big problem

Baby Boy, my neutered 10 year old cat, all of a sudden started behaving very aggressive toward everyone in my house, including me. He and I used to be tight, like he would come up to me and let me pet him and play with him. Then he started hanging around the kitchen, slashing at everyone that came by. I thought something was seriously wrong and tried to get him to the vet. That was a failure because I couldn't even catch him. A week later I decided I had to give him up. Everybody else in my house cannot stand him anymore. So I tried one last time to catch him, put him in his carrier and take him to the shelter. I guess he understood what I was going to do because when I tried to catch him, he smashed down the sliding door to my backyard and escaped. I totally underestimated his strength.
He isn't lost, instead he found his way into my house's heating system. It is winter now and everybody in the house wants to turn the heater on but we can't because it will fry Baby Boy. I called animal control but all they told me was, "he is your cat, you deal with it." So now i'm thinking of buying some kind of live trap. *sigh* I don't know how it go to this. Any suggestions? Comments?

It sounds as if your cat has developed a medical condition. When we see a big behavior change like this, it is almost always due to a medical condition or to some big change in his environment. So, when you trap him, please take him to the vet immediately.

You can borrow a humane trap from your local shelter or rescue group.

Again, please take the cat to the vet. There is something wrong with him that might be able to be fixed.

There is a Have a Hart Trap you can buy to humanely trap him.
He is either behaving this way because someone or somthing seriously scared the crap out of him. Or he is sick. Seeing as he is 10, when was the last time he WAS at the vet? He should at least get a check up. What if you put a cat carrier with the door open on the ground and put some smelly tuna inside it and see if he goes to eat some and when he gets in and starts to eat, either dive in and shut the door or throw a big blanket over the carrier and so it goes dark in there and then dive in and shut the door.

You cant get rid of your cat of 10 years because of this. It isn't his fault. There IS a reason he is acting this way. When you do catch him, in a carrier or a trap, please take him to the vet BEFORE you take him to the shelter. If they aren't full and they take him, they could put him to sleep in a short amount of time if he isn't adopted. And honestly, if he is freaked out at home, he will be even worse in a shelter and that, many times, makes him unadoptable, and he has a very good chance of being euthanized. He is YOUR cat, he is YOUR responsibility. He maybe sick, you CANNOT take a sick cat to a shelter, if the only way he is showing it is through attacking you, he will never get the help he needs and never last in a shelter.

Poor kitty. My cat started acting like that when he got old. He died a little wile ago

If this were your ten-year-old child, you wouldn't just give him up -- you'd take him to the doctor, find out what's wrong, and help him to recover.

Your cat deserves similar consideration. If your feelings for the cat aren't deep enough to make it worth that much effort, please find a neighbor or a no-kill shelter/rescue organization that will give the cat vet care and a good home.