Hello,
I have been reading the forums, but figured I could just post my story.
A few days ago we decided to try to take in a stray that some friends of ours had found a couple of weeks ago. He has a microchip from 2007, but neither their vet nor ours could find any contact information registered to it? I don't understand how this works, as I've never had a microchipped pet. But, we know he must at least by 7. I can't imagine what circumstances would cause someone to microchip but not neuter a kitten. He was very skinny when found, so obviously had not had a home for a while, but he also is fairly friendly and not super scared of people, so he obviously had a home at one point.
We had three cats until February when we finally lost one of our girls to CRF, so when we heard about this cat, we thought, why not? We had three before. We do not want to introduce him to our other cats until he is neutered and settled in. Unfortunately, we are in a small 2BR apartment, so our only choice is to keep him in my bedroom for now.
So far the main source of drama is trying to keep him confined to a room, especially trying to leave or get into the room without letting him out. He can see/smell the other cats under the door, and he desperately wants to get out to them. They have seen each other through a baby gate, and this actually seemed to calm him down (being able to see them), but he quickly figured out how to open the gate, as you just have to lift up on a latch, and we weren't ready to let them be in the same room together. Entering and leaving my room is now a huge thing. He immediately runs to the door and starts growling and hissing when he realizes you are coming in or leaving. At first I could sort of corral him by holding up a towel and getting him to slowly back away from the door, and eventually he would sort of back off.
The other day (We've not even had him a week, so this has hall happened vert fast.), I was trying to get into my room, and he was trying to get out, which he did successfully, but the other cats were in the other bedroom. I tried to corral him back into my room with blanket. I got him into my room but not far enough to close the door. I tried to get down to his level, thinking my standing up over him was probably scaring him, and he jumped at me and attacked my face. Later that day, I was trying to get out of my room, was trying the towel technique, and he jumped almost up to my shoulder and attacked my arm. He jumped on my roommate later in the day and got her arm, too.
He will jump at you and then take off. It's never without a lot of warning/provocation, but we have to be able to control him somehow, and we don't know how to keep him in a room without provoking this behavior?
When you are not trying to get him to stay in a room, he is very sweet most of the time. He sleeps curled up right next to me on the bed. He doesn't always want to be pet, but has gotten really into chin scratches a few times, and will purr and knead and sit in your lap. When he is done being pet, he will give you a warning growl, and then as long as you stop, he'll just walk away. When we took him to the vet he was so calm and friendly, it makes me wonder if it's solely the other cats in the apartment that are freaking him out.
I rearranged my room last night to try to give him more space. My bed can be a twin or pull out into two twins next to each other, which is how I had it, but I made it smaller to give him more space, and I cleared out some hiding spaces, brought in a cat tree on top of my desk near the window, and cleared off the top shelf and put a bed up there. I am hoping this will make him feel like he has more space / territory, and possibly help him feel less threatened. I also have a Feliway diffuser in my room, but idk if it's helping him.
I'm pretty terrified of him now, to be honest, after the face attack (I had to go on antibiotics due to the extent of the bites), but I'm not ready to give up on him, as he has also been very affectionate, and I think he is just freaked out by all the change, and I think he feels cornered when I try to leave/enter my room while keeping him in. He is still sleeping with me, and I escaped my room this morning by feeding him first and then leaving while he was distracted, but that's harder to do when entering the room.
I just don't know what to do when he is growling/hissing. Especially he and I are both cornered together by the door, and I can't really calmly walk away without having to go over him. I do think both times he jumped at me I was probably making eye contact, which is a habit I'm trying to break. Otherwise I just try to talk to him in calm voice and stay still, but as long as I am standing near the door, he is obsessed with getting out, and I'm not sure he would ever just walk away. Also, he will often be rubbing against my legs and growling/hissing simultaneously which is just confusing.
As freaked out as we are, we are determined to try to act normally around him and give him some time to adjust. We are just waiting on some bloodwork from the vet to come back before they neuter him, although at his age, I'm not sure neutering will really calm him, but we can always hope.
Anyway, has anyone dealt with this type of aggression before? What can we do to make him happier?
