I think he's broken....

We took a cat in a few weeks ago. He's about a year old, neutered and declawed up front. He was terrified of the other pets (saw them through his kitty carrier door as we carried him to the bathroom) so we tried hard to be very slow about his introduction to the rest of the household (two dogs and two other cats).

Now, he's perfectly fine with the dogs, could care less about them. However, since we've gotten him, I've noticed a weird thing about him. Some days, when we're spending time alone with him in the bathroom, he'll be very cuddly and rub all over you, and then in the very next instant go completely crazy and start trying to bite and bat at you, while hissing. This usually makes him defacate all over the bathroom, and it's not very fun to clean up.

The other day he did it again, only this time it seemed to be to a much worse degree. We've been trying so hard to not push him, and trying to keep his anxiety down. We switch him out with the other cats so they can take turns eating and going to the bathroom, we pet him and play with him.

Well, now he's stopped trying to keep himself clean. It seems he just doesn't care anymore. Once he started this we radically changed our plan. We moved him to a completely different room, gave him a new litterbox, his own, his own food bowl and his favorite kitty water fountain. We made him a bed with his kitty carrier and a big fluffy towel, and keep the room nice and warm. We gave him a bath and cleaned him up as best we could.

We did that two days ago, and he's been eating and drinking well. He's also started to clean himself up a little, but he's nowhere near as clean as my other cats.

I'm very concerned about him. We've tried finding another home, but if he has mental health issues I'd feel horrible about "pawning" him off on somebody else. We haven't taken him to the vet yet, seeing as how he seems to be improving.

No matter what, we are going to do our best to help him. If we have to keep him separeted from the other cats for the rest of his life we'll do that, but I'd really love to have him sit on my lap with the others while we're watching a movie at night, he really is a sweet cat.

Anyone have any ideas about what we could do differently? Please, any advice is appreciated, we just want him to be healthy and happy again.

Thanks.

The first thing I would suggest is a trip to the vet. Not to see if anything is wrong with him mentally necessarily but physically.

Where did you get him from?, was he from a shelter?. Sometimes cats that have been declawed have issues.

I would suggest to keep doing what you are doing. Keep him in his own room for now and don't try and pet him so much. Sit in there with him but let him come to you.

This must be so stressful for you and I'm sure that your new kitty is picking up on your stress.

Here's a link that you might find helpful in the introduction stage.

http://www.thecatsite.com/Behavior/4...cing-Cats.html

I'm sure things will work out

Well, it sounds like it might be a while (if ever) before he's a lapcat, but you need to give it a lot more time. You said he's improving now, having a secure 'personal' space, so why not continue being consistent with things as they are and once he's really settled into a routine (months) see how things go if you leave the door open for a time, but don't force it, don't necessarily expect it to continue on the same way at first, just see what happens, but maybe be prepared to leave things as they are long term if necessary.

Sounds like possible brain damage of some kind. You'll have to have a vet look at him - then decide how much you want to invest. Its sad to hear of a poor kitty like this.

I adopted a shelter cat last year who had all sorts of behavioral problems, including sudden freak-outs and biting and inappropriate bathroom behavior... and practically everything else. What was really frustrating for me was how erratic he was... it seemed like a different problem every month. What it really took was time. After eight to 10 months, he settled down and is now a well behaved, sweet and happy cat. I think really it was just a case of me not realizing how long it was going to take him to get comfortable in the new environment and adjust after whatever life he used to have. So I would hang in there with your cat... it will probably take more time than you'd like, but time can bring about a remarkable change.

In the short term, I agree that a vet visit might help. Maybe they could prescribe cat Prozac for a short while to ease him (and you) through the rough transition.