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Cats may also become aggressive when they are sick or injured. Some signs that a cat may become aggressive include hissing or yowling, flattening the ears back against the head, the fur standing up along the back, flicking or passing the tail back and forth or simply crouching and moving away from you. If you're at all not sure if you're able to safely restrain your cat, it's better to wait awhile, let him calm down and either try again or get some help. Some things you can try in order to restrain a cat who doesn't want to be restrained would be to wrap him in a towel and try to scoop him up like that. Sometimes you may even need to scruff a cat by pulling him on the skin behind his neck in order to restrain him a little bit better. Other techniques would be to disassemble his pet carrier, place him in it and then reassemble it once he's in place or maybe using an empty laundry basket to sort of trap him and then an old piece of cardboard as a way to restrain him more carefully. So to scruff your cat, you're going to want to grab him by the extra loose skin on the back of his neck and then you can restrain him a little bit more easily. But some cats might do better if you take a towel and cover them. Once you cover their head and they can't see, you can wrap them up, kind of scoop them up in a burrito format and then you can restrain him a little bit and a lot of cats will calm down with this method. Other options might be to have your disassembled carrier ready to go and then either coax or place your cat inside the carrier and then once he's calm and contained you can replace the lid rather than trying to shove him through a small hole. You can also try using a laundry basket to trap your cat. Once he's in place if you need to, you can use a piece of cardboard to slide under him so that when you go to flip him over, he doesn't have an easy way of escaping. Now I'm going to show you how to muzzle your cat. You may need a second person to help hold him steady. But when you have your cat muzzle, you're going to want to make sure his nose is in the opening and the larger portion is covering his eyes. Place it over his face and secure it in the back. And this will cover his eyes to maybe make him less fearful but also keep his mouth closed so that he can't bite you.
In this lesson, we're going to provide you with some signs of aggression in cats and show you some techniques you can use to safely restrain your cat if he or she becomes aggressive. It's important to note that even docile cats can become aggressive, especially if they're sick or injured.
At the end of this lesson, we'll provide you with a Word about winter safety tips for your dog or cat.
Signs of aggression in cats includes:
Warning: If you are not sure how to safely restrain your cat by yourself, it's better to wait until you can get some help or until he calms down on his own.
There are a number of methods you can use to restrain your cat, even when he doesn't want to be restrained, and these include:
Most cats will calm down using this method, and everyone has large towels laying around.
Pro Tip #1: You can use this technique any time you need to place your cat inside a carrier. And it's much easier than trying to shove your cat – calm or not – through a small hole.
There may be times when you'll need to muzzle your cat. However, it may difficult to do on your own, especially if your cat is agitated. A second person may be required to hold him steady.
Pro Tip #2: Covering your cat's eyes is essential for helping him calm down. Not only will he become less fearful once muzzled, but a muzzle will also keep his mouth closed and prevent him from biting you.