I have been reading the forums, but figured I could just post my story.
A few days ago we decided to try to take in a stray that some friends of ours had found a couple of weeks ago. He has a microchip from 2007, but neither their vet nor ours could find any contact information registered to it? I don't understand how this works, as I've never had a microchipped pet. But, we know he must at least by 7. I can't imagine what circumstances would cause someone to microchip but not neuter a kitten. He was very skinny when found, so obviously had not had a home for a while, but he also is fairly friendly and not super scared of people, so he obviously had a home at one point.
We had three cats until February when we finally lost one of our girls to CRF, so when we heard about this cat, we thought, why not? We had three before. We do not want to introduce him to our other cats until he is neutered and settled in. Unfortunately, we are in a small 2BR apartment, so our only choice is to keep him in my bedroom for now.
So far the main source of drama is trying to keep him confined to a room, especially trying to leave or get into the room without letting him out. He can see/smell the other cats under the door, and he desperately wants to get out to them. They have seen each other through a baby gate, and this actually seemed to calm him down (being able to see them), but he quickly figured out how to open the gate, as you just have to lift up on a latch, and we weren't ready to let them be in the same room together. Entering and leaving my room is now a huge thing. He immediately runs to the door and starts growling and hissing when he realizes you are coming in or leaving. At first I could sort of corral him by holding up a towel and getting him to slowly back away from the door, and eventually he would sort of back off.
The other day (We've not even had him a week, so this has hall happened vert fast.), I was trying to get into my room, and he was trying to get out, which he did successfully, but the other cats were in the other bedroom. I tried to corral him back into my room with blanket. I got him into my room but not far enough to close the door. I tried to get down to his level, thinking my standing up over him was probably scaring him, and he jumped at me and attacked my face. Later that day, I was trying to get out of my room, was trying the towel technique, and he jumped almost up to my shoulder and attacked my arm. He jumped on my roommate later in the day and got her arm, too.
He will jump at you and then take off. It's never without a lot of warning/provocation, but we have to be able to control him somehow, and we don't know how to keep him in a room without provoking this behavior?
When you are not trying to get him to stay in a room, he is very sweet most of the time. He sleeps curled up right next to me on the bed. He doesn't always want to be pet, but has gotten really into chin scratches a few times, and will purr and knead and sit in your lap. When he is done being pet, he will give you a warning growl, and then as long as you stop, he'll just walk away. When we took him to the vet he was so calm and friendly, it makes me wonder if it's solely the other cats in the apartment that are freaking him out.
I rearranged my room last night to try to give him more space. My bed can be a twin or pull out into two twins next to each other, which is how I had it, but I made it smaller to give him more space, and I cleared out some hiding spaces, brought in a cat tree on top of my desk near the window, and cleared off the top shelf and put a bed up there. I am hoping this will make him feel like he has more space / territory, and possibly help him feel less threatened. I also have a Feliway diffuser in my room, but idk if it's helping him.
I'm pretty terrified of him now, to be honest, after the face attack (I had to go on antibiotics due to the extent of the bites), but I'm not ready to give up on him, as he has also been very affectionate, and I think he is just freaked out by all the change, and I think he feels cornered when I try to leave/enter my room while keeping him in. He is still sleeping with me, and I escaped my room this morning by feeding him first and then leaving while he was distracted, but that's harder to do when entering the room.
I just don't know what to do when he is growling/hissing. Especially he and I are both cornered together by the door, and I can't really calmly walk away without having to go over him. I do think both times he jumped at me I was probably making eye contact, which is a habit I'm trying to break. Otherwise I just try to talk to him in calm voice and stay still, but as long as I am standing near the door, he is obsessed with getting out, and I'm not sure he would ever just walk away. Also, he will often be rubbing against my legs and growling/hissing simultaneously which is just confusing.
As freaked out as we are, we are determined to try to act normally around him and give him some time to adjust. We are just waiting on some bloodwork from the vet to come back before they neuter him, although at his age, I'm not sure neutering will really calm him, but we can always hope.
Anyway, has anyone dealt with this type of aggression before? What can we do to make him happier?
. Hopefully his behavior will improve quickly after neutering.
