Need Help! Schitzo Kitty!

I'm new to this site. i was originally looking for some help with some very scary behavior from Beans... spayed 4 yr old short hair cross.
normally a very friendly girl,last year she and her "roomie", Blue, went outside, and when they came in, Beans was hissing/spitting etc at Blue, and seemed very afraid. we separated them for almost 4 months before they could get along again. used feliway, and had them checked out, but everthing was ok.
after that, we kept them inside all the time, figuring that they had been scared by a tomcat or some such.
unfortunately, a neighbour stepping in for a visit let them escape, and when they came back in , Beans was back to crazy cat etc.
again to the vet, and again ,nothing wrong...
renewed the feliway, and again isolated them.... two weeks later Beans seemed ok, but then when i picked her up, she sunk her teeth into my shoulder, and scratched the s--t out of me. since then, we can get near her one minute, and the next, she's hissing & spitting again.
unfortunately, we have a 15 month old daughter now and fear for her safety.
nothing seems to help and we're contemplating euthanasia..

Please don't! The experts here at TCS will offer advice as soon as they read your post, and it will likely be moved to the Behavior forum. Welcome to TCS , you've come to the right place seeking answers!

I've split your thread and moved it to Behavior where our experts will be sure to see it.

Hmm- there could be several things going on-none of which require a cat to be pts. One of my guesses would be while the cats were outside, Blue discovered a scent in the grass or the ground. A wild animal scent, or another cat scent, and as is typical of territorial cats, she more than likely laid down in the scent and had a good roll. Now, she doesn't smell like Blue anymore, she smells like an alien intruder. Beans doesn't like that, so it is attack time.

So now you have to figure to make them scent neutral. Make them smell the same. You can do that with vanilla extract, putting a little on them three times a day in three spots. Under their chin, between their shoulders and on the base of the tail. If they enjoy baths, you can also bathe them in the same cat shampoo and add just a small amount of vinegar (warmed up) to the shampoo to neutralize the scent.

you can also check into the Bach Flower Remedies and try the essence Holly on Beans, to help take the aggression down a bit. Invest in another plug in feliway dispenser and put it somewhere close to the front door. But please also keep both cats inside from now on.

Hey Huggy...I understand your concerns...but it sounds as if Bean is fine as long as you stick with petting her correct?? And if she is not in the mood she hisses first....so what I would do is simply make sure your 15 month old has supervised encounters with the cat for now until things return to calm. Hissy has some great suggestions...please try those first.

Katie

Hi Hissy

Thanks for your quick reply & help. We've decided to give your suggestions a try. We knew that we were acting to hastily and knew we hadn't tried hard enough. We sometimes forget that our little furballs aren't people and that we need sometimes to cut them a little slack.

Thanks again for your help and we'll keep you posted.

Huggy