Dealing with cat’s aggression towards people

[Eurocat]

Hi again,
Sorry to hear that
I could be way off - and this is totally my very subjective take on the matter - but as before my opinion is that it‘s most likely separation anxiety and that this behaviour exhibits once she has gained a bond with someone and she interprets something in her environment or a behaviour from her human which allows her to anticipate she will soon be left. Cats, like most animals, are masters at interpreting body language, actions and energy. It’s survival. The anxiety then manifests in aggression. For a naturally sociable indoor cat who has been locked in a bathroom and deprived of other stimulation a human connection becomes everything. Taking that away causes trauma.
I don’t know what happened in the first episode when her foster lady was in the kitchen or what could have triggered the fear - but after that it seems from what you‘ve written Lisa had great problems dealing with separation and something triggers her. In this episode with you and your husband Lisa noticed you were preparing to leave and your husband was closest and got her reaction. I‘m so happy that nothing worse happened, but that was nad enough.
It‘s a vicious circle. Lisa really needs to feel safe and for this she most importantly needs a steady and consistant environment with a loving human and not another change. I may be wrong but I think getting a behaviourist in now to work with her and then changing her home again would be counterproductive as you would be trying to deal with symptoms and not really getting to the cause, which is her need for finally feeling secure - longterm. Once this is provided I think THEN working with her to combat this anxiety is the goal.
Off the top of my head I would say this could be done by trying to predict and this avoid the trigger factors by building up the steps to leaving her/changing the room for minutes and then longer. At this stage positive, calm behaviour could be rewarded and reinforced and negative behaviour anticipated (so keeping eyes away from her) and as you‘ve already been doing, having a toy or something on hand to distract her. If she tries to attack I would hiss at her (not shout) and leave the room, returning shortly afterwards as though nothing happened and then reward positive interaction. Then go through the whole thing again. I really think consistantly ignoring negative behaviour but setting protective limits and reinforcing positive is the only way, as would be providing a stimulating environment for her to experience on a day to day basis. Maybe a catio, or another cat friend - something that could distract/fulfil her if he human is away.
I think the first step is a good longterm home for this beautiful cat.
Best of luck

 

[Aldel]

Can I ask where you are? You can pm me if you'd rather not say publically-I prefer Forum talk for accountability and confirmation from others in agreement ,sort of like " well,if everyone says so- it's probably GOOD advice "

But your welcome to msg me

Thank you for your support, deR Kwik.
I am more than happy to answer on here and to share our location is not a secret

We are in Berlin , Germany.
I tried counselling with a animal behaviour therapist previously here to improve relationship between my two Somali/Abissian girll and, frankly speaking, was less than impressed. And Lisa’s case is mich more complex, she really needs support if a person experienced with fear-based aggression. And ( as we discussed via PM) in her forever home.

An update from our end: We decided to wear glasses after the yestwrdays episode, be nore observant and try not to scare her
Lisa made it reasonably well through the craziest night of the year ( fireworks here start around 6 PM, gradually het worse with going to complete frenzy at midnighg for an hour, then dying down till 3-4 AM )

She was OK this morning - was happy to see us, although initiaöly she nostly roamed throug the rolms she allowed to, bot paying much atzention to us.
Then she relaxed, my husband engaged her in the play for a bit, she sat on the window, ate her food… I avoided eye contact though and my husband dis the same, bit acted normally otherwise. I gently stroke her - she wad purring etc.
She only hissed at me once when I accidentally dropped the fishing rod toy next to her. But I apologised to her with a soft voice, avoiding eye contact. She rubbed herself against my legs and run to her food ball, completely loosing interst in me It seems to me, she gets a bit nore relaxed.
( or wishful thinking??)

We made sure to keep all calm and finish our interaction on a positive note

We will continue making her comfortable.

 

[Kwik]

Ah,gee I wish we were close - couldn't get much further though,huh?

