Why does my friendly stray cat attack my kids when they're scared?

Poor Moka! It certainly sounds like those children really frightened her when they came to visit. To begin with, I would place her in a safe room every time a visitor comes over. Be sure to put her in this room with her own litter box, food, water, and toys before the visitor comes. This room should be out of the way and quiet so she can relax. Give her a special treat that she only gets when she is put into that room. This will help her associate people coming over with a treat, thus making it a positive experience. Keep her in this room until your guests leave. After she seems comfortable her in her room with people coming over, it's time to introduce her to strangers. Have a friend help you, and put Moka in her room when they come over. Once your friend is settled in the home, take Moka out of her safe room and place her at a distance from your friend. The distance depends on her body language. If she appears fearful, move her back. If she is calm, reward her with a treat, petting, and play. Continue this exercise for a few minutes, then put Moka back in her safe room. You can do this exercise a couple of times during your friend's visit. It's important that your friend remains motionless during the exercise. If she becomes anxious, move her back to a distance where she isn't anxious, reward her, and then bring her back into her safe room. Over the course of a couple of sessions, Moka all get used to a stranger, and you can start encouraging her to move closer to the stranger by placing treats at shorter and shorter distances from your visitor. If she's relaxed, you can decrease the distance. If she's anxious, move her back to where she's no longer anxious and start the exercise from there. Over time she will realize that strangers are fine and she should stop hiding in fear. Keep in mind that this will take time and patience to achieve. I hope this helps!

I’m so sorry to hear about Mr. Bojangles! Cats do “nibble” as part of their affection sometimes (my cat does this too). But it should never break skin and should be soft. However, the attacking your fiancé is unacceptable. It could be related to stress or anxiety. Is your baby new by chance? Is your fiancé around more? Has anything in your routine or household changed? If so, anxiety may be to blame. Try the following which are all shown to reduce anxiety in cats. If these do not help, talk to your vet about prescription behavior modification medications that can help. -Feliway- calming cat pheromone- comes in many forms from pet stores or online. - Adding a litter box. Studies show that the ideal number of litter boxes for a home is #of cats +1 . This is regardless of how clean you keep his current litter box. - making sure he has plenty of “high space”. The safest (and therefore least anxiety-inducing) place for a cat is up. If you don’t already, get a cat tree or put up a shelf or two that he can go perch on. Lastly, it is never, EVER wrong to re-home or euthanize a cat who has hurt a human- especially a child. I have two young children too so I know that their safety will come before anything else. Obviously be honest about what lead to the decision but please don’t feel guilty if it comes to that.

I hate to hear this. Since she is an outdoor cat and obviously easily startled I would try not to hold or pet her too much just to keep you safe. Bite and scratch wounds from cats can become very infected. If this is a new behavior then I would try to consider when it started and did anything change when this happened as this might be why she has had a change in behavior. Also if this is a new behavior she could be painful somewhere or not feeling well so I would talk to your vet about doing a work up on her if possible. Your vet will be to see if she is painful somewhere, perform a urinalysis, blood work and possible X-rays if needed. Now, if this is a behavior that isn't new then this could be her personality and it could get worse with anxiety (the new kitten). You could consider giving her a low dose of anti-anxiety medicine and sometimes this will calm her enough so she isn't attacking others but it won't change her personality or subdue her too much where she can't protect herself if needed. You can likely get this compounded into a liquid with tuna flavor that y'all may be able to hide in some food. I hope this helps and I understand the difficulty of this situation. I hope y'all are able to find a solution.

Cats are very sensitive to other cats in their territory. Unlike most dogs that will accept another dog into their house relatively easily, for cats it can be a different story. Your cat is upset by the presence of the strange cat in your house. Animals behave that way sometimes for reasons that are unclear, taking their anger out on you. She may smell the foster cat on you. I would definitely keep them separated from each other and give her some time and space to possibly accept the fosters presence. Don't get hurt! I wouldn't force your attention on her for now. Maybe in a few days she'll be easier to approach.

It can take some time for cats and other pets to get along and sometimes they only tolerate each other. I would add some feliway diffusers throughout the house to help keep her calm. Feliway is a cat pheromones that helps to take off the edge. You can also get calming chews like vetriscience composure or the stronger prescription formula composure pro. If this doesn't work, I would talk to your vet about an anti-anxiety medicine for her. Finally, I would try to ask your brother not to rough house if possible while she is around. I hope this helps!

There are many natural calming diets and supplements which can be very helpful as can pheromone diffusers. I would recommend bringing her down at quieter times and acclimatising her to the area, creating a covered hiding area for her to retreat to if needed

She likely feels as though she is more dominant over him and treats him as such. Plus, from a distance, she likely sees how rambunctious he can be and it could make her nervous. Just continue to teach your son good manners around her (being gentle and not chasing her) and with time, she will likely come around.