Psycho Kitty?

I recently adopted a 6 year old cat from an animal shelter. Nobody knows anything about her background, but there was some amount of abuse as her jaw was broken when she arrived at the shelter, yet she is very loving and affectionate. But some aspects of her behavior puzzles me.
For example: She will not drink water out of her stainless steel water bowl, but prefers the water out of the fish bowl instead. I clean the bowl daily and replace the water many times during the day, yet she completely ignores it. I have come to wonder if she can perhaps not see the water in the bowl, because she will circle and yowl around the bowl whenever I pass it and she will drink out of it if I add a little milk to the water. She also exhibits very strange tail behavior. She will lie on my lap, purring and kneading while I pet her, yet her tail will be swiping back and forth very violently the whole time. To my knowledge this usually means a cat is angry or irritated with you, so why the purring and kneading? She can also become very aggressive with no provocation on occassion. She will just sit in one spot staring at me and if I reach out to touch her, she will attack my arms, hands and even my face. She will then bite and kick very aggressively, not playfully. And she will also not stop, but repeatedly continue to attack unless I grab her and hold her firmly while calming her and stroking her. She will then get up and behave as normal. Please help, I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t understand what she wants.

Originally posted by Shock
For example: She will not drink water out of her stainless steel water bowl, but prefers the water out of the fish bowl instead. I clean the bowl daily and replace the water many times during the day, yet she completely ignores it. I have come to wonder if she can perhaps not see the water in the bowl, because she will circle and yowl around the bowl whenever I pass it and she will drink out of it if I add a little milk to the water.

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I know some cats have problem with depth perception when it comes to their water bowl. Some people recommend getting a water dish that has a pattern around the inside rim so that the cat can tell the level of the water. Or, you could float some item in the water so she see's that something is there. I don't think I would put milk in the bowl since many cat's can't absorb it and then have stomach troubles later on.

She also exhibits very strange tail behavior. She will lie on my lap, purring and kneading while I pet her, yet her tail will be swiping back and forth very violently the whole time. To my knowledge this usually means a cat is angry or irritated with you, so why the purring and kneading? She can also become very aggressive with no provocation on occassion.

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It could be when she is purring and kneading she is overstimulating her self and therefore is reacting aggressive. Sometimes when you pet a cat for too long as an example, the stimulation will be too much and they will become agressive. So it could be the same thing.

She will just sit in one spot staring at me and if I reach out to touch her, she will attack my arms, hands and even my face. She will then bite and kick very aggressively, not playfully. And she will also not stop, but repeatedly continue to attack unless I grab her and hold her firmly while calming her and stroking her. She will then get up and behave as normal. Please help, I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t understand what she wants.

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I don't have any answers for this one. I know when aggression happens, you should leave the cat alone and ignore it to show your disapproval of the aggression. Also, I have heard that you keep a stuffed animal near you and when this happens you give the cat the stuffed animal to take it's agression out.

This may be a difference situation, because of possible past abuse. I'll let someone else on the board with more experience answer this for you. Welcome to the site and hopefully you will be able to work with your cat to resolve this situation soon.

I would recommend a water fountain. It constantly circulates the water. My boys would put their foot into the water and move it around before they would drink. Since I got the fountain they have no problems. They're not expensive and extremely quiet. The only time I ever hear the motor is when I've been gone a few days. I'll come back to hear it gurgling and gasping, asking for more water.

Shalimar was a rescue. I don't know any history on her since she was found under a car, but she would sometimes have the same stare then attack mode. When I noticed her getting into position, I would just quietly talk to her. Don't reach for her. After a few minutes, she would drop down to her tummy, then become the lovable sweety she always was. She just needed something to ground her back to reality.

Hi Shock,

I quite often rescue abused cats both kittens and otherwise, mostly ferals, and what you have described is perfectly common reactions coming from a long history of abuse. About her water situation, you can do a few things, you can buy a Drinkwell fountain for her, or you can get a large ceramic bowl (sort of like a party dip bowl?) Buy some aquarium rocks at your local pet store, bring the rocks home and rinse them really well. Dump them in the bowl, add the water and see if that helps her find her water bowl.

About her tail action, again this is quite common with a cat who has been abused by humans. And any sort of petting or handling, can set the trigger off. I know that you enjoy petting her and handling her, but I can also pretty much guarantee that she doesn't care for it yet. Because you have yet to earn her trust. The quickest way to earn it, is to leave her alone completely. See to her needs, food water, litter, health, but cut off all contact with her as far as petting and such. All her life, people have wanted something from her, to torment her, to hang on to her, to capture her. I am sure that if she could talk to you, you would cry to hear what she has been through. So let her make the initial moves, and when she does head bump you, let her do this to you several times, then make a quick and slow and gentle pass over her back. Withdraw your hands and walk away. Do this for several weeks-show her that she has nothing to prove by you, and nothing to fear and in no time she will be jumping on your lap.

