{"id":1730,"date":"2015-01-16T18:29:29","date_gmt":"2015-01-17T01:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/?p=1730"},"modified":"2020-10-21T13:25:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T20:25:17","slug":"pet-editor-how-to-distract-an-attack-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/2015\/01\/16\/pet-editor-how-to-distract-an-attack-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Pet Editor: How to distract an attack cat"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/life\/2015\/01\/27\/pet-editor-distract-attack-cat\/22382681\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Originally posted on AZCentral.com &#8211; January 2015<\/em><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\r\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-az-phoenix-C1531-native-article_link-news-3\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-google-query-id=\"CNLdtOq6uuwCFaaDfwQd2eICSg\">\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Question: When my young daughter walks by the bed or sofa, our cat Toby darts out and grabs her legs, at times biting her. She&#8217;s now afraid of him. What can I do?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Answer:\u00a0<\/strong>The Arizona Humane Society recently implemented a program in which it sends unemployed felines to properties in need of vermin control. There is already a waiting list of businesses that want these so-called working cats.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Imagine the interest you&#8217;d get in renting out Toby as an attack cat.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">We understand if you&#8217;re not committed to the idea and are more interested in curbing Toby&#8217;s appetite for ankles than would rather than exploiting his unusual talent for financial gain.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>His behavior has little to do with aggression and more to do with boredom, said Valley cat behaviorist Jane Ehrlich (cattitudebehavior.com).<\/strong> When Toby&#8217;s feeling restless, he breaks up the day with attacks on unsuspecting ankles.<\/p>\r\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\r\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-az-phoenix-C1531-native-article_link-news-2\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-google-query-id=\"CPac9c68uuwCFQMhYgodo8UJSw\">\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The feline likely sees the legs as prey. As they pass by he swoops in, takes a nip and scurries away before his much larger victim can fight back.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Offer him more appropriate objects to attack. Allow Toby to hunt battery-powered mice to his heart&#8217;s content. Dangle a feather or other cat toy and watch your ankle-biter leap and swipe at it like a pi\u00f1ata. Don&#8217;t tell like getting off the couch? Many felines will chase laser lights, an activity involving only a modicum of effort from you.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><strong>Ehrlich<\/strong> suggested 15-20 minutes of playtime perhaps four or five times a day. If you really want to keep Toby on his toes, adopt another cat. Maybe you can order one of those working cats to shame Toby into getting a real job. More time working means less time hunting your daughter&#8217;s ankles.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">As for your daughter, have her wear a pair of Doc Marten boots for a while. Once Toby bangs his skull a few times on those bad boys, he&#8217;ll know the hunter has become the hunter with a headache.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/aside>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/aside>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally posted on AZCentral.com &#8211; January 2015 Question: When my young daughter walks by the bed or sofa, our cat Toby darts out and grabs her legs, at times biting her. She&#8217;s now afraid of him. What can I do? <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/2015\/01\/16\/pet-editor-how-to-distract-an-attack-cat\/\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,43,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aggression","category-azcentral","category-behavior"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1730"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1748,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1730\/revisions\/1748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cattitudebehavior.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}