Dylan is my parents' four-year-old blue tabby, an 18-pound boy who was neutered by the SPCA at only eight weeks, just before we adopted him. He has always been the most "primitive" and aggressive of our cats, very dominant and definitely the feline head of the household.
Dylan went through a period early on when he would lash out viciously at Mom when she tried to keep him from doing something he wanted to do -- but one day, he cut such a terrible swath down the back of her leg that she just sat on the floor and bled and cried for a few minutes, and he seemed to realize what he had done. He came back and rubbed against her and seemed to apologize at great length. He's been incredibly affectionate toward her ever since, and he hasn't deliberately hurt her again.
Until last night. Mom was sitting on the couch, and Dylan came up to rub against her legs. Then he stopped, sniffing, and reached up with his paws to pull her wrist down so he could smell her hand. He took one sniff and bit down hard on her wrist, making two deep wounds, then hissed and ran away.
Mom had just put on some new handcream she bought, and she immediately suspected that Dylan hadn't liked it, for some reason. So I read the ingredients and saw that it contains "urea."
As I understand it, urea is exactly what it sounds like -- a product derived from animal urine. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) I can't imagine why anyone would put such a thing in hand cream (or anything else, for that matter), but there it is. Is it possible that, out of all the scents in that handcream, Dylan picked up on that one, perceived it as the scent mark of some other animal, and reacted accordingly?
Dylan went through a period early on when he would lash out viciously at Mom when she tried to keep him from doing something he wanted to do -- but one day, he cut such a terrible swath down the back of her leg that she just sat on the floor and bled and cried for a few minutes, and he seemed to realize what he had done. He came back and rubbed against her and seemed to apologize at great length. He's been incredibly affectionate toward her ever since, and he hasn't deliberately hurt her again.
Until last night. Mom was sitting on the couch, and Dylan came up to rub against her legs. Then he stopped, sniffing, and reached up with his paws to pull her wrist down so he could smell her hand. He took one sniff and bit down hard on her wrist, making two deep wounds, then hissed and ran away.
Mom had just put on some new handcream she bought, and she immediately suspected that Dylan hadn't liked it, for some reason. So I read the ingredients and saw that it contains "urea."
As I understand it, urea is exactly what it sounds like -- a product derived from animal urine. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) I can't imagine why anyone would put such a thing in hand cream (or anything else, for that matter), but there it is. Is it possible that, out of all the scents in that handcream, Dylan picked up on that one, perceived it as the scent mark of some other animal, and reacted accordingly?
