Impossible to live with

fostermomm

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Im having major problems with Calamity. She's gotten worse and worse the longer shes been here. Background she was a abondend cat that I trapped along with her 3 kittens. At first she was very sweet and loving towards me. Wanted to be with me always but hated every other living thing.

So here are a list of things she has started doing in the past 6 months.

Spraying the walls and stove.
Attacking the other cats.
Attacking my daughter who is only 10 months old
Stalking me
Attacking the dog
Scratching on everything
Eating weird things (socks, toys, paper, plastic etc.)
The past week she has been stalking me around the house and then when I stop to do something she gets up to the highest point in that room and growls, hisses and swats at me.

I really have no clue what to do with her. Sometimes she is so sweet but those times are becoming few and far between. When she is sweet shes very sweet. Lots of purring and rubbing on me. Wont get out of my face.

Ive tried keeping her locked up away from the other animals and she cries the whole time and starts pooping and peeing everywhere.

Tried Feliway all thruout the house and it doesnt seem to help at all.

She's been to the vets. All her bloodwork came back normal. We thought it might be something to do with her thyroid so we sent it out and got a full work of it and she was totally normal. There is no reason medically for her to be acting this way.

Im getting really annoyed and frustrated. I cant even let my baby play upstairs because she will try to attack and bite her!
 

larke

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You didn't actually say if she's been spayed, and if not, that could be making a huge difference. Otherwise (if she is spayed), I wonder if anyone has commited some time to play with her (alone) every day, and not just leave her to fend for herself. Do your children give her a hard time? And what happened to her babies - are they all gone? How old were they at the time? Maybe she needs a cat tree to jump around on, and/or another cat buddy to play with. All these things could be taken into consideration before deciding 'she's' the problem.
 

ldg

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I would consider doing the following:

1) If she's not spayed, get her spayed.

2) Buy some more scratching posts/mats/cardboard thingies. Spray a couple of them with catnip.

3) Provide positive reinforcement - whenever she's being nice or playing well, tell her what a good kitty she is.

4) When attacking the dog, make an air can hiss. Not directed at her - it can freeze and injur her. Just make the noise - or rattle an empty can with coins in it.

5) Female cats often appear to be attacking and biting a young child, especially when that child is crying or squealing with delight. Is she using her teeth? She may be trying to "teach" your daughter the importance of being quiet (feral cat and stray-reverted to feral cat moms do that). This is instinct, and there's not much to do about it except keep an eye on your baby and kitty when they're in the same room.

6) Give her an extra 15 minutes or so of alone play time each morning and evening to help relieve stress and boredom.

7) If the Feliway combined with extra scratchers don't work, consider purchasing Soft Paws for her claws.

8) Let her be grumpy in her "vertical" space.

9) Consider also purchasing either Rescue Remedy flower essences or Calm and Serene flower essences. They work with some cats and can be purchased here: http://www.catfaeries.com

10) Make sure you cleaned all pee and poop areas with an enzyme cleaner.

11) If all of the above combined don't help, then please discuss an anti-anxiety medication with your vet.

Hope this helps,

Laurie
 

gingersmom

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Sounds to me like a temporary course of Prozac or Buspar may be needed here - she sounds like a very unhappy, angry girl, and she's trying to communicate that to you in the only ways that she knows how.

She may need to be living in a one cat, no child household. If you can't (or won't) medicate her, you may need to find a new home for her where she can be a one and only.

Keep us posted, please!
 
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fostermomm

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First to reply to LDG

1) If she's not spayed, get her spayed.
She is spayed. She was my foster who the rescue decided was unadoptable since she would attack anyone bbut me who came into the house. So I adopted her. She would have been put down along time ago if she had stayed in the rescue.

2) Buy some more scratching posts/mats/cardboard thingies. Spray a couple of them with catnip.
She has plenty of cat trees/scratching post. She uses them but also uses other things that she shouldnt. When Im home I carry around a can of change and shake it when she starts scratching on somethig I dont want her to. But when I come home I always find places where she scratches. BTW If this was the only thing she was doing I wouldnt be to concerned. I dont care if my things are perfect.

3) Provide positive reinforcement - whenever she's being nice or playing well, tell her what a good kitty she is.
I do I give her tons of attention when she is being good. As much as she will let me I give her tons of attention. But once shes done she is done and wont let me touch her anymore.
4) When attacking the dog, make an air can hiss. Not directed at her - it can freeze and injur her. Just make the noise - or rattle an empty can with coins in it.
Cubbie handles her well. If I notice her watching him I tell her no and move towards her and she runs off. He doesnt seem to mind her.

