Cat Viciously Attacked My Mother Twice.

So we have a female cat , around 7 years old, who is generally a good girl. A little jumpy at times, but has never purposely harmed anybody until recently. A few months ago, my mother told me when I came home one night that our cat had purposely attacked her for seemingly no reason while she was in the kitchen. She jumped onto her and dug her claws in, hissing at her. I didn't really believe that the cat would do something like that, as she is generally sweet. Tonight however, I witnessed an attack. My mother was smoking by the door when she closed it and started walking to the kitchen, I saw our cat follow her, and she attacked my mothers leg as she was walking, dug her nails in deep, and then backed away a little bit, hissing and howling with her tail all puffed up and wagging. My mother retreated behind the couch, and the cat just stood nearby staring at her, hissing at the slightest bit of movement from her. We had to both wait there for about 20 minutes until she calmed down. There was quite a lot of blood from the leg.

I read online that sometimes a cat can see or smell a stray cat from outside, and take out their aggression out on the owner, but we've had her few quite a while now and she's never done this before now. Some sites say that this type of behavior can happen, but that it is usually rare, and a one time occurrence. She's done it twice so far, and only to my mother.

Any idea what we can possibly do? She is really very sweet and I don't want to let her go. I also don't want my mother to be afraid of the cat every day.

The outdoor cat situation is something to think about. I would maybe try using those feliway diffusers first. Also, I don't know if you've watched that My Cat From Hell show, but it seems like more playtime is something that works for just about every behavior issue. If you have your mom play with the cat more (with something like da bird or a string wand) the cat may warm up to her. Also, the host would probably suggest that your mom be in charge of feeding, so your cat associates her with positive things.

Good luck.

It almost happened again this morning! Same exact situation. My mother was downstairs with the door slightly ajar, smoking. The cat came down and started hissing at her almost right away. I had to come down with the squirt gun before she attacked again. I currently have her locked in my room with me. I thought maybe it was a smell from outside that was causing the rage, but I have my window open and she's been looking out of it for some time now, doesn't seem enraged at all. She's almost normal right now.

Could it be that she really wants outside desperately and feels the need to lash out? She's never been like this before and my mother always smokes in that spot with the door cracked.

Came home from picking up groceries and right away she was hissing at my mother. She is ok with me though. I let her smell my hand even while she was angry, and she was alright with me. She would have attacked my mother though. I told her to shower in case of an odd scent that could be causing it. It's very odd behavior. She was perfectly fine when she saw my mother upstairs this morning, but if it's downstairs, she becomes instantly aggressive towards her.

Has anything changed with your mother--new scents, does she look different in any way?  Might your mom have inadvertently hurt or frightened your cat somehow?  

I asked my mother this morning if anything had happened between her and the cat, and she assured me that nothing had happened at all. I always see her snuggling up to my mother on the couch, and she never had a problem with her before. She looks relatively the same as always. She just finished showering, so we're going to try having lunch downstairs now. See how it goes.

We had a problem last year when our three usually sweet kitties who are all friends, were really edgy and started fighting each other.  It was awful.  Then we discovered that a neighborhood cat had been coming around, getting them all worked up and upset.

Have you noticed any new animals around your house--ones that your cat (what's her name?) might be able to see from the windows or something?

I haven't spotted or heard any new animals, but she has been looking out of the windows more than usual lately. Her name is Hailey. She was reaching for the doorknob on the door downstairs, which she doesn't normally do.

My mother showered and we all had lunch downstairs, and it went well. She was very normal again. My mother was able to feed her a bit from her hand.

I have to leave for work soon, leaving them both here together, so we'll see how that goes.

Yeah, there could be another cat or something outside that Hailey is trying to get to.  Maybe keep an eye out for that.   In the meantime, you could try a calming collar or treats or a Feliway diffuser to help keep Hailey calmed down.  I found the diffusers worked with our cats. 

That's a good thought--a vet visit is a very good idea!  She could be hurt or ill.  

I just find it very off that she seems perfectly ok in my presence but not at all in my mothers. And she has never had a problem with a human before. Only with other cats.

Yeah, it's tough to say.  A vet check up is probably a good idea anyway just to rule out any medical problems.  If there aren't any, I'd start looking around for strange cats in your yard, especially if she's had problems with other cats before.  Maybe she goes after your mom because it's your mom in the house with her when she sees the strange cat or something so Hailey goes after her since, basically there's no one else to go after.  Here's an article about redirected aggression:  http://www.cathospitalofchicago.com/online-cat-health-library/feline-redirected-aggression

I have to rule out the coincidence of her seeing another cat only when my mother is around because I've been in the same room with both of them and she only has a problem with my mum. I keep her in my room with me and she's fine, I open the door and she will try to attack my mum when she sees her.

I agree with the idea of a vet visit. Cats can hide pain well and show it in odd ways, so it would be a good idea to rule out anything medical.

If it is redirected aggression (which seems very likely) it could just be something about your mom draws Hailey's attention. Could be sound, smell, size...If theres a strange cat, even somwhere where she can smell it, that could trigger the attack or it could be that she's hearing something outside that's upsetting her.

Betsygee mentioned the Feliway diffusers and I'll second that they can really help - they were a big help with my Freya's anxiety. I would start withh a vet visir, though, just to be sure. Also, if it is behavioral, your vet may be able to recommend a behaviorist.

Thanks for the advice. If she is still the same way tomorrow, I may just take her in to the vet. She doesn't like kennels or car rides mind you, so she will have to deal with that as well. Hopefully she isn't violent with the vet.

We have a thorough article on the site covering various aspects of aggression towards people - 

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cat-aggression-toward-people

Did your mother change brands of cigarettes lately? It could be there is some additive in the new ones -assuming she has changed - that triggers the aggression. Remember that cats sense of smell is 40 times more sensitive than ours.

Or maybe your mother caught the cat in the door when she came in, or maybe stepped on the cat. Go back over everything that happened in the hour prior to the first attack.

There HAS to be something she doesn't like about your mother, and to me it sounds like something she smells. Is your mom letting in the smell of a another cat when she goes outside? Is she stepping in another cat's 'marked' zone? Have her smoke in another area and see if that changes things, watch for another cat hanging around. How about her clothes or shoes, anything different? Has she petted ANY other animal before coming over? SOMETHING is causing your cat to do this, she feels very threatened.I pray you find it. Good luck!

Word to the wise, I had a BIG PROBLEM with my two male cats marking around the house, I started thinking 94/7 what to do, realized that they spent a great deal of time on the bench I placed in one of the front widows for them to look out and that a lot of cats had been visiting since my cats were so much sitting in that window at night, we actually blocked the view and moved the bench, we put a film on the part of the windows they could see through, no marking going on right now, FINGERS CROSSED, but the aggression thing with your mother James is strange.  Those diffusers are expensive and didn't do anything for my problem, I now play with the cats with the cat dancer several times a day to wear them out and they can't see where outdoor cats come up to the house, looks good.  

Strange for a cat to become aggressive to just one family member, does you mother like cats?