Help with Angry Cats

Fiona, veterinary surgeon and practice owner, shares her personal experience with her own cat, Ripley. Ripley was brought in to Wakefield Westgate Vets4Pets as a stray kitten back in 2022. Her and her husband Chris (also a vet) took her on and named her after Fiona's favourite movie, Alien. 

Personally, I think there are few things as scary as being chased around your house by an angry cat. I don’t mean a slightly annoyed, you didn’t feed me fast enough cat. I mean one filled with fire of a thousand demons who literally wants to end you. Unfortunately, that’s the position myself and Chris found ourselves in after Ripley, our cat, had a rather short-lived stay in a cattery. A lovely cattery, with underfloor heating and all the fuss you could want. However halfway through her stay she decided she’d had enough. This meant organising a friend to collect her early due to her “anger issues” and the fact the poor cattery owner was having to use a cardboard barrier to prevent herself being injured and her demonic screaming was upsetting the other guests.

Aggression in cats is a really tricky one to navigate, as trying to find out what they are angry about can be very difficult. In our case one day Chris wasn’t even allowed through the front door and was met with howling, snarling and attempts to attack. So where do you even begin? First step is making sure they are fit and healthy, so getting into your vets for a full health check to make sure there is no pain or any other signs of illness. We got that one ticked off straight away and all was well physically. Now to tackle her cat brain, tricky at the best of times. We identified when the behaviour seemed to be worse and what could possibly be triggering it. She seemed worse around her “resources”, so anything she valued highly. In her case, this was her food, her water bowl and her litter tray – especially if we emptied her urine from it (her poos were fine to go for some reason).

We decided this did make sense, as she possibly decided she needed to start guarding her resources when she was in an unfamiliar surroundings and this continued once home. So we decided to spread everything out. We put her food, water and litter trays in different rooms and on different floors to each other. This meant she wasn’t having to defend a tiny area and we placed everything as out of sight as possible. We bought enough Feliway and Pet Remedy Diffusers to tame a pride of lions and placed one of each on each floor of the house near her resources. Feliway is a synthetic pheromone which helps to calm and Pet Remedy is a special blend of essential oils. This started to take the edge off her fury and at least we were able to enter the house now, you take the wins where you can.

Next was distraction! We knew that cleaning out her litter tray makes her furious, so it became a two person military event. Chris would distract her in another room with some treats with the door shut whilst I did the clean up without her knowledge. I also started to train her and teach her tricks, so when any other event was about to happen which would trigger her (such as emptying the kitchen bin, I don’t know if I even want to understand what that is about), I distracted her with training and treats. So far she has learned to come, sit, spin and sit up, something which has been really easy to teach as she is very food orientated.

So far this has all worked well. We have had quite a few weeks of peace, no anger and a much more relaxed and chilled out cat. All joking aside, it was very stressful as we were concerned what would happen if we never got to the bottom of it and if we would ever be able to have visitors again, as we couldn’t even trust her not to attack us. So if this does happen to you, don’t panic, we are living proof that there are things you can do, you just need to reach out to your vets and get some help. If you are interested in cat training, there are loads of resources and videos online to help.

Good luck to my fellow cat people – Fiona.

Meet the team... our nurses

Leanne Jarvis RVN - Head Nurse

I originally started working as a VCA (Veterinary Care Assistant) back in 2011. I then did a Level 2 Certificate in Assisting Veterinary Surgeons in the monitoring of Animal Patients under Anaesthesia and Sedation, before qualifying as a Registered Veterinary Nurse in 2019, and later becoming Head Nurse. My favourite part of nursing is meeting all the lovely patients and clients and helping to make a difference in their lives.

My role involves running nursing clinics, caring for inpatients, monitoring anaesthesia, taking x-rays and running lab samples. I have a lot of admin work with organising the diary, the nurse rota and keeping the practice well stocked. The clients, patients and my amazing colleagues make my job so rewarding, I love getting to know them all and couldn't imagine working anywhere else. Another amazing part of my job is being Head Nurse, having the ability to help and support my colleagues and the practice.

At home I'm kept busy with a hectic toddler and a cat called Podrick, that charmed his way into our house at 3 weeks of age when he was taken in by the practice and has been a constant, slightly annoying but funny part of the family ever since. Unfortunately, you may not see me for a while as I will be adding another member to the family and will be on maternity leave very soon.

Hannah RVN - Lead Medical Nurse

I'm Hannah and I'm the Lead medical nurse, RVN and clinical supervisor. I have been in the veterinary industry for 12 years and qualified as a registered veterinary nurse in 2021.

I have 3 dogs - Millie the Labrador and Poppy and Arthur the Lhasa Apsos. I also have a very needy rescue cat called Mavis.

Millie comes to work with me day to day and makes sure she inspects everybody's lunches and the treat jars! 

My favourite part of my job is the medicine side and helping and advising owners during consultations. It can be a very confusing and challenging time and I enjoy trying to put people's minds at ease whilst doing the best for their pets. As a clinical supervisor, I help train the nursing students we have within practice with all the practical skills they need to know for when they newly qualify. 

I have also recently participated in a schedule 3 surgical course which has extended my knowledge of minor surgical procedures such as dental scale and polishes, minor lump removals and aural haematomas so hopefully I can get more hands on with the patients during surgery. 

In my spare time, I love to cook and bake, potter round the garden like an old lady and I have an unhealthy obsession with house plants!

Kimberley RVN 

I'm Kimberley, a registered veterinary nurse at Westgate and joined the team in 2025. I have been an RVN since 2019 and I can't imagine doing anything else. My favourite part of being an RVN is being able to make a difference to pets’ lives when they need us most. I have a special interest in dentistry and feline nursing. 

I have 3 beautiful cats at home who are all special in their own way. Penny is a greedy girl and very sassy, Autumn is our baby at 8 years old, she's a nervous nelly but very loving on her terms and our geriatric boy Mowgli at the grand age of 15 who has no concept of personal space and will give you love no matter what.