Stray with a Mental Illness?

The past year or so we have had a stray black cat wandering around our back porch. Took a few weeks for him to trust us, he was a bit skittish, but now he is the sweetest, just rubs all over you and acts like he is just starving for affection. I even invited him in our mud room last winter when it was cold for a few minutes, to get petted and eat something although he doesn't interested in food at all. That day I was walking him back out, and he just SNAPPED and bit me on the leg. Luckily it was just my pants and not my skin. Then immediately went back to purring, rubbing on me like nothing had happened. I thought maybe it was just a fluke, maybe I scared him but all I was doing was walking beside him. It was so odd!

Cut to a few days later, nothing but sweetness and petting, even let me pick him up, probably was with him 20 minutes. Out of the blue he got me again, this time teeth, claws, everything, bit me very deep. Blood pouring down my leg. And right back to purring and rubbing on me. I didn't react or yell, just eased him back out the door. I cleaned it out well but I really should have went to the hospital to get it checked out. I still have the scars and that was 5 months ago. We stopped interacting with him and he stopped coming, I'm thinking he was indoors all winter wherever he lives. 

This summer has been coming at the same time every day, just hanging out on our patio furniture until we pop out to feed him, no bites yet this year, and then today he bit my husband for the first time, didn't break skin luckily, just like a nip. My cats play bite too but nothing like this, it's like a death bite, like he goes as deep as he can like he wants to kill our leg. It just breaks my heart that I can't trust the little guy.  I just don't understand why he's such a sweetie and then he just unleashes and then goes back to normal, I've never seen anything like it. 

I posted on a neighborhood site asking if anybody knew who owned him as he was obviously getting fed last fall. Somebody mentioned he was indoor/outdoor and pointed out which house they thought it was, and today I noticed that the house is for sale, so I'm hoping they take him with them. I have been noticing that he gobbles up the food and drinks water so I'm wondering if he was abandoned, I already have 3 indoor cats, and with that behavior I can't take him in and he probably can't be re-homed. Kills me because I love cats so dearly, but this is just bizarre. I want to help him especially if they left him, I'll keep putting food and water out.

Have any of you ever seen a cat behave that way, and if so what did you do? My thought was maybe he smelled my cats when I had him in the back mud room, both times he bit me we were just inside the back door, (my cats were safely behind a shut door). However when he bit my husband today they were outside on the back porch he was just petting him.  I'm thinking he has a mental imbalance, maybe he sees things or has some sort of schizophrenia. Thoughts?

Tomcats get easily overstimulated. Is he intact? If he is that probably explains it.

Willowy said:

Tomcats get easily overstimulated. Is he intact? If he is that probably explains it.

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I'm not sure, he's all black so I can't see too well down there and I'm too on edge to spend more than a few seconds with him now sadly. I will see if his ear is tipped. Just breaks my heart to have a cat around that I can't pet or play with. We've had dozens of strays around our homes through the years and I love visiting with them, and I've never seen one behave this way. I have even sat on the floor indian style and he curled up in my lap.  It's like Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde with this one.

I could even take him to be checked out and neutered if he isn't already but I'm too on edge to get him in a carrier  

We have a cat who does that.  Part of the reason is that he was abused (kicked so hard, his sternum broke) and part of it is he's a bit hyper.  He's usually super sweet but on occasion, he swats unexpectedly.  I've learned just to watch him carefully, although many times, he does not give any signs before he strikes.

He calmed down 1000% once he was fixed but every once in while still, he gets ornery and makes trouble.  He's learned that when he does that, he gets a "time out" in a room by himself.  He hates that!  Now, all  say is "You want a time out?" and he'll back off.

If the people who "own" this cat are moving, I'd take bets they are leaving him behind.  When that happens near me, I get the cat fixed and vaccinated at the very least.

Can you borrow a trap and get him to the vet?  If nothing else, having him neutered and vetted will be good for his health.  It will calm him down some, too. And, no more kittens from him!

It could be that he's intact and/or was abused. He also might be ill.

We had a stray cat at the shelter with that Jekyll/Hyde behavior. He attacked several volunteers absolutely without provocation, and many of us ended up in the ER. He would actually rush up when your back was turned and bite. It got so bad that we had the choice between putting him in a "no contact" cage, euthanizing him or adding him to the feral colony kept in a very large enclosure with no public contact. We opted for the latter and strictly limited the number of caretakers. Most of them were terrified of him anyway and refused to go in the enclosure as long as he was there. I actually wore leg guards when I was working back there and never turned my back on him. We didn't know whether he'd been abused or had a brain tumor.

Fast forward almost a year and a half and Panther starting losing a lot of weight. He turned out to have inoperable cancer.

It just sounds like he is very stressed . Even though he has been around for a year, he is still not used to you and your cats. They can act perfectly calm and suddenly attack when something, most likely hearing or smelling your nearby cats, sets them to attack the nearest object, unfortunately you and your husband. This is called redirected aggression and is very common. Both times I noticed this happened very near your house, he would most likely be a lot more comfortable away from the house. It could be a low stimulation threshold, which causes some cats to attack when they reach their limit of stimulation, but that is usually touching or stroking. You can usually see this coming with hair standing up, bushed tail, or dilated pupils. I would not encourage him to come up close, I think he is too stressed near your cats in the house. Treat him like a feral and feed  but don't stay near, you could erect him a shelter away from the house to help him. I think once he is around you more, gets into a routine, and gets more comfortable with everything he'll warm up and be nice. You will be blessed for caring for him, it's nice to have people like you on this earth!  

Thanks for all the kind replies. I think you all may be right, it may be just over-stimulation, as when you do pet him he arches his back so extremely, almost throws himself into your hand, and rubs on your leg really hard. And then endorphins kick in and he just lashes out at the nearest thing. We're just making sure he has food and water, petting him quickly and popping back inside. We do have a camera on the back porch as it points right at our "Catio" my husband built (our 3 cats go out the window and hang out in it all day

I thought I'd share a photo of what he does everyday, at this exact moment actually.  You can see him on the right,  sits on that chair a few times a day and will wait hours for us to come out, and I usually do because I get the camera notification. Most of the time he just sleeps there and hangs out with our cats when they go outside like some sort of porch party. And he does treat them the same way, he'll be all chill, in the chair sleeping or rolling around on the cement, and then all of a sudden he'll charge and swat at them, and then go right back to being calm. Crazy kitty!  They're completely safe behind the wire and can run back in at anytime with the window flap, and they're pretty un-phased and calm cats generally.   This may be territorial too, he feels like he owns this whole area and they keep invading. 

We'll just keep helping him out and hope his owners take him with them! 

Love that catio!

I think you are right about him being territorial.  He must think your cats have a lot of nerve!  

If the owners don't take him, though, you might want to start planning now to have him neutered.  His behavior will improve after that.

Ondine said:

 
Love that catio!

I think you are right about him being territorial.  He must think your cats have a lot of nerve!  

If the owners don't take him, though, you might want to start planning now to have him neutered.  His behavior will improve after that.

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Yep we're already considering that, as soon as I get time I'll see if his ear is tipped (do vets still do that?)  However not sure how to get him in a carrier, he only acts interested in food 50% of the time so that may not work as a lure, and I'm too scared to pick him up now. I think he likes us a lot and would let me pick him up but I think he blacks out during these episodes and doesn't know he bit the bejesus out of us, LOL, probably doesn't know why I'm even timid around him.

It may be better to buy or rent a trap.  Tie it open and feed him in the trap, and only in the trap, for a week or more.  When you are ready with an appointment for him, untie the trap and allow it to spring.