- Joined
- Mar 25, 2015
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Greetings to all. I no longer have a cat, but I'm hoping to get some advice for a friend. "Jill" lives with her boyfriend, "Joe." Both wanted a cat, and did get one about five months ago. "Beau" is now almost one year old. He's been neutered and has gotten his shots.
Almost from the beginning, Beau will suddenly go into attack mode. He bites and scratches hard enough to draw blood --- sometimes a considerable amount. Jill gets attacked, and visitors get attacked, with this writer being the only exception.**
This kitty does NOT attack Joe, even though I'm afraid Joe might be causing the bad behavior, ie: He feeds Beau anything and everything, including chili, applesauce, ice cream, cookies, popcorn etc. Basically, whatever goes into Joe's mouth he shares with the cat. Jill is not in favor of this, but Joe can't be convinced he's doing anything wrong. There is also cat food available, and Beau does eat that, but he's getting all this garbage on the side, and he never seems too full to eat it, also.
Only recently I learned that digestive issues might be responsible for behavior that manifests as fear and/or aggression. Beau never acts like he's sick, but I'm really wondering if his garbage-inclusive diet might be causing him some kind of distress that he takes out on people. (He's the only companion animal living with Jill and Joe.)
**When Jill and Joe had to leave the state for a family emergency, they gave me a key, and I took care of Beau for about 7 days. I didn't give him anything other than water and his cat food; I played with him; and he didn't even try to attack me. Still, I realize that might have been caused by the fact that his people weren't around.
Any help you could give me is much appreciated. Thank-you.
Almost from the beginning, Beau will suddenly go into attack mode. He bites and scratches hard enough to draw blood --- sometimes a considerable amount. Jill gets attacked, and visitors get attacked, with this writer being the only exception.**
This kitty does NOT attack Joe, even though I'm afraid Joe might be causing the bad behavior, ie: He feeds Beau anything and everything, including chili, applesauce, ice cream, cookies, popcorn etc. Basically, whatever goes into Joe's mouth he shares with the cat. Jill is not in favor of this, but Joe can't be convinced he's doing anything wrong. There is also cat food available, and Beau does eat that, but he's getting all this garbage on the side, and he never seems too full to eat it, also.
Only recently I learned that digestive issues might be responsible for behavior that manifests as fear and/or aggression. Beau never acts like he's sick, but I'm really wondering if his garbage-inclusive diet might be causing him some kind of distress that he takes out on people. (He's the only companion animal living with Jill and Joe.)
**When Jill and Joe had to leave the state for a family emergency, they gave me a key, and I took care of Beau for about 7 days. I didn't give him anything other than water and his cat food; I played with him; and he didn't even try to attack me. Still, I realize that might have been caused by the fact that his people weren't around.
Any help you could give me is much appreciated. Thank-you.