Put Violent Kitty Down?!

My friends and family think I need to let Kitty (3 years old) go to Rainbow Bridge... She is incredibly violent towards ALL people. I am always covered in deep thrashes, cuts and bite wounds. She has been like this since she was a tiny kitten - unprovoked pouncing with claws and teeth out. Is there something I can do?? She has never had a potty accident or anything that would suggest she is sick... I love Kitty - but she is just crazy VIOLENT and it's hard to live with her... Help

Originally Posted by b_a_kitty

My friends and family think I need to let Kitty (3 years old) go to Rainbow Bridge... She is incredibly violent towards ALL people. I am always covered in deep thrashes, cuts and bite wounds. Is there something I can do?? I love Kitty - but she is crazy violent and it's hard to live with her... Help

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I am sorry to hear about this. I have a few questions first. How long have you had her? Do you know her history? Is she spayed?

Karma was very violent twords all men, even my DH when we got her. She wasa stray and her previous owners did not treat her well. We don't know for sure but we have heard that the man abused her. Thats why she hated men. My poor DH had deep cuts on both arms for months. He was afraid to sleep at night because he thought she was going to kill him. It took about 6 months for her to finally come around. He had to be very patient and loving twords her. He could not raise his voice or move fast when she was around. After a while the scratching got less and less, now she rarely does it at all. They have become the best of friends, its quite cute, they play like litter mates now. But it took time and ALOT of patience and understanding. We would have gotton nowhere if it wasn't for TCS. There are some vvery smart people here who can give you lots of advice.

Just be patient and give her time. But untill we get a bit more info on her it will be hard to judge the scope of the situation.

I have had her since she was a baby kitty -- I'm her one & only owner. It's always been like this... She can be so sweet and then BOOM, she strikes. Our vet says this is "not normal" behavior. The only suggestion I am given is "you may have to put her down" which is just... no.
I wonder if it's because my apartment is so small?? Does she just need more space?? I am so confused over this... My arm is torn & bleeding as we speak -- which is why I logged in tonight.

Sorry to hear you are having issues. If you are getting no help from your vet, I would recommend changing vet, or at least getting a second opinion, and maybe looking into a behaviourist. Good luck with her.

We have a guest expert this week who is giving behavioral advice, so you definitely should post questions in that forum: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/for...aysprune=&f=55

There are a couple of things you could try, first and foremost a Feliway diffuser. http://www.parkvets.com/microsite/flutdfeliway.html
Bach floral remedies have helped some:http://www.bachcentre.com/

If you feel your apartment may be too small for your cat, create vertical space for her with cat trees, and/or by making the tops of cabinets, bookcases, etc. accessible to her. She may need a "safe haven" she can retreat to when she feels anxious.

Does she strike at you after being petted for several minutes, or while playing? If so, you have to learn to watch for the signs of aggression, such as a twitching tail or laid-back ears, and leave her alone at the very first sign.

Could you maybe try clipping her nails or getting soft claws? I know it won't stop the behavior, but it will help with the scratches for the time being.

Oh my I am so sorry that you are in this situation how difficult for you.

However theres been some great suggestions and I am sure you can try a few things to overcome Kitty's behavioural issues

I cant add much except that a friend of mine was in this position about 8-10yrs ago now. She was struggling and then had a baby and decided she could no longer keep the aggressive cat. So they searched around and found a rescue centre

This was in the UK, its like a retirement home for kitties that the owners cannot look after for behavioural reasons and such like. She rang them up and explained her situation and they were able to take the cat. I went with her, it was a wonderful place they had all sorts of cats, some were blind, some had 3 legs and there were ones that were aggressive. It was very hard for my friend to leave her cat, although they were stressed by all the nastiness she still loved this cat.

They took a load of cat food, cat box, litter and toys and made a good donation. I understand she visited for a few years and continued to donate money to help with the upkeep of all those special kitties

Well as I mentioned this was a fair few years ago and I know these places are very hard to find but it is something that you might consider - something far better that the other option

Good luck and I really hope you come up with a solution to save your cat

I'm not sure if this is true in cats that are no longer kittens, but maybe it's play aggression?

