–but then why is she so pissed off all the time?

Well, she was checked out before we got her. And on the few occasions we’ve let her venture outside, she was leashed and wasn’t allowed to get more than 10 feet from the house. I really don’t think it’s an injury.

I should mention that a new cat has been introduced to the house, but her temper problems started before that.

Would those hormone-eluting plug-ins help? Or are they only for cats that feel lonely?

I’d guess she is either hurting, or unhappy about something. And I bet the new cat isn’t helping. Do they fight at all? We have two that aren’t the best of friends, but they get along pretty well now. It helped a lot to give them each their own warm sleeping area, view outside, litter box, and place to eat.

They don’t really get along, though it’s only my cat that starts shit. They have separate rooms, with beds, litterboxes, etc. I’ve been told she’s spoiled, but that doesn’t quite explain why she lashes out like that.

I’d get her checked out by a vet. Maine coons are probably the most laid-back cats around; it’s really not like them to behave that way.

Are you sure she isn’t trying to play aggressively? If you play rough with her, that may be what she is trying to do. I’d leave her alone for a while and make her seek out your companionship. Only give her attention when it’s the kind of behaviour you want. If you try that for a few days and things don’t improve, then I"d take her to the vet.

StG

Hmm. I do fake-punch her sometimes so that she stands on her hind legs and we shadowbox. But I’ve been trying to do less of that because I want her to be more calm.

I’m primarily concerned about the behavior itself, but I don’t mind if she’s biting rather than scratching. In the former case, she never draws blood, even when I let her go to town on my forearm and ended up with innumerable welts.

Our Maine Coon is normally sweet and loving, but if she’s in a grump-tastic mood (which we’ve learned to detect), she’ll give “love bites” which aren’t always so loving. She hasn’t broken skin, but she does get bitey. She’ll also get pointy on 5 ends and latch on to our hands as we rumple the belly fur when she’s in that mood. We usually just give her a toy with an evil tail and let her attack it instead of us.

When she gets that way we either take our chances with the jaws and claws or back off and leave her alone. There’s nothing wrong with her, she just doesn’t want to be bothered all the time.

If the aggression was a sudden thing I’d probably take the cat to the vet, a cat in pain can feel vulnerable and might try to act extra tough to keep up the appearance of health. If you don’t think that’s the case the plug-in, Feliway, might help. It can work on any kind of aggression/anxiety issue. That doesn’t mean it will, but it’s worth a shot if you can’t find another solution.

Look at her whiskers, these are pretty good indicators of mood.

When cats are playful the whiskers will move forward away from the face. Even if she’s aggressive, if she’s in a mood to play/fight, the whiskers will be forward. If the whiskers are back against the face she’s mad.

I agree with the poster that mentioned she may be hurting. Sometimes a scratch or maybe a sliver under the skin can make a nice kitty mad.