Help! My cat viciously attacked me last night!!!

I have had my cat for 5 years now & have had cats all my life. This has NEVER happened to me before & I don't know what to do. Rugger is normally a very very affectionate, lovey cat but last night he attacked me. He attached himself to my leg, scratched me in 8 places enough to bleed profusely and bit my calf & punctured the skin in 4 places, very deeply. I was bleeding all over the place & completely freaked out.
The only reasons I can think of: we have been getting my house ready for an appraisal for the past week & have been cleaning, painting & rearranging. We normally don't spend much time on the 3rd floor but I went up there last night to straighten up & mop the floor. The first time I went in there, Rugger followed me in & as I bent down, hissed and growled at me! That has never happened before and I thought it was odd, but just figured he was freaked out & went about my business. About an hour later, I went back into that room in order to mop the floor. Rugger again followed me in there and just as I began mopping, he attacked me! I screamed and he ran away and hid as I bled all over the place.
He is a neutered male so obviously there aren't any kittens there... what happened? What should I do? Do I need to eake him to the vet? Or should I have him put down? Should I give him away???? I still love the little stinker but now I don't trust him either. About an hour after the attacke, he was completely normal & wanted to sleep with us. I locked him out because I was too shaken, but this morning he was completely normal, rubbing against me, sitting in my lap purring, etc etc...
Can someone help me?????

I don't know what may be causing this problem but I would like to say Please, please don't have this poor guy put down. It may be a medical problem, cats have no way of verbalizing when they are ill, and often 'tell' us in the form of behavior changes that they aren't feeling 'up to par'. I think it definitely wouldn't hurt to take him to be checked out by a competent Vet. If he isn't feeling well, it may be making him cranky. I'm no expert by far, but I'd hate to see you give up on this little guy.

Thank you for your reply. I have been getting progressively calmer about this as the hours go by (though last night I was shaking and crying for over an hour - I finally took a Xanax so that I could calm down) and I'm not going to put him down. I just need some reassurance that he hasn't gone completely nutso and after last night I am actually a little afraid of him. I'm making a vet appointment for him and a doctor's appointment for me (the puncture wounds are still oozing - sorry if that is TMI). My husband thinks that he was just terrified and confused by all of the activities around the house for the past few days. I'm starting to think that there is a mouse or something in that room...
Anyway, you're right - I'm not giving up on him. I adore that knucklehead and once I figure out what happened I'll forgive him fully.

I'm so glad you're getting him checked by the Vet. It may be that your husband is right and he was just freaked out by all the new things going on around him. I'm sure it must have been a very upseting experience I think its a good idea for you to see a doctor too, have you had a tetnis shot lately? Good luck with your Furbaby

I agree with your husband that your poor kitty was probably overwhelmed by all of the activity. But, I also agree with Melissa, that it is probably a good idea to take him to the vet just in case.

Also...please take yourself to a doctor....cat bites become wickedly infected very quickly. You will likely need antibiotics and a tetinus shot.

Good luck!

Is he an inside kitty? Inside/outside kitty? Are his shots current, and if he does go outside is it possible he tangled with another cat and has a wound somewhere you can't see at the moment? And is that the only thing he is doing attacking you? Can you pet him without him crying, does he act off in any other way? Eating and drinking okay? His ears okay- sometimes ear mites make kittys go nutso for a bit till they clear up.

Cats are very funny animals. They don't like any kind of change or disruption. It could be that with everything going on, all the noise and stuff, they're stressed out. If you can, try and put them in a quiet room that you will not be working on, with their litterbox, food, water, some toys and soft music, if possible. It sounds like stress to me, and only temporary.

Good luck and keep us posted.

That would frighten me too, especially with a cat you've had for 5 years.

You said you rarely go to the third floor...does he have access to that floor? Maybe he thinks of that area as "his" and was letting you know?

I am by no means as knowledgeable as many others here...but I would consider this.

I hope everything turns out allright for you all.