As we've discussed you can only do what you can do for the time you have with Lisa,I commend you for your efforts and your compassion

You know I'm here for you dear one- well pray there's someone out there ( like you) that will give Lisa what she deserves furrrever..... a chance

 

[price053]

Thank you for your support, deR Kwik.
I am more than happy to answer on here and to share our location is not a secret

We are in Berlin , Germany.
I tried counselling with a animal behaviour therapist previously here to improve relationship between my two Somali/Abissian girll and, frankly speaking, was less than impressed. And Lisa’s case is mich more complex, she really needs support if a person experienced with fear-based aggression. And ( as we discussed via PM) in her forever home.

An update from our end: We decided to wear glasses after the yestwrdays episode, be nore observant and try not to scare her
Lisa made it reasonably well through the craziest night of the year ( fireworks here start around 6 PM, gradually het worse with going to complete frenzy at midnighg for an hour, then dying down till 3-4 AM )

She was OK this morning - was happy to see us, although initiaöly she nostly roamed throug the rolms she allowed to, bot paying much atzention to us.
Then she relaxed, my husband engaged her in the play for a bit, she sat on the window, ate her food… I avoided eye contact though and my husband dis the same, bit acted normally otherwise. I gently stroke her - she wad purring etc.
She only hissed at me once when I accidentally dropped the fishing rod toy next to her. But I apologised to her with a soft voice, avoiding eye contact. She rubbed herself against my legs and run to her food ball, completely loosing interst in me It seems to me, she gets a bit nore relaxed.
( or wishful thinking??)

We made sure to keep all calm and finish our interaction on a positive note

We will continue making her comfortable.

Maybe fixing her bed and toys, food, cleaning litter box all that done first and then try to spend time. This way she will know that you are not leaving her after you do that. Just a thought

 

[price053]

Maybe fixing her bed and toys, food, cleaning litter box all that done first and then try to spend time. This way she will know that you are not leaving her after you do that. Just a thought

You both are so freaking awesome in every way

 

[price053]

Thank you for your support, deR Kwik.
I am more than happy to answer on here and to share our location is not a secret

We are in Berlin , Germany.
I tried counselling with a animal behaviour therapist previously here to improve relationship between my two Somali/Abissian girll and, frankly speaking, was less than impressed. And Lisa’s case is mich more complex, she really needs support if a person experienced with fear-based aggression. And ( as we discussed via PM) in her forever home.

An update from our end: We decided to wear glasses after the yestwrdays episode, be nore observant and try not to scare her
Lisa made it reasonably well through the craziest night of the year ( fireworks here start around 6 PM, gradually het worse with going to complete frenzy at midnighg for an hour, then dying down till 3-4 AM )

She was OK this morning - was happy to see us, although initiaöly she nostly roamed throug the rolms she allowed to, bot paying much atzention to us.
Then she relaxed, my husband engaged her in the play for a bit, she sat on the window, ate her food… I avoided eye contact though and my husband dis the same, bit acted normally otherwise. I gently stroke her - she wad purring etc.
She only hissed at me once when I accidentally dropped the fishing rod toy next to her. But I apologised to her with a soft voice, avoiding eye contact. She rubbed herself against my legs and run to her food ball, completely loosing interst in me It seems to me, she gets a bit nore relaxed.
( or wishful thinking??)

We made sure to keep all calm and finish our interaction on a positive note

We will continue making her comfortable.

Just keep using the CBD too. I don't think it's wishful thinking at all you know best what she is like from day to day

 

[price053]

Good time of the day, everyone on here! I am so glad to be a part if this community, where I found su much good advice and comfort in the past.
This time I am reaching out again to you due to a cat behaviour issue. ( Once again, apologies for any mistakes-English is bot my mother tongue).

Situation: A 2-3 y.o.Abyssinian female cat (neutered) was brought from abroad to be re-homed.
She comes with a history of problems with her initial owners due to aggression: she attacked them when they were passing by in the hallway.( No detailed information is available as any contact with the was lost long ago. All I know that in addition to this very young Abyssinian cat they had a baby and a dog ( Yorkshire terrier)). They eventually brought the little kitty for euthanasia to a vet, who took her under her own care and eventually her contacts found a way to re-home her abroad through animal protection.

