agressive and bad behavior - Help me please

Chancy is a 10 month old male, fixed but not declawed.

Since about 3 months of age he started to become agressive. I live alone, with no other animals. He started with drawing his ears back, his eyes large and dilated, and lunged wrapping himself around my arm while I was watching TV, sinking not only his teeth, but his claws into my arm, which i had to pry him off my arm.

I had hoped this behavor would have stopped by now, or at least lessened. Its only gotten worse. Chancy now draws blood with his biting, he bites when ever the mood strikes, I have found no reasoning. I could be asleep when he attacks, I have awoken to find him and his mouth attached to my cheekbone <frown>. He has attacked house guests, he is not timid in any way. Will not run away, he arches up if scared then charges attacking.

This isnt play behavior there is nothing playful in anyway, he will also do a meow <like a scowl> that means buisness. Other times its a silent attack.

Thinking that he had to much energy, I allowed him out side play. I think this was a mistake, now he goes nuts if hes not allowed out side. all day and all night. It could be 4am in the morning and Chancy is meowing, <screaming> destroying my home if i do not get up out of bed to let him out. The same token, if hes out side and wants in, I have gone through 2 screen doors that he has ripped to shreads.
He now is refusing to use his litter box, and will pee on any clothing anywhere, <squating not spraying> and will poop on the entrance mat to his litter box but wants nothing to do with the box it self.

I am at a loss. My Vet has suggested medication treatment in hopes of calming him down. Chancy can also be loving, but for very short periods, he will sleep on my lap, but dont try moving him or shifting him to another spot, because he will bite you.

This is his every day behavoir Biting, clawing, jumping, scratching, peeing, pooping and destroying. I'm at my wits end.

I have had cats all my life, but never had a cat with such behavior. My last cat Belle passed away after 16 years. I saw chancy and fell in love with him.

Please help if you can. Any suggestion is worth it to me.
Thank you for your time.

Vitki

Vitki,

You mention your vet, have you taken Chancey in to be seen, or just done a phone call with your vet? What breed is Chancy? What is his history or do you know?

I am sorry you are going this route with him. Having a cat that is acting out, sometimes makes us all have to become cat detectives to try and find out what is wrong. It could be health related, but if that has been ruled out, perhaps this cat just has to much energy and you should invest in a cat door so he can come and go at will? How old was he when you got him, and did something happen to him at 3 months of age to trigger an aggressive response?

It would be a good idea to get a couple of washclothes, roll them up and tape them and use them when you see him coming. Put them between you and this aggressive cat, or use a stuffed animal that he can chew on instead of your arm.

I had one cat two years ago that started this type of behavior, and although I rescue ferals, Bacardi had been raised from a bottle with us. Turned out she had some serious health issues, that was not easily diagnosed or found. It took over a dozen trips to vets until they finally found out what she had.

I would post a whole page of alternatives to medication, but in the last year we have had a handful of kitty's in our clinic with the same behaviors. With lots of study,trials, and time the only thing we found to help these guys is medication. It's somewhat similar to a human having a chemical imbalance in the brain, or can be similar to seizure behavior. There are a few good medications on the market, but the one we found is best to start with is Valium or Diazapam.
I would at least discuss the options with your vet. This is only my oppinion and experience with the situation, so don't take it as written in stone, but I would give this a try. I have seen it do wonders for these kitty's and thier owners

I agree with Hissy's suggestion of investing in a cat door. If you live in an area that has a lot of traffic or other hazards, you may also want to consider either buying or making an outdoor cat enclosure for Chancy's safety.

This link http://www.geocities.com/holmescathy...enclosure.html will take you to a good example of a home-made enclosure.

I too am concerned that there might be some medical problem. I agree with Sandie that a trial of medication would likely be worthwhile. Although I hate the idea of using these human psychiatric medications with cats, it is better than having them engage in this brutal behavior. Sometimes the cat needs the meds for only a short time...kind of to "reset" their brain chemicals, though others may need long term medication. Please do take Chancy in to see the vet so neurological (or other) problems can be ruled out. And, give the medications a chance...hopefully you will have a great outcome in response.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out.

Yeah, unfortunatly once you let a cat roam the outside, it becomes very hard to break them of it, and they can start to develope more bad habits when it comes to them being STUCK inside.

