Aggressive Former Feral

How kind of you to take her in.

Some cats need to be alone kitties, and that's all there is to it. Any cat-loving friends with no cats that want/need a project?

Right now what you and your mom are probably experiencing is re-directed aggression - or she's smelling your cats on you, which should be no surprise.

Have you already tried Feliway and harp music?

You and your mom may want to dab vanilla on your wrists and ankles before being in the room with her. Wouldn't hurt to dab her with vanilla - behind her ears, at the base of her tail, and most importantly, under her chin (so it wafts up into her nose).

This is most likely all about scent, and the vanilla should help confuse things.

...but my bet is if she was rehomed to a place with no other animals she wouldn't be so aggressive. Maybe put her up on petfinder as needing a home alone with someone willing to work on her socialization.

Does she have much vertical space? A "safe" space?

...and at this point, it'd probably be best to just ignore her rather than to try to "work" with her. Douse her room (except near the litter box(es) with Feliway (or get a plug-in), play harp music for her a lot of the time, use the vanilla (real vanilla, not synthetic - you can get it from a health food store if your supermarket doesn't carry it) and do EVERYTHING on a schedule. Knock on the door before going in, announce that you're coming. Clean her litter box the same times every day. Clean her water dish the same time every day. Fill her food dish the same time every day.

You can also work on scent swapping to get her to associate your and your mom's smell with stuff she loves. Have mom get a t-shirt really sweaty, and put it under her food dish. You get a t-shirt really sweaty, and put it in her safe bed.

And just ignore her otherwise. Spend as much time in the room as you can - ignoring her. Read out loud, watch TV, work on a laptop, sing, sew, iron laundry, whatever... and the more often you can do whatever you're doing on the floor (down at her level) the better.

When socializing feral cats, the main thing is to earn their trust. And that is by being non-threatening, being completely uninterested in them, and meeting all of their physical needs - which is reinforced by doing everything on a schedule.

But with her problem with aggression, it seems to me you've got to work on the "scents" problem. Hopefully vanilla and Feliway will help with that.

Harp music can be purchased here:
http://www.musicmypet.com/
http://www.catfaeries.com/music-for-cats.html

Hope this helps. Please do keep us posted!

Oh - some cats do respond to Bach's Flower Essences. I'd really recommend trying Rescue Remedy with her. A few drops in her water every day. This can also be dabbed behind her ears and at the base of her tail... I wouldn't combine that with the vanilla though.

I think they now call it just "Feral Cats." http://www.catfaeries.com/essences.html

I agree that it sounds like poor Sandy is exhibiting “redirected†aggression. She can smell the six cats, even if she can’t see them, gets freaked out and attacks the nearest moving target – you and your mom. I’m sure it doesn’t help that you two must smell have a mix of cat/dog/people. It’s likely she competed with other cats and dogs for everything she needed to survive and is still stuck in that frame of mind.

Can you confine her to a single room? This will give her time to become acclimated to her new situation without direct exposure to the other pets, and may allow her to eventually realize she doesn’t need to fight for everything she gets anymore. Spend as much time in the room without deliberately interacting with her (let her come to you). And wear long, thick pants and sleeves to protect yourself, in addition to the tips LDG already offered, especially when putting down her food.

Considering that she lets you pick her up at all, she probably isn’t a feral as much as a cat someone kicked to the curb when they were tired of her. You have a heart of gold for taking Sandy in and giving her another chance. The world needs more people like you!