Why did my mother cat suddenly attack me?

Question

My nice and well behaved Siamese delivered her first litter 6 weeks ago. We had a very strong bond, she would sleep with me and I was her favorite human. She trusted me enough to go in labor lying on me which tells a lot about our relationship.

First month after the labor everything was perfect, she was bringing me kittens or she would leave me with them alone while she takes a nap somewhere quiet. I didn't touch them too much, but they all loved sleeping on me together with mother.

2 weeks ago when they were all sleeping behind me I turned around to check on them and mother cat suddenly jumped on my face and started attacking me viciously. She would not stop, I barely escaped and closed myself in a room. I got some pretty serious injuries all over my body.

I called for help and we managed to lock her up. She wouldn't let me near her next two days and I somehow managed to get her food inside. Now she seems to be fine when the kittens are not around, she even comes for petting and sleeps on my lap, but when kittens come near me she gets upset and attacks the same way if I made any suspicious moves.

The biggest problem is that kittens are very active now and it's hard to keep them in one room. I thought things would get better now that they're bigger, but it only gets worse.

Will my cat trust me again? How will she react when kittens leave in 2 weeks?

Answer 1

Basically, it was instinct of protection, but it's more than that in the case of Siamese.

As any sane human mother, the cat would protect its offspring no matter the cost, that includes attacking you. And yes, that applies even if you're her chosen person. In the case of Siamese, they attach themselves to one individual and then kind of ignore / tolerate everyone else as they would belong to the general landscape. So it would not intentionally attack you.

In your specific case, the instinct reaction was very quick (which it's supposed to be) and there was not enough time for logical processing to occur. Practically, the cat processing that you are the chosen person and you are no harm to the kittens takes more time than an instinctual action.

So yes, she will trust you again and get back to the initial state after the kittens are big enough. She will make them go away at the proper age and then get back to being your friend.

Other than that, mine too attacked me in a similar situation, but I was trying to stop her damaging my dog (which is itself a hunting dog). I got a deep bite near the ankle, but no hard feelings after. Further, the cat did realize after the event that what she did was improper.