Stalking the Owner

by Mark
(California)

Our Bengal has been stalking my wife lately, and actually attacking her. We don't know what caused this, but it has been going on now for the past month. We have had our cat for over 3yrs and this has never happened before. The only thing we can think of is that she used to be outside, but since a recent injury we have kept her inside the past 6 months. Do you have any ideas on what is causing this and how we can change this behavior?


Answer by Kate
I think you have hit the nail on the head. the changes in your cats world recently i.e. the injury and the change in environment has affected your cat and in this case she is taking her boredom/ aggression/fear etc ouit by keeping herself entertained by simulation hunting behavior and if nothing else is moving round the home then your wife is the perfect target.

Your wife shouldn't take it persoannly it is not her but the fact that she is probably the only target around for your cat. It shoes that your cat must have enjoyed hunting behavior when they were outside and they miss it.

the only answer would be to either let your cat out for a while if possible from time to time or to enrich their inside environment with climbing trees and toys. Please read my page here under cat care called indoor cats for some ideas.

Comments for Stalking the Owner

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bored cat
by: Maryq

Hi, I had a cat doing this to me too! He never bothered my husband at all but he would lie in wait for me to come out of the hallway into the living room and attack my ankles! My husband laughed and laughed and said it was because he got such a good reaction that he enjoyed doing it. The rest of the time he was a loving sweet cat, but he did seem to enjoy playing with me as his prey!

I'll tell you what we did, tho it may seem a bit drastic. lol. We got a puppy. The cat immediately left me alone for the joy of tormenting the dog. They would run up and down and in circles all around the house. It was more entertaining than TV, watching those two. :) the cat would run down that hallway and around the coffee table two or three times and then leap up onto the table. The dog would continue to rush around the table at least another 10 times while the cat sat there and disdainfully licked himself. lol. That cat was just an active active cat his whole life, and it sounds like yours is too.

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