I think a trip to the vet wouldn't hurt,just to make sure it isn't a medical problem, but I really think from what you described that he was just upset. Shortly after we moved here, I picked up my 20 lb. baby to comfort him during a storm and he got me in a head lock, bit my ear, and proceeded to smack me several times on both sides of my head. He has always been a very gentle kitty other than that. He checked out fine, and the vet said it was probably just a case of nerves. Please don't give up on him over this. I know it was scary and probably made you mad, but I really think he was just reacting to strange circumstances. Maybe if you have any more work to do on your house, you should confine him to one area so he can't see it. The strange new smells are probably sensory overload for him. My sister had a similar episode when she put down new carpet. Her cat hid on the top of the refrigerator and jumped on her head. He has never done anything like that before or since. Please give him at least a little time before you make a decision on this. If he is normally gentle and has no medical problems, I really think this was an isolated incident. I hope this helps you and good luck!

Thank you all so much for the concern & advice!
Rugger has been completely normal since "The Incident". He lets me pet him, sits on my lap & purrs, sleeps with us & begs for morning love all as usual.

Hissy - he is an indoor kitty and has always been (we live in the middle of the city - too many cars & stuff for outdoor kitties!). He is also up-to-date on all of his shots.

We haven't done any work on the house since "The Incident" so I think you're all right - just a case of stress for him.

I went to the doctor & got a Tetnus shot & anti-biotics & am healing up just fine. No infection or anything (thank goodness!). Rugger is going to the vet today.

I have to admit that I am still a little afraid of him... isn't that awful? I think the fear will fade in time though - and I am definitely taking your advice - next time we do any renovating, Rugger will have to be shut in our bedroom.

Thanks again everyone!

-Ruggersmom

You've gotten a lot of good advice here, so I feel OK going off on a tangent now...

Rugger is my dad's favourite name. He tried to name both his children and several pets Rugger, but was always vetoed by my mom and other family members. He has managed to get a few Ruggers out there, though. He adopted a charity teddy bear that the police use with children who are around when they respond to a crime, and he named that Rugger, and last year for Christmas he built Rugger the birch-log reindeer for his front lawn. Any squirrels, birds or rabbits that show up in his yard are promptly christened Rugger, but he was thwarted again recently when he and my mom got a new cat, who was named Storm, since she travelled 6 hours home from the breeder's in the last hurricane of the season this fall.

On a related note, I was visiting my parents recently, and while I was sleeping, Storm got up on my bed and clamped her tiny jaws onto my nose... what a way to be woken up! Nothing compared to your experience, but startling nonetheless...

Wow!!!!
I can't believe it JulieB! Most people like the name but I've never heard anyone else use it!
So how did he come up with Rugger?
As I explained on the "New Cats" thread, When I got Rugger I was playing Flanker on Temple University's Women's Rugby team & his coloring (grey mask & back, white underside & legs) looked like our uniforms - hence the name. I had also considered "Nudge" & "Mr. Underfoot" but Rugger seemed to fit him, so there you are.

He also goes by the names : The Fish, The Ruggerfish, The Ruggershark, Knucklehead, Vincent Von Rugger, and Vincenzo Ruggerio.

I'm interested to hear about his "Rugger" obsession!

Any news about Rugger? What did the vet say?

I just wanted to add that sometimes stress and illness go together. So, even if you can identify a definite source of stress, it doesn't rule out medical problems. Sometimes people who have a cat with a litter box problem are sure the cat is reacting to some major change in his/her life that they can clearly identify. Very often, the stress of change is to blame but more indirectly. The stress weakens the cat's immune system and make them more susceptible to FLUTD (Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease), which then causes the cat to go outside the box.

Also, although your fear is undertandable, remember that cats often attack out of their own fear of you. Some cats can sense the fear in a person, get agitated and then attack, simply because they fear that person will attack them first. So, watch out for your boady language and try your best to stay calm and relaxed around your cat.

Well, the Fish went to the vet on Tuesday. Dr. C (the vet, whom I asolutely adore) checked him over, pronounced him healthy (but 3lbs overweight) and basically said what everyone else has told me. He was stressed by all of the activity, furniature moving, etc & reacted out of fear. She also suggested that I clean that room out & look for something else that he may have been defending.

Good news. And also, Rugger and I have completely forgiven each other now. He slept on my chest last night with his face about 1/2 inch from mine, purring away contentedly.

Thanks all for your concern!