About purring, cats purr when they are contented, but they also purr when they are scared or hurt- so don't let that be your meter in determining how she is temperment wise. Remember, she has been through a lot of trauma, then been stuffed in a cage with hardly any interaction and in a room filled with stress hormones. Give her time to adapt to her new world and kudos to you for adopting this older cat who without you, wouldn't stand much a chance in the world.


When she bites you, take your arm and thrust it slowly *forward* instead of withdrawing. This will startle her, and she will disengage her claws and teeth. Best of luck and feel free to email me with any questions. As I said, I very often work with the older abused cats and they are a challenge, but when you break open to their trust- you feel like you suddenly own the world!

Hi Guys, thanks for the welcome and all the great advice on your reponses. Unfortunately I live in South Africa and the drinkwell fountains are not yet available here yet, I have looked and enquired at all the local pet shops and vets. As to your reply, Hissy, she seeks attention from me all the time and I have been giving it to her as she wants it. She's not a "loner" cat, she wants human affection. When I come home in the afternoons, she will run up to me and start yowling and twisting herself around my legs. As soon as I sit down she will be on my lap in a flash. I have also considered that she might be lonely during the day and have gone back to the shelter seeking a playmate for her. [unfortunately the one I chose last weekend was ill and died during the week ] The fish bowl has rocks at the bottom, but I have also thought of going to the shops today and finding a patterned ceramic bowl, prefrebably a darkly patterned bowl that can reflect the water.
Also when she attacks, she keeps on attacking, I have little chance of doing anything. This has only happened twice so far, so I'm also hoping it's just a phase of adaptation she's going through.

Originally posted by Shock
Hi Guys, thanks for the welcome and all the great advice on your reponses. Unfortunately I live in South Africa and the drinkwell fountains are not yet available here yet, I have looked and enquired at all the local pet shops and vets.{SNIP}

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I too want to say welcome As for the fountain check on Ebay. There are several listed on there and for an affordale price. Good luck with your purrbaby Show us some pictures when you get the chance we just love pictures

almost EXACTLY like your new cat. She too would be very loving and then act aggravated. Also she would sit calmly beside me and if I was petting her or not, she would launch herself at me and really attack. She would grab an arm and just RAKE me with her hind legs while wrapping her front legs around me and sinking her teeth in my hand at the same time. She did this one night while I was sound asleep! I basically figured she was probably teased and tormented by children as a kitten and then got physically beaten by an adult male in the house if her play got too rough. She was very hissy and fearful of men when I first brought her home.

Sadly, her aggression was so unpredictable and dangerous and she continually wanted to kill my older, defenseless female cat, that I had her euthanized. It was a tough decision and I was bawling at the vet's office. A vet tech reassured me that what I was going to do was the best thing. She said she had to euthanize her cat because it nearly put her child's eye out when it attacked her child in the face.


Hopefully your vet can go over less drastic options with you and maybe anti-anxiety meds will help your cat. (My vet didn't put much faith in them) or maybe other behavioral modification techniques will work with your cat. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Hey Guys, Catlover67, so sorry to hear about your cat - that must have been a really hard decision. I went back to the shelter this weekend and got Queen Nef a playmate. He's an 8-week old tuxedo kitten that I've named Domino. He is so cute and after the first 36 hours, Nef stopped hissing at him and this morning she was actually playing with him. She's still very angry at me though. I know, I did everything wrong by just throwing the two of them together like that, but I believe they must sort each other out and they will with time. Meanwhile I'm trying to ignore Domino's demands for attention, so Nef won't feel like he's being given special treatment, but it's hard. Especially with a kitten that refuses to sleep anywhere else but on your head!

I came here back in October with similar problems. Mikey was so unpredictable. I'd be petting him one minute and he'd be scratching me the next. At that time I even told how embarassing it was going out in public because of the scratches on my face, arms, and legs. Out of desperation I ended up giving Mikey a formal name too. Whenever he's in trouble I call him Michael Joseph instead of Mikey. His behavior has improved so much. He still has his moments, but I've only been scratched or bitten a couple of times in the last six weeks. (Of course, I was away for two of those weeks.) I've learned when to leave him alone. And, he's had time outs when he's been out of control. I think we've both learned and things have improved so much. We also went back and adopted a second kitten which really helped too. Mikey and Murphy are great friends. On occasion he will get too rough with her, but she's no shrinking violet. I think they've come to some kind of mutual understanding because it's been a while since he got too rough. Things are a lot more peaceful around here. I made the decision not to put up a Christmas tree this year. I figure we can live without a tree for one year. Things will just be a whole lot easier that way. I do have a little tree that I can keep in a closet. We'll bring out that tree when we open gifts. I also got an early Christmas present this week. I couldn't believe it when my feral cat came right up to me and practically sat on my feet. I was holding her food dishes and looked down at her. She looked up and didn't run. She just meowed like a regular cat. I was sure that once she realized how close she was to me she'd take off. This is like a major break through. I've been feeding her for over 2 1/2 years. She only did it that one time, but I was thrilled. We're making progress. Slow and easy wins the race.
Betty
"Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store,
maybe Christmas is something more."
--Dr. Seuss