The kitty ( lithle Lisa) stayed by the vet for 9 months. According to the vet, she was affectionate and friendly apart from a couple of situation at the beginning: once she attacked the vet’s face ( the vet leaned close to the kitty to hoover around her). The second time she grabbed on the vet‘s husbands leg during a play time.
In Germany ( where we all live) she was initially fostered by a very nice experienced lady, who is my friend. The kitty was allowed to use the entire apartment from the first and seemed to be very confident and happy, although a bit too much to-your-face cat to the liking of the foster mum. On the fifth day of the fostering Lisa suddenly changed her behaviour: when the foster mum was in the kitchen, Lisa hissed and growled at her, her expression changed to a very angry one. The foster mum tried to calm her down by gently talking to her, but this seemed to agitate Lisa more and she screamed loudly and jumped and grabbed her leg. Once pushed away, Lisa jumped and grabbed her leg again. She cornered the foster mum in the kitchen and reacted very angrily to every her move. The lady, who lives alone, got scratches and bruises and was very scared. The situation lasted some time before Lisa allowed to pass her.

Lisa eventually calmed down and came to sleep with the foster mum, as usual, also was purring less.
On the next couple of days she however again seemed hostile towards the foster mum: loads of hissing and growling almost every time the mum moved to a different room or would leave the sofa, where both of them were sitting. Lisa would still come to sit on the foster mums shoulders and always tried to climb her head as well and came to sleep with her. Lisa did bot attack the lady‘s boyfriend, who came to stay for a couple of days. The boyfriend ignored Lisa‘s hissing and that seemed to work better.
Unfortunately the foster mum developed a fear of Lisa and asked for her to be re-fostered. This is how Lisa landed in my home till mid-January ( by then she will go to a cats retreat owned by a vet and, fingers crossed, eventually re-homed).

As I have almost 3 weeks with her, I would like to use this time to understand Lisa’s personality and the trigger for the bad behaviour as much as possible to pass the information on the new owners to avoid any bad experience.
I took Lisa to a vet, and she now receives treatment for ear mites, appeared otherwise healthy. No bllod checks were done or bo X-Ray was seen as nneded. To my surprise, Lisa was completely fine with the vet and allowed all examinations and cutting her nails without any signs of aggression.

Lisa has been with us for 4 days now. I confined her in one room and only allow her 3-4 a day to the kitchen and bathroom through the hallway for 30 minutes-1 hour each time.

She seems to be friendly, very active, intelligent and a person -oriented most of the time. It looks like as she is interest in humans more than any toy. We have regular play sessions in her room 3 -4 times a day.

She hissed on me once a day every day ( each time in the hallway- she seems to get uncomfortable being followed/passed by sometimes) but I avoided direct eye contact and tried to distract her with a toy or pretended to ignore her, then lured her to her room and closed the door again.

I of course try to avoid situations of Lisa attacking me or my husband as much as possible. At the same time the goal is to create a comfortable an environment to build positive associations in contacts with people as much as possible.

Any advice on dealing with hissing episodes and the entire situation would be gratefully appreciated

Sincere apologies for the incredibly long post!

Good morning Aldel,

I just wanted to check on what I feel is our little community kitty Lisa, and to check on you both too.. I hope you and your husband are well and Lisa is feeling better as the days go on...
Sincerely
Bella's mom

 

[Aldel]

Good morning Aldel,

I just wanted to check on what I feel is our little community kitty Lisa, and to check on you both too.. I hope you and your husband are well and Lisa is feeling better as the days go on...
Sincerely
Bella's mom

Good Morning, dear!
I am so touched by the kindness of this community. Thank you so much to All of you, who found time, energy and space in your heart for this beautiful cats baby

Sorry about not responding last night- I had a few New Year Day phone calls to answer and then just crushed on the sofa
An update: Nothing particularly unusual this morning with Lisa, just our normal routine ( cleaning, sitting on the window, playing, eating etc.)
Its two of my own cats who cause problems at the moment: since Lisa’s arrival my Somaly-Abyssinian Misa keeps attacking Goldfish to the point we cannot leave the in the same room unsupervised (quite some set back for us, but I will deal with that later). Feliway is used throughout the apartment, and I have started giving Bach flowers to both already. CBD will be my next step).

