My Oriental is acting out towards caretaker - help!
I have a 4 year-old oriental shorthair male, pretty chill and social most of the time. Having a neighbor look after him. She comes 2x a day to feed him and clean the litter. He had been skittish around her but seemed like he was getting used to her, sniffing her, walking up to her etc. Over the last week, he scratched her twice. Once she was opening the blinds and it may have freaked him out somehow. Then, today, as she was entering the home he started howling at her and he charged towards her and hit her leg. Now she's pissed, understandably so.
Does anyone have any have any explanation or any ideas on how to make this situation better? He's never showed aggressive behavior. Sometimes we've had guests over or maintenance workers stop by and he's never been aggressive. Maybe approached them out of curiosity and sniffed them, then walked away. Not sure why he has a problem with her-she's been a longtime cat owner. (Her senior cat passed away the week she started watching him)
Any insight is welcome - I'm two weeks into a six week vacation and at my wit's end! TIA