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Aggressive cat, sees us as a threat

post #1 of 9
1/2/11 at 3:24pm
Thread Starter 
Hello! We are in need of some help.

Back in August, our cat was in a serious frenzy due to a stray on the opposite side of our fenced-in patio. I tried to pick her up and put her inside when what I now know as redirected aggression occurred, and our cat put me in the hospital for two days. (I won't even begin on how many jokes I heard the following weeks about how pussy landed me in the ER).

We decided to keep the cat cause I know she was just freaked out and I shouldn't have tried to subdue her like she was a dog. Expensive lesson learned.

Sadly, since then, she now sees me as a threat, but only about 2% of the time. Otherwise she's a great cat: plays fetch, part Burmese, very playful and loving. But her unprovoked attacks every couple weeks are giving me Woody Allen levels of neurosis. And just last week, she began turning the hissing/spitting/scratching on my wife.

First set of questions- is rehabilitation possible? I read the stickies on aggressive behavior. First there's a suggestion on some products that are supposed to calm the cat by releasing a constant stream of kitty pheromones or something? Honestly that sounds like pure snake oil to me. Then the steps you take to change the cats behavior involve scruffing the cat and throwing him/her in the bathroom for five minutes to cool off? Sorry, but I'm not going near my cat again when she's in that mode without a freaking bear suit of armor on. And we don't have the money to take her to a feline behavioralist. Are there any other options?

I'm assuming the chances of rehabilitation are slim, so the second set of questions- what can we do with her? We don't want to put her down. Would a humane shelter work? Would they take a cat that's put someone in the hospital?

Sorry for the long post, but any help would be appreciated. Again, we love this cat, but I don't think we can put up with this anymore.
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post #2 of 9
1/2/11 at 4:04pm
If you put her in a shelter and tell them she is aggressive toward people at all, she will likely be put on the short list to be euthanised. there are so many strays brought into shelters, they have a hard enough time rehabilitating the ones who are aggressive toward other cats, let alone one who has sent someone to the hospital.
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post #3 of 9
1/2/11 at 4:15pm
Hi there, I had a cat the same, Harvey, he attacked me and I had to have stitches and i have bad scars but I loved him to pieces and I just wanted to help him. Unfortunately I have 5 other kitties and they were the problem, they did not get on at all, he was left at my new house when we moved in so it was a big change for him. I tried everything with him and when he attacked me I rung shelters and I was told he would be PTS, no way could I do that, Harvey had major issues and it wasn't his fault. I ended up finding a rescue shelter where one of the women who volunteers kept her horse at a farm and they were lookin for a farm cat as their old kitty had died and that's where he is now and apparently he is a changed cat and loves it there, he rules the roost and is his own "man". I miss him every day though and if it weren't for my other cats I would have never have given him up. I don't know what to suggest but please don't PTS, try your vet. xx
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post #4 of 9
1/2/11 at 4:16pm
With the current state of the economy, the ratio of cats to homes is poorer than ever. From what I've read, about 70% of cats brought to shelters are put down, so if older and w/ a history of aggression I would think the chances of being in that top 30% over younger sweeter kittens is very low. In Houston at least, a buddy has been pestering all the no-kill shelters for a spot to no avail for quite some time (has had people dump cats on him and he now has seven even though he prefers only two), and if you mention aggression, no chance.

Never used it myself, but have read plenty of accounts on others where they had positive experiences with feliway, but not so much for aggression as for anxiety and spraying. Hopefully others can chime in.

Your cat doesn't sound very aggressive, just brief bouts, but it does sound like the behavior has been allowed to persist for quite a while, so not sure if it has become part of the cat's personality. I would just start from square one and confine kitty to a safe room w/ litterbox, water, food in a low traffic area. Visit the cat frequently, great if its in an office, but ignore it unless it approaches you demanding affection with head and tail held high ears up and confine petting to head and top of the spine and rear (safe spots). Then just be associated with positive things like food, treats, and playtime (da bird is great), and then open up the area again and perhaps keep the blinds down for a bit. This site is against declaws, but IMO laser declaw is a modern practice that is humane when given a good pain medication for a week with a very low complication rate and quick healing (average is two days of lameness) and no bandages required (instantly cauterizes nerve endings and blood vessels) and would be better than returning a cat to a shelter if biting wasn't the issue.
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post #5 of 9
1/2/11 at 4:32pm
Although cats are usually loving pets, they always have "one paw in the wild". They can be just as aggressive as lions, only smaller.

I had a similar experience with my loving cat Max, who never ever scratched or bit me. Max got himself tangled up an a plastic grocery bag and my other cat Sophie chased him because of the sound that the bag made. I caught up with Max and tore the bag off of him. His hissed viciously at me for my trouble, so I immediately put him down. Then Sophie attacked me with her claws when I tried to comfort her. I got some pretty bad scratches from Sophie. After the incident, I just ignored them and they were back to normal the next day.

Here are a couple or recent news items about violent kitties.

http://www.komonews.com/news/92197009.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGGDMbjbipw
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post #6 of 9
1/2/11 at 4:38pm
Is she spayed? Has she been seen by a vet to make sure there is nothing wrong going on? Make sure she is not sick or in pain or has some neurological problem? Have you discussed medication with your vet? (Prozac?)
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post #7 of 9
1/2/11 at 4:48pm
That Youtube title is so misleading. That cat wasn't "CRAZY".

It kept giving signs over and over and over again that it didn't want to be held by some random stranger. She ignored it, and deserved a kitty slap in the face IMO, although I do feel bad if she got a big claw.

It is best though when a kitty is freaking out to scruff and confine in a room or if running off on its own to just leave it be by itself. Definitively not the time for comforting when frightened/angry as one would intuitively do with people.
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post #8 of 9
1/2/11 at 4:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
Is she spayed? Has she been seen by a vet to make sure there is nothing wrong going on? Make sure she is not sick or in pain or has some neurological problem? Have you discussed medication with your vet? (Prozac?)
She has been fixed. We took her to the vet a month after she put me in the hospital. Vet didn't notice anything wrong. Haven't discussed meds yet, but as long as they're not too expensive I'd be open to 'em.

Quote:
I ended up finding a rescue shelter where one of the women who volunteers kept her horse at a farm and they were lookin for a farm cat as their old kitty had died and that's where he is now and apparently he is a changed cat and loves it there, he rules the roost and is his own "man".
This really is the ideal situation (well, past rehabilitation). We made her an indoor cat but she's so fiesty we're guessing she'd love to live outdoors. Sadly we're in an apartment with a heavy-traffic street 20 steps from our back door.
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post #9 of 9
1/2/11 at 5:22pm
Here is another "crazy cat" video. If this cat was big enough, he would have eaten that woman. She did have a pretty good hold on the cat that rendered him harmless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mwUBQCmDwU&NR=1
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