Well at least you now know for future reference, just too bad you had to find out this way, like many have. Personally, if at all possible, I try to never introduce a cat to the outdoors (off leash.) Because things like this can happen, and often do.

I think it is equally important to take him to the vet and discuss this behavoir, and probably get him on medication if the vet thinks this IS the issue. I do not know if it will only be for a couple months, or an extended period of time. And I hope with a cat like this, that you will be able to adminster the medication with out him causing trouble. Even my very tame and tolerant Asim can "out smart me" when it comes to pilling him.

After speaking with your vet, it might be benificial to see a behavorist as well. As stated before there could have been something important that happened to this cat around 3 months. Once you know what might have triggered this, it can help you deal with the issue at hand.

I hope that it doesn't get too complex, and that a simple run of 2 months worth of medication will help this cat.

Please bring him to the vet asap, cats can give very bad bites even IF they are up to date on all their shots, the bacterial levels in their mouths are just so plunty full, you should worry about the scratches as well, cat scratch fever is not only a song, but a real thing.
We wouldn't want this to happen to you, specially with the frequencies of which he attacks you. It would be smart to keep a wash cloth handy yes, and you can always try to wear long sleaves.
Have you thought about spraying bitter apple on your hands for now? He might dislike it and decide your not worth biting.

Chancy has been to the vet, The latested time was yesterday, thats when i posted this note in hopes that some readers could give me some insight about their pet. Chancy has been to our Vet over and over, because I was needing to find out what was wrong.

I do beleive Chancy is imbalanced, sadly. But was hopeful that maybe we could over come this. Or perhaps there was a reasoning behind his behavior.

My Vet has placed him on medication, called. Amitriptyline. We are to try it out for a 2 week period and see if this works. If not he said we could adjust this medication or try a different one.

I love chancy and will do what ever is needed to help him. I know he doenst mean harm, and im sure he is just as confused as I am.

Thank you for your responses.

PS. alittle back ground. I got chancy from a woman infront of store. He was 8 weeks old. The momma cat was also there when I fell in love with this little thing. Hes a short haired black and white kitty cat.

He looks like a Penguin from the markings

Vitki

Vitki,

I hope this does the trick for Chancey. I had a kitty on this medication and the cat got awfully thirsty while on it, so be sure that you give Chancey enough water. It also can cause urine retention, make the cat a bit lethargic and cause dry mouth- which is why the water is important.

Good luck!

Yes, he has increased his water intake, so I am making sure he has plenty of cool water for him to drink. now getting him to take this pill has been a chore!.

I found that crunching it up, and squeezing into some cheese does the trick, <cheese is his favorite thing>. Tried Tuna, but he just turned his nose at me HA!.

Thanks again for all the responses. Hes sound asleep on my lap as I type this to you. Today has some what peaceful, a few minor bitings and a mean little growl from him but nothing like the week before.

I am alittle worried about letting him out side right now since hes starting medication, considerned that he will wander around and get confused, or lost. Of course this is coming from his mother haha. Im sure he could find his way back. But just to be safe, im only letting him out side when hes with me. Yes I know, Im a momma cat. Cant help it.

Talk to you soon and thanks for the well wishes.

Vitki

One of my cats is on amytriptyline, or elavil as it is also named, right now and it has really helped her (she's a tonkinese with a separation anxiety disorder, which causes her to act out when ever she's left alone). If you are having trouble pilling your cat, some vets can get this medicine made for you in a transdermal gel, which is a liqid that when rubbed on the inside of kittie's ear gets absorbed through the skin! This is much easier than the pills, especially if you have a sensitive cat. I found that giving Lexxus the pills actually upset her so much that this cancelled out the benefits of the meds. Hope this helps!
(also, it will take at least a week of the meds before you see a difference in your cat's behaviour)

Vitki,

If you follow this link and click on the first listing on the page, you will find something that makes pilling quite easy.

Meowhoo

Asim has also been on this medicain in the past, and it was this medicain that made me say no more meds for him!

He was very lethargic. They wanted him on this med for at LEAST 2 months, I had to pill him 2x per day which was just impossible. He would sit in dark rooms drooling excessively from the mouth, not really able to walk well at times, I'm not sure he even really was aware of his surroundings sometimes.
He just became a totally different cat.

And it went on and on like this. So no more.
I've delt with Asim through a lot of patience, understanding and learning. However Asim was never agressive, so it's a bit different and for that reason I really hope that this medication does work for you.