5) Female cats often appear to be attacking and biting a young child, especially when that child is crying or squealing with delight. Is she using her teeth? She may be trying to "teach" your daughter the importance of being quiet (feral cat and stray-reverted to feral cat moms do that). This is instinct, and there's not much to do about it except keep an eye on your baby and kitty when they're in the same room.
Calamity used her teeth once. After that any time I have Ari on the ground its downstairs.

6) Give her an extra 15 minutes or so of alone play time each morning and evening to help relieve stress and boredom.
Calamity wont play! Ive tried every single toy and she totally ignores them. I one time got her to watch a laser toy. But she didnt move she just watched it move around the room. Thats the closest Ive seen her come to playing. Ive also tried catnip to get her in a frisky mood and it doesnt seem to affect her.

7) If the Feliway combined with extra scratchers don't work, consider purchasing Soft Paws for her claws.
I have two cats upstrais and 6 scratches, 3 large cat trees and 5 smaller ones. So I dont think that lack of scratchers are what doing it to her! I'll give soft claws a try. Ive been a little worried about doing it because just clipping her nails takes forever even with help and she screams bloody murder the whole time. But I'll definatly give it a try.

8) Let her be grumpy in her "vertical" space.
I do I dont mess with her when shes being grumpy with me. I learned my lesson of that when I first got her!

9) Consider also purchasing either Rescue Remedy flower essences or Calm and Serene flower essences. They work with some cats and can be purchased here: http://www.catfaeries.com
Thanks I'll definatly order some.

10) Make sure you cleaned all pee and poop areas with an enzyme cleaner.
Ive cleaned all areas with bleach and Natures Miracle. Do you have any other suggestions on what to use?


To answer some of Larkes questions
Do your children give her a hard time?
I only have one daughter and no she doesnt mess with the cats. Skye on her own just stays away from her and Calamity always did too until Ari started crawling and then she started attacking her. At first it was just running up and slapping her and hissing. I would shake a can every time she came within a couple feet of Ari and then she'd run off. I never let Ari around the animals unless Im right there. If Im not sitting down on the ground beside her she's either in her walker or Im holding her. The she ran up growling and really attacked her with me sitting right beside her and after that Ari isnt allowed on the floor upstairs any more.

And what happened to her babies - are they all gone? How old were they at the time?
One I put down the day we trapped him because he had hydrochephelus. One was adopted when he was about 5-6months old and the other one was my Sundance who had to be put down this month when he was 9 months old due to health problems.

To reply to Gingersmom
She may need to be living in a one cat, no child household. If you can't (or won't) medicate her, you may need to find a new home for her where she can be a one and
only.
She cant be rehomed because she will attack and bite everyone but me. Thats why I adopted her. Ive tried keeping her away from the other cats but shes very unhappy when shes locked up in a room by herself. I'm willing to medicate her. But I would rather try to fix things without it. The only things I cant live with right now is her attacking me, Skye, my daughter and the dog. The dog I understand. I also understand she doesnt like Skye but she doesnt like to be kept by herself either!
 

catsallover

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Um, at the risk of getting gnawed on myself
, is it possible (where you live) to let her be an outside cat again, or an indoor/outdoor cat? Since you said she was an abandoned cat whom you trapped, maybe being inside 24/7 is just too much for her now that her kittens are gone?

Of my 4 cats, 2 would be okay if they had to stay in for the rest of their lives, one would drive us bonkers, but otherwise, I think she would adjust after a few years (lol), but the fourth, Meggie, gets mean (to the other cats, not to us) when she has to stay in for more than 2 days. If the weather is bad, she will even settle for the unfinished basement to hunt for the errant mouse or lizard that has managed to get in, and for duct work and ladders to play and climb on, and boxes and odd furniture, etc. to hide/sleep in. It is just her personality, and what she is used to- she needs her space, she needs her roaming room along with time to herself (though she and Bird do go hunting together occasionally
).

Just a thought
.
 

white cat lover

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Don't look at medication as a bad thing, necessarily. I am very pro-Buspar. Ophelia Rose was on it. She was attacking me, the other animals, stalking, much of the same behavior as you're describing. Buspar is a med you can just quit, it's non-addicitive. Worked well for Ophelia.

Biggest pro? Once she "chilled out" I could work with her.
 
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