Back to Lisa- the vet-foster mum, ( a young lady who saved Lisa from being euthanised and in whose apartment Lisa stayed for almost 9 months prior to arriving in Germany) offered me to take Lisa back to keep her forever. But that would mean almost 3 day of journey, which is a huge stress for Lisa.
Thereforeif no experienced with aggressive behaviour, kind, tolerant and patient owners/family is found- this trip will be considered as our last choice. But its good to know that there is someone already. I just wish I could keep her too.

In a meantime our journey with Lisa continues-today my husband will install a couple of shelved in Lisa’s room - so that she could have more security space. I will send you pictures

 

[price053]

Good Morning, dear!
I am so touched by the kindness of this community. Thank you so much to All of you, who found time, energy and space in your heart for this beautiful cats baby

Sorry about not responding last night- I had a few New Year Day phone calls to answer and then just crushed on the sofa
An update: Nothing particularly unusual this morning with Lisa, just our normal routine ( cleaning, sitting on the window, playing, eating etc.)
Its two of my own cats who cause problems at the moment: since Lisa’s arrival my Somaly-Abyssinian Misa keeps attacking Goldfish to the point we cannot leave the in the same room unsupervised (quite some set back for us, but I will deal with that later). Feliway is used throughout the apartment, and I have started giving Bach flowers to both already. CBD will be my next step).

Back to Lisa- the vet-foster mum, ( a young lady who saved Lisa from being euthanised and in whose apartment Lisa stayed for almost 9 months prior to arriving in Germany) offered me to take Lisa back to keep her forever. But that would mean almost 3 day of journey, which is a huge stress for Lisa.
Thereforeif no experienced with aggressive behaviour, kind, tolerant and patient owners/family is found- this trip will be considered as our last choice. But its good to know that there is someone already. I just wish I could keep her too.

In a meantime our journey with Lisa continues-today my husband will install a couple of shelved in Lisa’s room - so that she could have more security space. I will send you pictures

Omgosh that is so awesome.. even if she has to be sedated or you use cbd on Lisa that will help with the journey in so many ways, and to think that she will have a forever home with someone she trusts and cares for is even better. No stranger for Lisa, and someone who loves Lisa as is.. Think about it Aldel I know you wish you could

 

[Kwik]

Good Morning, dear!
I am so touched by the kindness of this community. Thank you so much to All of you, who found time, energy and space in your heart for this beautiful cats baby

Sorry about not responding last night- I had a few New Year Day phone calls to answer and then just crushed on the sofa
An update: Nothing particularly unusual this morning with Lisa, just our normal routine ( cleaning, sitting on the window, playing, eating etc.)
Its two of my own cats who cause problems at the moment: since Lisa’s arrival my Somaly-Abyssinian Misa keeps attacking Goldfish to the point we cannot leave the in the same room unsupervised (quite some set back for us, but I will deal with that later). Feliway is used throughout the apartment, and I have started giving Bach flowers to both already. CBD will be my next step).

Back to Lisa- the vet-foster mum, ( a young lady who saved Lisa from being euthanised and in whose apartment Lisa stayed for almost 9 months prior to arriving in Germany) offered me to take Lisa back to keep her forever. But that would mean almost 3 day of journey, which is a huge stress for Lisa.
Thereforeif no experienced with aggressive behaviour, kind, tolerant and patient owners/family is found- this trip will be considered as our last choice. But its good to know that there is someone already. I just wish I could keep her too.

