My good friends have a kitty they've had about 4/5 years now and they got at about 3 months old.
She has never shown any signs of affection, generally ignores them, and on a fairly regular basis, attacks the wife's legs for no apparent reason (despite her being the one who feeds the cat).
They had a baby who is now 15 months old, and the little girl is pretty good about leaving the cat alone. She loves cats though and wants to go and try and interact with the cat.
My friend has always been scared that the cat will attack their daughter. Last night she did - it wasn't too bad, but she hissed at and scratched their daughter, and their little girl was really upset by it - particularly her arm because it got scratched!
She is a really good kid, and she adores my cats, and has never been rough with them. My kitties generally stay out of her way, but Smudge will often rub up against the little girl, and she loves to poke Smudge's fur, and pat her and chatter away to her. I always watch them together just in case, but I'm not too worried about them. For a 15 month old, she is very respectful of the cats.
My friends' apartment has high places that the cat can go to stay out of harms way, it's 2 levels, and there's a baby gate at the stairs that the cat can jump over, so she has all of upstairs to herself. There's generally a baby gate up between the lounge room and kitchen, so the cat can sit in the dining room and watch the birds and squirrels out the back without being disturbed.
My friends are seeking help from a behaviourist as to what else they can do. I don't know if Prozac or anything like that would do much, because the cat is super lazy, and doesn't do much anyway. She's fairly calm, she just has these aggressive spells every couple of days.
They are so upset at the moment, they are considering rehoming the cat if the behaviourist doesn't work out. I can't blame them - the cat obviously isn't happy, and they've done a fair bit to try and give the cat her space. They do not want to risk their daughter getting bitten or scratched in the face.
The cat has never purred once since they've had her, and will only let you pat her for literally 5 second before she tries to bite you. She's been vet checked recently, and she has no health issues. Despite the cat not being at all endearing, she is family, and they always considered a cat to be for life.
Anyone got any other ideas?
She has never shown any signs of affection, generally ignores them, and on a fairly regular basis, attacks the wife's legs for no apparent reason (despite her being the one who feeds the cat).
They had a baby who is now 15 months old, and the little girl is pretty good about leaving the cat alone. She loves cats though and wants to go and try and interact with the cat.
My friend has always been scared that the cat will attack their daughter. Last night she did - it wasn't too bad, but she hissed at and scratched their daughter, and their little girl was really upset by it - particularly her arm because it got scratched!
She is a really good kid, and she adores my cats, and has never been rough with them. My kitties generally stay out of her way, but Smudge will often rub up against the little girl, and she loves to poke Smudge's fur, and pat her and chatter away to her. I always watch them together just in case, but I'm not too worried about them. For a 15 month old, she is very respectful of the cats.
My friends' apartment has high places that the cat can go to stay out of harms way, it's 2 levels, and there's a baby gate at the stairs that the cat can jump over, so she has all of upstairs to herself. There's generally a baby gate up between the lounge room and kitchen, so the cat can sit in the dining room and watch the birds and squirrels out the back without being disturbed.
My friends are seeking help from a behaviourist as to what else they can do. I don't know if Prozac or anything like that would do much, because the cat is super lazy, and doesn't do much anyway. She's fairly calm, she just has these aggressive spells every couple of days.
They are so upset at the moment, they are considering rehoming the cat if the behaviourist doesn't work out. I can't blame them - the cat obviously isn't happy, and they've done a fair bit to try and give the cat her space. They do not want to risk their daughter getting bitten or scratched in the face.
The cat has never purred once since they've had her, and will only let you pat her for literally 5 second before she tries to bite you. She's been vet checked recently, and she has no health issues. Despite the cat not being at all endearing, she is family, and they always considered a cat to be for life.
Anyone got any other ideas?
