New Cat Attacks.

I hope you guys can help me with this. Can cats be schizophrenic? The new cat, Fellini, is now allowed free roam. The vets have checked him, all good, and he is neutered. The problem is, he attacks. I can sit on the couch, and he will lay beside me, sleeping. All of a sudden, he will wake up, look at me, and attack. I don't mean, play attacking, I mean, attack. He flew at me and luckily I got my hands up in front of my face, he clawed my arms all up. I like pushed him away and off the couch and he walked out of the room like nothing was wrong. Just now, I was sitting on the bed doing homework and he was lounging on the night stand. He walked over laid down beside me. I must have shifted becuase next thing I know, he grabbed the hand laying on the notebook with all four paws and started to the 'jack rabbit kick' and biting. He draws blood! I don't know what the deal is. This isn't the only two times, hes been doing this, and quite frankly, its to the point where I'm scared of him. He randomly attacks the other cats too. Particularly Jeter who is more comparable in size. He literaly seeks him out in the house and attacks him. I don't know what to do. When I took him for neutering, the vet said its just him adjusting, since there is nothing physically wrong, but I think he should be adjusted by now.

PLEASE HELP! I've never encountered anything like this before.

I don't know if anyone read my previous post about Fellini's agression issues. We took him back to the vet, did a nice blood work up and a full bombardment of tests. And now, several hundred dollars later, still no answers. I'm getting really frustrated and upset, becuase we could barely afford to bring him in off the street, let alone put all this money into these tests.

He is still doing the aggressive psycho kitty thing, as well as quite a few new behavioural issues. He bullies the other cats, to the point where Grissom runs out of the room and away from him. Jeter just curls up and cries. He rips down drapes, eats the carpet, and refuses to stay off the counters. I'm at my wits end and I have no more ideas and no more real resources. My cats hate him, Robert doesn't like him, and quite frankly, I'm not very happy with him right now either. Silly as it sounds, but I wish he understood human, so I could tell him that he should be nice and be grateful that I took him off the street and fixed his frostbite and fleas and mites and scratches and puncture wounds. Unfortunately, he doesn't understand human social customs.

This was my original post:

I hope you guys can help me with this. Can cats be schizophrenic? The new cat, Fellini, is now allowed free roam. The vets have checked him, all good, and he is neutered. The problem is, he attacks. I can sit on the couch, and he will lay beside me, sleeping. All of a sudden, he will wake up, look at me, and attack. I don't mean, play attacking, I mean, attack. He flew at me and luckily I got my hands up in front of my face, he clawed my arms all up. I like pushed him away and off the couch and he walked out of the room like nothing was wrong. Just now, I was sitting on the bed doing homework and he was lounging on the night stand. He walked over laid down beside me. I must have shifted becuase next thing I know, he grabbed the hand laying on the notebook with all four paws and started to the 'jack rabbit kick' and biting. He draws blood! I don't know what the deal is. This isn't the only two times, hes been doing this, and quite frankly, its to the point where I'm scared of him. He randomly attacks the other cats too. Particularly Jeter who is more comparable in size. He literaly seeks him out in the house and attacks him. I don't know what to do. When I took him for neutering, the vet said its just him adjusting, since there is nothing physically wrong, but I think he should be adjusted by now.

PLEASE HELP! I've never encountered anything like this before.

Maybe he needs rehoming, and to be a sole pet.

I am certainly no expert... I have only been a cat owner for a short time.. maybe he is feeling trapped after being on the street... We have a cat, Lucky, who was for the most part left behind by my sister... she let him be more of an "out door" cat.. and when she left, I tried to have in stay indoor a bit more.. and he was not the least bit pleased... I actually took the basement window out of the laundry room, and replaced it with plastic and cut a whole in it so he can come and go as he pleases... he is much more happy now.. he still has his moods, and will hiss out of no where.... I think it is just his personality at this point... and one of his survival tactics... Maybe if you let him go about his business (assuming he can be pleasant about it) for a while.. he will come around on his own terms... Good Luck!! Gina

Have you consulted your vet about using an anti-anxiety drug? I can't tell from your post if this is an anxiety disorder but it is something your should consider. I know a lot of people are scared to use drugs but as a last resort they can be a life-saver.

Originally Posted by Dr. Doolittle

Have you consulted your vet about using an anti-anxiety drug? I can't tell from your post if this is an anxiety disorder but it is something your should consider. I know a lot of people are scared to use drugs but as a last resort they can be a life-saver.

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At first I was thinking to rehome him in a one cat household, but if he is attacking you that probably wouldn't change things. Maybe anxiety meds will work. Hope you find a solution soon.

This site http://www.fabcats.org/behaviour.html has some case studies on about how behaviourists helped cats and owners with specific problems- the attachment and nervous cat sections might be good. I hope that things do start to settle down, this must be heartbreaking.

