Is this aggression or Sphynx at play?

[Velour]

This is probably going to be very ignorant of me.
I am going to attach a video of Vladimir a couple of months before what I recognized as a real act of aggression towards me.
At that time I felt was Vladimir at play (hunting/attack play). Looking back I wonder now if he was actually already attacking with aggressive intent. Cornell seems to think the video is straight attack mode and found it scary...they would have freaked if they saw his aggression months later when he REALLY was attacking. I was mortified myself, Unfortunately I could not protect myself and video tape at the same time.
THings are a little better right now, but he just tried to do it again yesterday. I live on eggshells now around him.
In my other posts you will see what I have been doing.
But here I wanted to post the video and see what you think from your experience As it seems sphynx are in a category of their own and what they consider play is different than most other breeds. He was never aggressive as a kitten. There was an unfortunate phase when he was 2 when someone in my life would rough house with him. I did not think much of it because he seemed happy, but looking back I should have put a stop to it right away. A huge regret as I did not foresee the consequence. But that is another story...

 

[Catzzzmeow]

We see often that rough housing/playing with hands or even wiggling feet under the covers when they are little can be funny when they are kittens, but not as they get older. It can sort of me engrained in them and be sort of an outlet of pent up energy and becomes a habit.

 

[Velour]

We see often that rough housing/playing with hands or even wiggling feet under the covers when they are little can be funny when they are kittens, but not as they get older. It can sort of me engrained in them and be sort of an outlet of pent up energy and becomes a habit.

Yes. This is what I am suspecting. (Of course the actual attacks later were not play. It was clear in those cases Especially because it included yoweling and chasing me). But hwen Cornell saw this video they put the fear of God into me and I am hesitating.

 

[Sheldon13]

Yes he looks perturbed in the video. His ears are slightly back, his eyes dilated, licking his lips and swinging his tail around wildly.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Velour]

Yes he looks perturbed in the video. His ears are slightly back, his eyes dilated, licking his lips and swinging his tail around wildly.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

Yes! So, all I was doing on that day was sitting at the head of my bed watching Netflix. He approached me suddenly.
THe other more serious attacks were me sitting at the head of the bed as well.
Cornell I thought would be “expert” on this. There was one doctor that seemed to be more interested. THe head doctor however, who appears very controlling, all she did was instill me with feelings of guilt. She provided few suggestions and asked few questions Thereby making suggestions based on assumptions. I feel very frustrated. I have a call in to a behaviorist about 1 hour from here, but I have no idea her credentials.
On a couple of ocasions Vladimir attacked me when I scolded the puppy. Fortunately I was able to quickly redirect those and he responded positively. However, it still happened (as if he thinks he is the pup’s mom). I mentioned this to cornell. The woman said: “Vladimir is right. You should not scold the pup. you should only use positive training. So next time just make a loud noise or shout to distract him”....???? So what is the difference between “shouting” and saying “NO!!” ... she conveniently did not respond to that question And suggested a dog training book. Which is fine, except that I have already under my belt two poodles and a great dane. I could leave a steak on the coffee table and none would touch it. All beautiful well behaved companions. (I know I am venting now) sigh.
Then I also mentioned one of these attacks was when I reprimanded the pup for being on my formal couch. I think he knows not to do it, but Vladimir purposefully lures him up there and then waits for me to react. (Brat) I even have it all barricaded until the puppy learns. But Vlad has him chase him and before he knows it he is up there. So, this last time the dog went up on his own and just sat there looking at me. Like, look where I am. Vlad on the coffee table hunched down with a smirk. I picked up the dog, set him on the floor and said a very very loud NO!!! Vlad lunged at me. One of the suggestions here was that I should set up an exercise pen so that the dog could be with me while I am on the couch......she made the assumption I was on the couch, that he wanted to be with me, etc... asked no questions. Just said I shouldn’t correct him (?) Honestly, I have not sat on that couch since covid because I have no guests! Even Vlad knows he is not allowed on the couch. I let him run up there now to get away from the dog, but he just runs up and hops on the coffee table And sits there.
It is interesting to me that Cornell still treats these animals like just simple animals. Yes. They are animals and they have instinct and we can never ever forget that. BUT they are also highly socialized with humans - generations, highly intelligent (more than us) and know exactly what is happening. I am the one missing something in this whole picture. And from my experience in order for them to understand praise they also have to understand NO! And what it means when they have crossed a line And how I signal it to them. Also, they are smart enough to understand when I am angry at their action and when I am just a cruel human imposing empty threats and being a tyrrant.
Okay. I am done ranting. Thank you for those out there who have been my sounding board.

