Cat Jumps on Leg, scratches us

[caps1fan]

Background: Trooper is a male, recently neutered stray/feral (?) who has been inside since the beginning of March. He has started jumping on my legs  this weekend with claws out and hissing. Our vet said he's feral and we should let him be an outside cat.

He does come over and rub himself against our legs, sits with us and keeps company. so far we have not been able to pet him and that's ok. He was cooped up in  a small bedroom and we let him out hoping the jumping would stop but he got me and my husband today. It's pretty nerve wracking not knowing if he's going to jump on me when I am just doing my thing around the house. He sat by me for several hours today while I teleworked sleeping.

Is this the way a feral cat acts? The vet said he's feral, and we should let him outside. He has not even begged to get out when he is down stairs.

I have ordered him a kitty condo and scratching post, and lots of toys, and I have the safe space and one of the other Jackson Galaxy holistic drops that I put in his food and water. I have used feliway in the bedroom where he was staying. 

I need some advice about what to do to prevent the jumping. Thanks in advance.

V.

 

[minniethecalico]

Hey there,

We have a kitty who sounds pretty similar, although the behavior has decreased in time. We've had her since January, and it took her a few weeks to stop attacking our legs. We considered bringing her back to the no-kill rescue after she jumped up and clawed at my face (thankfully she missed). She too was feral until she was taken in by the rescue and then adopted by us. She's still not a cuddly cat, but we can live with that.

There are a few things you might try. For us, a spray bottle helped a little bit. She hated it and we hated doing it, but in some ways, I think that it helped her learn that it was not okay behavior. This only works if you have the spray bottle near by and are able to spray him as he is attacking you. This isn't really going to solve the problem, but it may help.

Unfortunately, what we ultimately had to do was medicate her. I thought I was insane, but it has helped immensely. She is on a half a pill of clomicalm daily (which isn't super cheap but also isn't crazy expensive). After a few weeks, she was significantly less aggressive. Still not super nice, mind you, but not aggressive anymore.

Good luck! It's tough to have an aggressive kitty.

 

[nansiludie]

He doesn't seem feral at all the way you've described him to be, sitting by you and rubbing around you, truly if he was fully feral you would know it, he'd be scaling the walls. I strongly suggest you do not spray at him with any water bottle, that will make him fear you, if he likes laser lights, try shining one away from you when he looks as if he is going to jump or try to redirect him elsewhere. I am wondering though, what you were doing when he decided to jump up and hiss at you? Do you have other pets?

 

[caps1fan]

I have two other cats and 4 kittens. Mom (Tab)  and Kittens are Trooper's. Tab and Troop came on our deck in Feb. this year. Tab is totally affectionate to us and her kitties.

My other cat is Tigger, he's seen Trooper and run away. He has his own issues which over he year's I've dealt with (nuetered male spraying..

He jumped on me the first two times when I was trying to put his food down. Yesterday he was rubbing against me in the space between the couch and coffeed table and I moved to leave the area and he jumped.

Today, I was in the kitchen fixing coffee and he tried to jump on me. That was met with a strong NO and a stomp of my foot, several times. the look on his face the first time was priceless. He was truly surprised. Today he tried to rush me when I put his food down, and I told him NO and got him to back off.  Usually he rushes and hisses. No hiss today.

Right now he is sitting with me as I telework. I kinda figured a real feral cat would not be rubbing against me and keeping company. We did have him locked up for a month and today is the second day he has been let out all day long. I will start to play with him and see how he reacts. Any advice if he refuses to play with a stick toy?

thanks for the help.

V

 

[nansiludie]

Try getting some of those little furry toy mice. All my cats have always had fun with these mice. 

 

[mservant]

Trooper sounds great and possibly just confused about what is and isn't OK in your home just now.  If he is cuddling up next to you and not begging to get out it sounds like he is pretty happy to be about your home and in your company so good for you holding out against the vet's advice on letting him out.

If he was only recently neutered it could be his hormones are still rattling about in his body a bit too and confusing him as much as the learning about his new humans and the house rules.

Good question from @nansiludie  about what you were doing when he has jumped you.  A couple of things that I am wondering about.  