In a meantime our journey with Lisa continues-today my husband will install a couple of shelved in Lisa’s room - so that she could have more security space. I will send you pictures

Hi sweetness!
If it were me in your position the Vet would be my first choice- stress is unavoidable,I'd much prefer seeing her sent to her permanent home sooner than later,with someone she will most certainly remember and who seemed to be quite capable of handling Lisa

You never know if someone ( even with experience) decides to adopt her knowing full well her history will have " buyers remorse" so to speak later on ... the Vet is a sure thing

 

[price053]

Hi sweetness!
If it were me in your position the Vet would be my first choice- stress is unavoidable,I'd much prefer seeing her sent to her permanent home sooner than later,with someone she will most certainly remember and who seemed to be quite capable of handling Lisa

You never know if someone ( even with experience) decides to adopt her knowing full well her history will have " buyers remorse" so to speak later on ... the Vet is a sure thing

Thats what I said too lol. The vet is the best place for her and the vet love's her. No more bouncing around

 

[Aldel]

Thats what I said too lol. The vet is the best place for her and the vet love's her. No more bouncing around

Dear lovely people of this community,

Sorry about the long silence There has been quite a lot happening here. We actually tried ( despite the advice of respectable members of this forum) to place Lisa with the family here, in Berlin.

Ignoring the words of wisdom came with a price
We disclosed everything we knew about her, and at first it seems to be going really well. But then Lisa (being Lisa) attacked again.
Finally, after quite some turmoil, we had to accept the fact that the Vet lady wad really the best option for her. So, today Lisa left for her long journey to her forever-home.

And we (my husband, myself) are left heartbroken with a feeling that we failed to solve the case and to help the little one to overcome her fears and to learn to be a relaxed cat around humans. I understand that we did the right thing, but I cannot help it - it hurts.🥹

I would like to thank all of you again for your support, for sharing your wisdom and for being here for us- both on the forum and in PMs.
Mh especial thanks to Eurocat ( for the advice about Zylkene ( this staff, made out of milk protein, really works!- Lisa appeared notably calmer))
my dear friend price053 for all the help and readiness to help even with Lisa’s rehoming and, of course to dear Kwik , whom I am also deeply honoured to call “my friend” for supporting me in every way possible.

I wish all of you and your nearest and dearest only good events in life.
I would not got so far without you

This site is truly and amazing place!

 

[Kwik]

A Aldel

So glad to see you updated everyone here on the Forum,the wonderful folks of this Community will be happy to hear from you and to know that little Lisa is on her way to her forever home

We all do sincerely care, not only for the Cats but for every person who cares for them and shares their stories with us all-so many people benefit from what we give & receive with one another in these public Forums- thank you for your contribution

You should be proud of yourself " my Friend ",you have gone above and beyond to help Lisa more than any human possibly could have- thanks to YOU Lisa has found a place and her person- she is in very capable hands

God Bless you,your husband( the saint,lol) and your 2 furbabies- I do hope to see you here on TCS,everyone would love to see your beautiful kitties

 

[price053]

Dear lovely people of this community,

Sorry about the long silence There has been quite a lot happening here. We actually tried ( despite the advice of respectable members of this forum) to place Lisa with the family here, in Berlin.

Ignoring the words of wisdom came with a price
We disclosed everything we knew about her, and at first it seems to be going really well. But then Lisa (being Lisa) attacked again.
Finally, after quite some turmoil, we had to accept the fact that the Vet lady wad really the best option for her. So, today Lisa left for her long journey to her forever-home.

And we (my husband, myself) are left heartbroken with a feeling that we failed to solve the case and to help the little one to overcome her fears and to learn to be a relaxed cat around humans. I understand that we did the right thing, but I cannot help it - it hurts.🥹

I would like to thank all of you again for your support, for sharing your wisdom and for being here for us- both on the forum and in PMs.
Mh especial thanks to Eurocat ( for the advice about Zylkene ( this staff, made out of milk protein, really works!- Lisa appeared notably calmer))
my dear friend price053 for all the help and readiness to help even with Lisa’s rehoming and, of course to dear Kwik , whom I am also deeply honoured to call “my friend” for supporting me in every way possible.

I wish all of you and your nearest and dearest only good events in life.
I would not got so far without you

This site is truly and amazing place!

We love what you did for her and you didn't fail you gave her unconditional love and kindness. The three of you will forever be etched in my heart and mind and I am so glad you let us be a part of your journey

Fret not my friend you gave love when no one else could unconditional Love