Do you set a time each day for interactive play (with a wand-like toy)? Are you just doing nothing and then all of a sudden she comes out of the blue and attacks you?

I had this problem with Scotty until I got Oscar. Once he had a playmate, he stopped attacking me.

Has she always been like this? Perhaps she was a feral(wild) kitten. Some never get over that.

How old was she when you got her? Very young kittens (under 10-12 weeks) that are seperated from their moms too soon don't learn key socialization skills from her. When kittens play too roughly with their mom or another cat, they are chastized. As people, we can't really teach our cats the complex cat social structure and we end up with inappropriate behavior. She doesn't know what she is doing is wrong.

Do you have any other cats? If not, you might want to consider getting one. At the very least, another cat will give her a playmate and might tucker her out to keep you from being the brunt of all her "fun".

I hope you find a solution! Putting her down seems very drastic to me.

Devlyn

Originally Posted by KarmasMom

I am sorry to hear about this. I have a few questions first. How long have you had her? Do you know her history? Is she spayed?

Karma was very violent twords all men, even my DH when we got her. She wasa stray and her previous owners did not treat her well. We don't know for sure but we have heard that the man abused her. Thats why she hated men. My poor DH had deep cuts on both arms for months. He was afraid to sleep at night because he thought she was going to kill him. It took about 6 months for her to finally come around. He had to be very patient and loving twords her. He could not raise his voice or move fast when she was around. After a while the scratching got less and less, now she rarely does it at all. They have become the best of friends, its quite cute, they play like litter mates now. But it took time and ALOT of patience and understanding. We would have gotton nowhere if it wasn't for TCS. There are some vvery smart people here who can give you lots of advice.

Just be patient and give her time. But untill we get a bit more info on her it will be hard to judge the scope of the situation.

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No offense, but wouldnt you think that would be a good example of when to give your cat away? I would not allow my husband to suffer for months with deep gash wounds in his arm just because "I love the cat", too me it seems like your husband had to practically live in fear and was scared to sleep and even feared for his life just because of that cat! And you say "he hardly does it anymore" which means he STILL does it, just not as often. Thats insanity to me. I'd never love a cat more than my own husband. That to me is an example of when to let kitty go. Nobody should have to walk on eggshells for a cat.

I understand your point, but it is very difficult to re-home a healthy, well adjusted pet, let alone one with behavioral issues. Often with rescues it's a matter of keep the pet, or pts. Taking such a cat to a kill shelter is just like having it killed yourself IMO, because they will probably not be adopted and there are lots of kittens and sweet cats that a potential adopter will take instead.

It's unfortunate that she and her husband had such a rough time with their kitty, but their patience seems to have paid off. I probably would have locked the kitty out of the room when I was sleeping if it were that bad but they did what they thought was best.

Devlyn

Originally Posted by Roimata

No offense, but wouldnt you think that would be a good example of when to give your cat away? I would not allow my husband to suffer for months with deep gash wounds in his arm just because "I love the cat", too me it seems like your husband had to practically live in fear and was scared to sleep and even feared for his life just because of that cat! And you say "he hardly does it anymore" which means he STILL does it, just not as often. Thats insanity to me. I'd never love a cat more than my own husband. That to me is an example of when to let kitty go. Nobody should have to walk on eggshells for a cat.

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Well she should be lucky that the cat didnt sneak in while they were sleeping and put a gash in his neck lol. I would not have waited 6 months for improvement when my husband was suffering like that, expecially when he STILL does it.

Sometimes cats just take that long to adjust, even longer. And it is not easy to rehome a cat who behaves like that. Sometimes with rescue it just comes down to having to have the animal PTS if it is extremely aggressive and unadoptable. I don't know that this is the case because the cat has gotten better but sometimes animals are just unadoptable. It is a hard decision to make but maybe it has to be made as long as all other possibilities have been tried.

Maybe the OP can take her to a barn to live?

Assuming she has been spayed, if not then do that first obviously. I had a cat just like you describe but once I had her spayed, her ovaries ended up being filled with painful cysts and the aggression stopped immediately after she was spayed.

