Diary of a Cat Mom
Diary of a Cat Mom is a reflective cat podcast created and hosted by Dagmar Gatell about understanding cats more deeply — and creating a calmer, more connected life for both you and your cats.
Based on real experiences caring for over 50 cats throughout her life, each episode shares quiet observations, emotional moments, caregiving reflections, and gentle insights from everyday life with cats. From routines, behavior, and emotional wellbeing to grief, gratitude, overstimulation, trust, and the small meaningful moments many people overlook — this is not a traditional “how-to” podcast, but a space for understanding, awareness, and lived experience.
Beyond cat care itself, Diary of a Cat Mom also explores our connection to nature, emotional presence, personal growth, and the way our inner state can influence the animals who share our lives. Because living with cats is never only about feeding and routines — it’s also about energy, safety, trust, patience, and how we show up emotionally in the spaces we create together.
Created for cat lovers who see their cats as family, this podcast offers companionship, reassurance, perspective, and emotional support during seasons of caregiving, uncertainty, healing, change, and letting go.
Diary of a Cat Mom is a personal storytelling podcast and does not replace professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and medical or behavioral concerns should always be discussed with a trusted veterinarian or qualified professional.
You’re not alone on this journey.
We’re learning, loving, and growing together — one paw print at a time.
Diary of a Cat Mom
Ep. 71 - Why Is My Cat Acting Aggressive? 🐱⚠️
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Aggressive behavior in cats can feel scary, confusing, and deeply personal — especially when your normally loving cat suddenly hisses, swats, growls, or bites. In this episode of Diary of a Cat Mom, I share what I learned from living with multiple cats and observing feral cats over the years. Often aggression is not about anger at all. Often it is fear, pain, stress, overwhelm, or self-protection.
What You'll Learn in this Cat Podcast Episode
- Common reasons cats become aggressive
- Why fear and pain are often misunderstood
- What to observe before reacting
- How distance can help calm an aggressive cat
- Signs aggression may be connected to illness or stress
- Why aggression should not be taken personally
Timestamps & Chapters
00:00 - Intro
00:14 - Why aggression feels personal
00:42 - Creating distance first
01:02 - Observing what caused the reaction
01:38 - Fear, illness, and self-defense
02:08 - What aggression may really mean
02:37 - Asking a different question
02:57 - Giving your cat space again
03:14 - Gentle takeaway
This is where I’ve gathered everything that supports me and my cats:
https://diaryofacatmom.com/cat-care-resources/
About the Diary of a Cat Mom Podcast
Diary of a Cat Mom is a quiet, personal cat podcast created by Dagmar Gatell, sharing real moments, emotions, and experiences from life with cats.
This space is meant for connection, comfort, and companionship. Everything shared comes from lived experience as a cat mom and is not intended as professional veterinary advice. Every cat is unique, and for health concerns, it’s always best to consult your trusted veterinarian.
Most of all, please remember:
You’re not alone on this journey. We’re learning, loving, and growing together — one paw print at a time.
Diary of a cat mom. Today's diary entry why your cat acts aggressive. You're listening to diary of a catmom. Few things are more upsetting as a cat mom than seeing your cat suddenly act aggressive. Maybe she hisses at you when you try to help her. Maybe she swats another cat. Or maybe she crowds bites or she seems completely out of character. I know it can feel personal, but most of the time a crash is a symptom of something else going on beneath the surface. So over the years I have seen a crashion in both my own cats and in fural cats. One thing I learned is that the first thing I do is not move closer. I move farther away. So if a cat is upset, frightened, or defensive, creating distance gives both of us a chance to calm down for a little bit. So then I observe what happened right before the crash. Did something scare the cat? Is the cat furl and simply afraid of humans? Or is there another cat in my multi-cat household bullying or cornering the cat? Is she showing signs of illness, weakness, dehydration, low energy or pain? Like I learned while I may be the trigger in that moment, I'm usually not the real reason behind the oppression. The cat may have connected me to a scary event, but the fear itself often starts somewhere else. So once I stopped taking crash personally, everything changed for me. Cats can become crassified for many reasons, like fear, illness, pain, self-defense, protecting food, toys, territory, defending kittens, feeling trapped or feeling overwhelmed. And what looks like anger is often fear or discomfort or protection. So instead of assuming my cat doesn't like me, I learn to ask a different question. What is my cat trying to tell me? By slowing down, observing first, I can usually identify the issues and then respond appropriately. So sometimes the solution is a bad visit, and sometimes it's separating the cats, and sometimes it's simply giving a frightened cat the space she needs to fill, save again. If your cat suddenly becomes aggressive, try not to take it personally. Take a step back, create a little distance, observe before reacting. Most suppressive behavior is your cat's way of communicating that something feels wrong, scary, painful, or overwhelming. And when we look beyond the crash itself, we often observe a cat that isn't trying to be mean at all. She's simply trying to protect herself in a way or in the only way she knows how. Thank you for being here with me. This is Diary of a Cat Mom. Don't miss the next entry. There's always another moment, another lesson, another story waiting to be shared. I will talk to you in the next entry. Diary of a cat mom.