Ranger

Sounds crazy to me

I actually had a cat just like this several years back. It got to the point where we were afraid to walk through the house because that cat would jump out from behind something and attack. He would literally jump up on your chest, hang onto your clothes and try to scratch your eyes out! It was awful! We did the same thing......got all the tests to rule out any medical problems and he got a clean bill of health.....but nothing seemed to help. (he was an only cat who we got as a kitten)

Finally, the vet told us that he may have been slightly brain damaged at birth and would most likely never be able to be a house cat who was calm and loving. He was just too aggressive. His suggestions were to either put him to sleep or find him a safe place to live where he could be an outside cat. The vet said he knew a guy who lived out in the country who was looking for a good barn cat to help keep the mice population under control. He said he would call the guy. So psycho kitty ended up going to live out in the country so he could take all his aggression out on the mice.

I think that some cats....just like some people......are just mentally unstable and some are never able to be rehabilitated. Just because they're cats doesn't mean they are always going to be sweet and loveable no matter how hard we try to make them that way. You just have to decide what the best option for him is......like going to live somewhere else where is aggression won't be a problem.

Best of luck to you.....let us know what you decide to do.

Aggression in cats can have lots of causes - fear, insecurity, pain, even boredom. Who knows what Fellini went through before you took him in? You may be seeing the result of some trauma he suffered. Has you vet absolutely ruled out any painful conditions Fellini might have that aren't obvious (arthritis, for example)? Has he done any neurological tests?

I've read that TTouch (a type of massage) can be very helpful in calming aggressive cats. Another member here posted recently about taking a class to learn the technique - I'll try to find it.

Also, go to TCS home page. There's an article there on cat aggression (on the right hand side) that may be helpful.

Dr. Doolittle offered a very important suggestion. Though I think drugs should be used as a last resort, they seem warranted in your case. I've used Busparin (or Buspar, for short) with one of my cats who was very aggressive toward my oldest cat (but was not aggressive with people). Out of nowhere, she would start to beat up my boy and then my third cat would join in! I tried all kinds of behavior mod, but nothing worked. My vet, out of ideas, told me I'd have to keep them all in separate rooms for the rest of their lives (as if I'd even consider that)! I read about Busparin, an anti-anxiety drug, and asked him for a prescription. He told me if it worked, it would take about 6 weeks to kick in. My little girl stopped her aggressive behavior after 2 doses! The great thing about this med, aside from the fact that it was extremely effective at stopping the bad behavior, was that it did not alter my cat's personality otherwise. There were no side effects with eating, sleeping, or anything else. She was back to being herself. We weaned her off the drug after several months, and the aggressive behavior never returned.

Your were wonderful to give Fellini a home. Many other people by now would just have given up on him. I admire your determination to help Fellini and I appreciate that you're standing by him though he's being so difficult right now. Hope some of the suggestions you've gotten will help. Please let us know.

Amber, I found the TTouch thread I told you about in my previous post. Go to the Health and Nutrition forum. The thread is "TTouch for Cats" by Momofmany. Hope it helps.

Also, take a look at the first sticky in this forum: "Ouch!!! How to stop cat aggression toward people".

I decided to try Feliway with Fellini before I look into anti anxiety meds. I went out and got it this morning and am just about ready to start it up. I only got one for downstairs since that is where he mostly stays... If I see a difference, I might get another. So, wish me luck! And I will keep you all updated as to any progress.

Good luck- hope it's effective!

What a great idea, Amber, and so much better for Fellini! I've observed the calming effects Feliway has with Sierra, and really look forward to hearing about Fellini's progress!

PLEASE tell me the Feliway takes awhile to go into effect. PLEASE. I am seriously at my wits end with Fellini. I had to work this morning and just stopped home for a quick 15 minute nap before I go to my other job, and Fellini just made me have a near nervous breakdown. He got into the trash. He didn't just, pull stuff out, He drug it everywhere even upstairs, and shredded it. There was nothing edible in it even! Then, when I bent to pick some up, he was laying and rolling in it, and he went psycho on my arm. Now I'm bleeding, crying, and just generally miserable. The Feliway has been in effect for about 24 hours... please tell me it will take effect soon!

It does vary as to when it starts working. I have three running at all times, one upstairs and two downstairs and still have some territorial wars from time to time.

Have you thought about using rescue remedy on fellini? Or giving him some sort of flower remedy to help mellow him out?

I've been kind of out-of-touch on the boards lately, so I am not familiar with fellini's background or how you acquired him. I would suggest you also get a lock top trash can as well- a rubbermaid with a fast gripping lid.

Hey Amber, I just found this thread and several others. Let me merge them together for you, so a more complete picture of this cat will emerge for people. Then I will try and help you with him-

Grissom, I just sent you an email

Thanks Mary Anne, I just emailed you back. And thanks for merging the threads!

Thanks Mary Anne and everyone for your suggestions and help. I am going to set up a blog, hopefully, tomorrow, to kind of chronical this attempt at rehabilitation. Wish us luck!