 

[Sheldon13]

Just like there are human doctors out The who don’t listen to their patients, there are also vets who fail in the same way.

I think it’s a good idea you are getting in with a behaviorist. I really hope they will consider all the nuance of your situation and give you advice you can actually work with.


Love and Sphynx ~ It’s all you need

 

[Yoda mom]

@Velour , oh, I have a Toby terror as I called him , was really bad when I adopted him and had him neutered at 11 mos.
he would leap attack off the dresser. growl , huff puff. aweful. he is now toby love as I call him now.7 years later.

but he gets his moments once in awhile. he will stroll across the headboard area with that look every now and then. I can he tell gets that look , eyes, ear set, tail, growls. I give a firm "NO" stern voice tell him "Toby have Love" .. he would get a demon look twitching his tail. I think they lied about why he was rehomed.

in the beginning I would have to scruff him and give him time outs in the bathroom with bed and litter box. he actually would growl mean and huff n puff and flat out attack ... it was awful. I had to redirect him to a dog kicker firehose toy, watching the timing of it so not to be associated as a reward for being toby terror.
oh, and the diffusers people use, Not Toby. he went up to them snarling and growling sniffing them, so out went feliaway diffusers.

none of my other sphynx do this, they do the usual feet under cover play. Toby gets a different look.
I stern no, scruff him, time out and redirect. he is a world of difference from his earlier days.

now I tell him Toby Love and he comes up to me and closes his eyes purrs for head smooches.
I watch his body language always.

 

[Velour]

So. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?
If you can’t answer, just ignore...
What is scruff?
I tried to say NO! but this makes matters worse and it escalates to the next plateau (another reader had this same issue).
If I walk away and he is in full attack mode he follows.
If I stay put he will grab my arm with all fours and dig in like a pitbull with his teeth and the only way to get him off is to literally scrape him down my arm. (Still have scars) So to avoid this I have tried redirecting staying as calm as possible and essentially “ignoring” the aggression. Definately not correcting it.
What is the dog firehouse kicker toy please?
By snarl I am assuming you mean the deep throated then high pitch yeowling I mention?
Every other aspect is the same idea: huffing, puffing, sometimes no warning at all as he leaps from the floor to where I am on the bed unannounced.

 

[Yoda mom]

@Velour
scruffing is like what a momma cat does caring kittens is best way I can explain it. I would scruff him but always cradled his back legs to support him while I carried him to time out.
not all think it is great to do but it was the only way to get him off of me and time out him. You can try a towel too . Toby was down right mean. yes snarl gutteral deep throated and yeowling like mentioned. when he attacked and latched on I would scruff him and a no and a time out. when I watched his body language building to his mode , I got out the firehouse toy from my rotties. they make a cat type version too. I had to get rid of the feliway. made him worse. he never attacked the pups either.


I also used tennis balls in a sock he licked biting and kicking that too! I kept consistent on watching body language, redirecting to toy and setting boundaries of what was acceptable. he caught on fast that nasty meant time out.
when I said No I did not wave my hand or finger at him. just a stern mean business NO. if he started to be a jerk... time out.

he made a huge transformation. he is very snuggly and loving now. gets zoomies now and then but I nip in in the butt. he listens now to No much like a dog.

last year he turned into a jerk. found out there was a feral cat that got in my attic! are there any other outside kitties that he could be seeing ? sensing?

several firehouse toy brands. I chose that because heavy duty . the catnip long tubes were too soft and he would bite thru.

outward hound on amazon about $7 , others brands too online in store.

 

[Velour]

You have been so amazingly helpful. Unlike any of these expensive “experts”. So the firehouse toy he chews? Catnip does nothing for him. I have a whole shooping list, ping pong balls, tennis balls, socks, firehouse toy. Lock bedroom door, re-direct. I tried scruff but he gets dangerously violent when I tried that once. I was lucky not to have to get stitches.

 

[Condo commando]

Did you ever hear of Jackson Galaxy and My Cat From Hell? JG deals with a lot of aggressive cats on the show. If you get the Animal Planet channel and you want to see other people that have it as bad or worse than you, watch that show. The main thing he's always telling people is to catify their house. Watch the video.

Catifying Your Home For Harmony – Jackson Galaxy

www.jacksongalaxy.com

 

[Condo commando]

Found an entire episode of My Cat From Hell on youtube

 

[Velour]

Did you ever hear of Jackson Galaxy and My Cat From Hell? JG deals with a lot of aggressive cats on the show. If you get the Animal Planet channel and you want to see other people that have it as bad or worse than you, watch that show. The main thing he's always telling people is to catify their house. Watch the video.