My daughter's cat, Chester, is also this way. She raised him from 3 weeks, bottle fed him and he is now 1 yr. old. Her vet says the cat has no conscience and will never change. He had an episode of possible brain damage when just a baby. He had a seizure and went blind and was bumping into walls. We took him to the vet immediately and he was put into a heated incubator.In a couple of hours he was back to normal.The vet said there are so many cats needing a good home that she will ultimately need to make the decision to destroy him. This is her baby and she's not about to get rid of him. He will attack anyone at any time, awake or sleeping. She wants to try paxil. Hopefully it will work. He's a beautiful tuxedo cat who was abandoned in the back of a pickup truck, most likely his mom put him there and then the truck was driven away. Sorry to be so long winded.

Originally Posted by Roimata

No offense, but wouldnt you think that would be a good example of when to give your cat away? I would not allow my husband to suffer for months with deep gash wounds in his arm just because "I love the cat", too me it seems like your husband had to practically live in fear and was scared to sleep and even feared for his life just because of that cat! And you say "he hardly does it anymore" which means he STILL does it, just not as often. Thats insanity to me. I'd never love a cat more than my own husband. That to me is an example of when to let kitty go. Nobody should have to walk on eggshells for a cat.

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My DH and I decided to gether to keep the cat. Trust me there were many days when we both wanted to find her a new home. But what would that do for the cat. She already was suffering many issues from abuse to abandonment. HAd we given her up it may have just pushed her to the point of being unadoptable, and we could not live with ourselves knowing a healthy 3 year old cat would be put down. When she attacks him now its actually his fault. He likes to play rough with her and rile her up. SHe has a great time and loves it but neither one of them know when to stop. Now I am haveing to retrain my husband on how toplay properly with a cat. She is no longer afraid when voices get loud and she has become a very loving cat. She now sleeps with us, cuddles on the couch, even helps my DH build his skaeboards. Sure 6 months is a long time but during that time we were able o see that she would come around. We knoew she wanted love and to give love but just needed to know she was safe. We had to show her that and teach her that. Now when male friends come over she no longer hides, she will actually go up and say hi to them. We may both have battle scares but they were well worth it. Time , patience and understanding helped us through it. Now neither one of us could ever imagine our life without her.

On a side note she does fully attack me evryonce and a while but thats anouther thread and anouther issue. I will be asking the expert how to handle that one.

Sorry to hijack the thread but ehoming was and is not an option. Cats are not perfect and its up to us to work with them.

I have a cat also named kitty that is extrememly violent, or I should say was. (maybe it's a kitty name thing, lol). In all honesty it is a very frustrating situation. I really understand. After a solid year of my cats behavior progressivly getting worse, and numerous consoltations with our vet we decided to try Prozac. On a scale of 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, pre-prozac kitty was a 2maybe. Now she is a 8.5. I would never had given her up, it was never even a thought, but the improvements are so amazing and I am grateful every day. It took only a few months tops for me to notice drastic changes in her. This maybe something you would be willing to atleast look into and consider before parting ways with her. It is very inexpensive at least in my area to pay for the medication. I had a choice over prozac or paxil with the instructions that they both will do the same, so I went with prozac. Talk with your vet, and like others said in reply posts if your vet isn't giving your suggestion and being of much help other than a simple put her down then seek out other vets and advice. I hope this will give you something to consider.

Ya know, when I first read this thread I thought of Prozac or Paxil as well. This is an extreme case and calls for equivalent measures.
The meds could give her time to become the cat she was meant to be and learn some healthier behaviors. It may not bea lifetime prescription. It could help. Definitely try another vet, one that is concerned for the life of your pet.

Please keep us updated with how it all goes Bless you for keeping her no matter what.

Thanks to everyone who responded to me. I will repost for the expert - that was a good tip, thanks. I am glad there are people out there who understand WHY we would never put down our violent little brat of a cat, no matter how nasty she is. We will take all of these tips into consideration and update you soon. Thanks again.

-B, A & Kitty

You're welcome You definitely came to the right place for that! We're all pretty much crazy cat people