Fantastic!

Isn't it great that kitties don't hold grudges?

Now, if I could only manage to be 3 pounds overweight! I'd be ecstatic!

Bill

Hmmm.. in reading all of this I wanted to relate a similar experience. I left my cat (who I had bottled fed because he was abandoned when he was only a few days old) with my parents for a few days while I went out of town. After a few days being back in our home, he started being very aggressive. He would literally hunt me down by hiding in one of the rooms down the hallway and when I would walk by, he would jump out, attatch himself to my leg and bite and kick me and then let go and run off. Other times he would follow me around and corner me, all the while hissing and fluffing up. If I tried to get out of the corner, he would attack me. Another thing he would do that was freaky is that he would stand up on a chair with his paws over the back part of the chair and just stare at me if I was working in the kitchen. I actually have a picture of him doing this and he really looks like pyscho cat! Once, on a rare moment when he was being nice, I picked him up and was holding him and he was purring away and being sweet. All of a sudden, he turns, bites my ear (would have been my face if I didn't react in time) scratches my neck and banks of me and runs off! I still have the scars on my chest to this day! This behavior continued for months and months and I took him to the vet and they could not find anything wrong and he was current on all shots. I was literally a prisoner in my own home- the cat constantly attacked me. I did, unfortunately have to get rid of him. I have had many cats and never had to give one up before and that was a hard thing to do Especially since I bottled fed him and would wake up several times in the middle of the night for the first month to feed him- just like a baby! He was my baby but I just don't know what happened!

i have experienced a similar attack. My cat stays indoors. One normal day, i went to his area that he stays in. I groomed him as usual and recplaced his food and litter as usual. I bent down to pick up the trash I collected and all of a sudden he hissed, then growled and in a blink of an eye started scratching and biting. I ran away outdoors and he started running behind me and scratching and biting more and more. I ended up locking him in his room and bleeding so much. From that day he acts normal with everyone else but the moment he sees me he comes and wants to attack me the same way fiercly. I am really sad because I am attached and its been a long time. this is so wierd. I am frustrated and shaken badly.

It' comforting to know that we're not the only ones. I found Spanky in the street under our car,age 2 mos'   I spoil my animals, We have another cat  that is 3 years older. He was loving slept on my pillow , my husband works nights all day spanky would sleep with him ,share my recliner our best friend , my other cat just didn't have anything to do with him but once a day they would play then there was a cat at the bay window  i yelled go away and shut the window , it set the cat off he tried to attack my other cat and then me. Months later my husband watched a scary move a noise set him to attack my husband. We we're out of town my daughter that use too hug kiss on him  came to feed them on the second day tried to attack her, then my granddaughter (different day) up to fri. my brother inlaw, I tried to grab him to stop the attack he got me. he calmed down till morning slept with me  then got aggressive with my husband. He was examined in aug said he's fine. I love him so much  but he's in dog pound 10 days confinement he got me good then he'll go nite nite fri. I can't sleep, eat, I hate myself but I'm scared of him, I don't think I have nerve enough to try to take him to a specialist plus test takes days I'd have to have him home. Then who knows they may not find the prob. and I'd be in debt,(i'm retired) But I'm so sick to my stomich and I miss him so

I forgot to say spanky is now 8 my other cat is 11, I tried calmatives wall plug spraying my yard so animals would not come around. But he was

getting worse as time went on . 

ruggersmom said:

Wow!!!

I can't believe it JulieB! Most people like the name but I've never heard anyone else use it

So how did he come up with Rugger?

As I explained on the "New Cats" thread, When I got Rugger I was playing Flanker on Temple University's Women's Rugby team & his coloring (grey mask & back, white underside & legs) looked like our uniforms - hence the name. I had also considered "Nudge" & "Mr. Underfoot" but Rugger seemed to fit him, so there you are

He also goes by the names : The Fish, The Ruggerfish, The Ruggershark, Knucklehead, Vincent Von Rugger, and Vincenzo Ruggerio.


I'm interested to hear about his "Rugger" obsession!

Click to expand...

you could of course called him hooker! Just being silly? Are you a rugby family? My ex played, my son and daughter played and now two grandchildren are playing.