Zane again

Yesterday, out of the Blue, he went for me with teeth and claws, to the point of drawing blood.

Half an hour later he was his old, loving self again.

The vet can find nothing organically wrong with him. 99% of the time he is a big old lump of lovercat, but every now and again there is some short circuit inside the feline equivalent of a brain and he'll turn into a wildcat. I don't know what to do.

I've tried the suggestions in other threads, and it seems to have helped; there hadn't been an incident in several weeks--and then WHAM!

this is exactly the same as my mum's cat jack - he has the entire house cowering in fear over when he's going to attack next. the only reasons we can identify for jack's behaviour are

1. he wants to be top dog, so makes it his business to 'dominate' everyone else.

2. he wants attention only on his terms so leaves you in no doubt as to when he doesn't want it

3. if he is doing something ie: looking out the window, walking somewhere & we walk infront of him or do something to make him think we are going to interfere with what he is doing

4. fear - when mums dogs get a bit rowdy (not with him) he will attack them through fear.

the main conclusions we have drawn are to generally leave him alone unless he wants attention & monitor his interactions with the other animals. we are at the point where re-homing him to an only pet household has become an unfortunate prospect because he can seriously hurt other pets & humans alike. i've got 2 scars on my eye from him. when he's on his own in a room with you, he is lovely. it's the ''conflict'' with the other animals he despises most. we still love him though, even though he is schizo!!

Zane's an only cat already. And I'm an only human.

Does he do this while you are petting or playing with him? Or are you sitting innocently watching tv or something and he just pounces on you? How old is he?

Originally Posted by Catnip

Does he do this while you are petting or playing with him? Or are you sitting innocently watching tv or something and he just pounces on you? How old is he?

Click to expand...

Usually the latter. The former, he usually gives some sign (lashing tail, the purring taking on a 'metallic' timbre).

I'm not sure how old he is; he came to my father as a full-grown cat; we never knew him as a kitten. The vet says between 8 and 10.

I'm not sure if it's been suggested before to you, but does playing with him to tire him out help? If Harry is being hyper I throw a ball up and down the stairs for him and then he's more likely to go to sleep instead of attacking my feet when I walk by.

The other way that I originally trained Harry was by clapping my hands loudly when he pounced, tried to jump in the fridge or try to jump on the counters. It seems strange that a cat that old is doing it though. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Originally Posted by Zane's Pal

Yesterday, out of the Blue, he went for me with teeth and claws, to the point of drawing blood.

Half an hour later he was his old, loving self again.

The vet can find nothing organically wrong with him. 99% of the time he is a big old lump of lovercat, but every now and again there is some short circuit inside the feline equivalent of a brain and he'll turn into a wildcat. I don't know what to do.

I've tried the suggestions in other threads, and it seems to have helped; there hadn't been an incident in several weeks--and then WHAM!

Click to expand...

I don't have any suggestions but I just wanted to say, boy, do you have my empathy! I'm dealing with my own psycho kitty quest-ce que c'est, and it's scary. Are you able to trim his claws?

Originally Posted by Catnip

I'm not sure if it's been suggested before to you, but does playing with him to tire him out help?

Click to expand...

He takes no interest in most toys. The only thing he takes any interest in at all is Da Boid, and even that not for more than a few minutes.

Originally Posted by Brokenheart

Are you able to trim his claws?

Click to expand...

No. He's declawed in front--not my decision! He was that way before he came to us--but I can't hold him to do his back claws, which are formidable.