Catifying Your Home For Harmony – Jackson Galaxy

www.jacksongalaxy.com

I actually have the book. LOL

 

[Charming]

This is probably going to be very ignorant of me.
I am going to attach a video of Vladimir a couple of months before what I recognized as a real act of aggression towards me.
At that time I felt was Vladimir at play (hunting/attack play). Looking back I wonder now if he was actually already attacking with aggressive intent. Cornell seems to think the video is straight attack mode and found it scary...they would have freaked if they saw his aggression months later when he REALLY was attacking. I was mortified myself, Unfortunately I could not protect myself and video tape at the same time.
THings are a little better right now, but he just tried to do it again yesterday. I live on eggshells now around him.
In my other posts you will see what I have been doing.
But here I wanted to post the video and see what you think from your experience As it seems sphynx are in a category of their own and what they consider play is different than most other breeds. He was never aggressive as a kitten. There was an unfortunate phase when he was 2 when someone in my life would rough house with him. I did not think much of it because he seemed happy, but looking back I should have put a stop to it right away. A huge regret as I did not foresee the consequence. But that is another story...

He seems very angry to me. I'm in no way a cat expert, I've had dogs all my life, but to me the body language says angry not playing.

 

[Velour]

It is great to have the neutral perspective of someone who has not had cats. I agree with you. I just can’t figure out why. So, in the meanwhile I have been bending over backwards to make physical adjustments to my space etc... to resolve the matter. In the end, I feel the most pressing issue has to do with his health and the changes in lifestyle that covid has influenced in our lives. There has definitely been some improvement. So I feel I am on the right track with all the advice I have gotten from Sphynxlair members. No one in the medical community nor on the forum seems to feel that this is a brain thing. Though no one has done a CT scan either.

 

[Charming]

It is great to have the neutral perspective of someone who has not had cats. I agree with you. I just can’t figure out why. So, in the meanwhile I have been bending over backwards to make physical adjustments to my space etc... to resolve the matter. In the end, I feel the most pressing issue has to do with his health and the changes in lifestyle that covid has influenced in our lives. There has definitely been some improvement. So I feel I am on the right track with all the advice I have gotten from Sphynxlair members. No one in the medical community nor on the forum seems to feel that this is a brain thing. Though no one has done a CT scan either.

I'm so glad you are getting some great suggestions from the experienced people here. I have no advice to offer not having experience with this problem. My sphynx boy was very sweet. But the advice seems very sound to me. And yes please do a medical exam small changes in health can cause un foreseen changes in behavior in dogs. I would think the same in cats. Good luck. BTW he is very handsome

 

[Yoda mom]

@Velour , any recent blood work? I share because hyperthyroidism can cause aggression issues in cats and dogs.

for me it was not the case with Toby. I just did the redirecting, training, etc and he came around.. took him a couple of months.

yes, he bites on the firehose toy and kicks the snot out of it but has never ripped it. tennis balls in socks I double up the socks and replace when damaged

sharing a pic of "that look" before he goes into his mode.. lol when I first posted adopting him, a member comment he looked like he had "attitude" was spot on

 

[Velour]

@Velour , oh, I have a Toby terror as I called him , was really bad when I adopted him and had him neutered at 11 mos.
he would leap attack off the dresser. growl , huff puff. aweful. he is now toby love as I call him now.7 years later.

but he gets his moments once in awhile. he will stroll across the headboard area with that look every now and then. I can he tell gets that look , eyes, ear set, tail, growls. I give a firm "NO" stern voice tell him "Toby have Love" .. he would get a demon look twitching his tail. I think they lied about why he was rehomed.

in the beginning I would have to scruff him and give him time outs in the bathroom with bed and litter box. he actually would growl mean and huff n puff and flat out attack ... it was awful. I had to redirect him to a dog kicker firehose toy, watching the timing of it so not to be associated as a reward for being toby terror.
oh, and the diffusers people use, Not Toby. he went up to them snarling and growling sniffing them, so out went feliaway diffusers.

none of my other sphynx do this, they do the usual feet under cover play. Toby gets a different look.
I stern no, scruff him, time out and redirect. he is a world of difference from his earlier days.

now I tell him Toby Love and he comes up to me and closes his eyes purrs for head smooches.
I watch his body language always.

View attachment 102998

So… over one year later Vladimir no longer attacks like that unless provoked. So, like your Toby I feel it is in the past. Mabye it was one of those heart meds or maybe just teen years. But now he is my king.

 

[Yoda mom]

@Velour , thank you for sharing the great news updates on Vladimir no longer attacking... He sounds like my Toby Love. so happy for you.
keep us updated . all paws are family. hugs n head smooches to King Vladimir