The first thing is he sounds pretty excited and possessive about his food and that might come from a time when he hasn't had food readily available.  Finding some way to keep distance while you prepare food and then put it down might be easier for you all?

Cats are often very interested in what goes on in kitchens - maybe because of all the food and maybe because we humans spend a lot of time in there with our backs to the room, busy doing stuff that they can't see easily.  Many people actually provide high viewing spaces (either on top of cupboards or a cat tree) so the cat can see what they are doing without jumping up on them.

If Trooper is settling and starting to find his way about your home he might be wanting to play and use more energy than he did when he first came in - also with being neutered he will be more focused on general activity and less on looking for females.  If he is excited and easily prompted to chase and hunt he could be mis-reading your movements as either play or attack.  Running off energy through a lot of active chase play is one thing you can do, and the other is to try and get him to see an appropriate play object before you / your leg so to throw a toy mouse / hold out a large toy in front of you or throw it, or use a long wand toy as a divert.  Use whatever type of toy he seems to respond best to. Giving a cat a better thing to do than what it is you want them to stop tends to work a lot better than any punishment.

I second concerns about the water spray as this can make your cat more anxious.  Finding a bond and a means to communicate with and understand each other tends to be much more effective in the long run.  Watching body language and stopping something before it happens is definitely preferable to trying to stop something once it's under way.

 

[caps1fan]

Today was pretty good. Started out with my cross trainer shoes which are pretty clunky. Had to stomp a few times when Trooper agressively approached, but he backed off. The evening ended with him brushing me with a jump, another stomp. Prior to fixing dinner he surprised my by jumping up into the arm chair next to mine and settling in. After dinner I patted his chair and said come here. He's settled in to sleep.

This is not a feral cat. He's a stray that's been out too long and wants desparately to have a new home. He spent all day rubbing up against me and hubby, would not take a nap, had to be up and with us. I love this guy and I am happy he has begun to settle in. Tomorrow, Tab his gal is coming out to see him. We named his black runt of the litter Bob Milacki (Orieoles pitcher from  the ninties) and we hope he likes his children, he's got four of them.  I also got his cat condo today and he did look at it. Not much else. Toys galore on the way, and a scratching post.

Thanks for all the hints and tips which I will try to implement. I will be back to let you all know how it's going.

V

 

[mservant]

Nice news, thank you.  He sounds so sweet and desperate to have company and contact.  Once he gets your rules and you know what his signals are for play or too hyper for petting I think you're going to have an ace cuddler on your hands.  Good luck with avoiding the human - hunting attempts.

Interested to hear how the kitten introductions go.  Fingers crossed he likes small critters and doesn't see them as any kind of threat.

 

[minniethecalico]

I'm glad to hear the "no" and stomping are working!! For us they didn't work, which is why we used the spray bottle when she attacked us. If other methods of establishing rules work, by all means, use them first. For what it is worth, our cat is not afraid of us, and no other way worked to convince her that she could not do what she was doing. We use it sparingly, when her behavior is completely unacceptable and she knows it. She has learned to be afraid of the bottle, not afraid of us. We give her lots of love. The nice thing about spraying a cat when s/he is doing something unacceptable is that s/he associates that behavior with being sprayed. But I find this works best when you also I've treats for good behavior. I am not advocating that you spray at every bad moment. And it's also important to build up the relationship beyond the bad moments. But anyway - take my advice with a grain of salt. It sounds like Trooper is responding well to other forms of discipline. For us, it wasn't that easy (trust me, we tried), and I couldn't have a cat attacking my face when I was doing homework on the couch.

As to the toy - if a stick toy won't interest him, try a laser pointer to tire him out. I have yet to meet a cat who shows no interest in a laser pointer (although they do vary in interest level). Also, make sure not to get the laser near his eyes. Another possibility is a toy that contains catnip. These kind of toys typically allow cats to play with themselves (so they get bored quicker) rather than with someone else, but it is a good distraction. Just don't give the cat catnip RIGHT after he has attacked you - it should not be seen as a reward. One thing that I would suggest: rather than playing with him the instant he is getting aggressive, say no and stomp (stop the behavior), walk out of the room for a minute or two, then come back and play. This gives him time to calm down and doesn't give positive reinforcement to the bad behavior.