Aggressive Cat

[DarthCobber]

My 4 y/o male orange and white is a wonderful cat overall. He does not go outdores and has all his shots and has been nudered. Lately, when he sees another cat outside (which I cannot identify as male or female) and I scare him by accident, he flips out on me and kicks my butt- scratching me and acting like Cujo! It sounds funny, but it is to the point where my wife has left tonight with my mother to stay with her; fearing for her legs, etc! He's my best friend. What can I do?? :confused:

[moosmom]

It's the other cat outside that's stressing him out. Afterall, it's HIS territory, yet he's closed up inside.That's VERY stressful. And since you're the first closest thing to take out his anger on, you're it! I suggest a squirt bottle. Once he knows he gets wet everytime he does that, he'll get the idea.

Good luck.

[DarthCobber]

Thank you for your reply, however squirt bottles won't save me. I used a hose last night. He attacked me again today so I did all I could to throw him outside. He's totally mad and has been looking for me in our windows for an hour. This is the worst!

[Catty1]

Please talk to your vet....he might need some temporary trannies, or maybe be encouraged to use another window to view the world.

Animal behaviourists can be very helpful too - please look into that.

Worst case - maybe rehome him to a friend who has a 2nd floor apt or something. Please keep us posted!

Catty1

[DarthCobber]

Thank you. I have contacted my vet and will bring him in for an evaluation as soon as he calms down and can be put in his carrier. I'm nervous about being attacked again and it is always very challenging getting him in his carrier. Does anyone have any proven methods to entice their cats into their carriers?

[Scooby4]

My best friend and I discovered that cats respond differently to different types of carriers. I lent her my carrier to take her cat to the vet. We actually had to combine two carriers because the door on mine was broken. A few days later, she went to pick up the cat. The vet had lost the carrier! :eek: They gave us another one until ours was turned back in. The difference was almost night and day of how the cat acted in the carrier!
My/our carrier was black with a purple door. It was plastic and easily dissassmbled. (VERY HANDY!!!) There were "air vents" on the top cut into the plastic all around the top side edge ONLY. I had once tied a small string of balls and bells to the door. My cat loved it. She loved getting in and staying in the carrier. The first time I put her in it, I did it as a "practice run". I didn't go anywhere but put her in the carrier for short periods of time. I would then pick it up and swing it gently to get her used to that feeling. I'd put her down at any signt of trouble but left her in the carrier till she calmed down. Sometimes I would find her going into the carrier voluntarily!
I think the carrier being a dark color and very protected from outside view except for the door was a BIG bonus. The tan travel carriers with the metal tend to scare or excite them. I think it's too "light" for them in a stressful situation. The darker carrier seems to let them feel like they are "hiding" and calms them.
My suggestion for you right now, is to work on getting the cat to accept a carrier. Let it go in and out and get used to it. Then place that carrier close to the window where it may see that cat. That way you don't have to handle the cat but let it feel "safely" exposed to the other cat. The more exposure, the more likely the cat will calm down. It really is a terriotorial thing. The cat needs to learn to "shorten" it's terriotory a bit.
I would still take the cat to the vet to check for physical issues in the change of attitude. Maybe check into "declawing" if not already. I believe there are appropriate cases where declawing is necessary. In your case, attacking humans and NOT furniture is a good cause. Just get the front paws done.
Good luck! I know it's scary. My cat just bit me out of the clear blue the other day! She usually just "play bites" but this time she drew blood and punctured my arm! I think she felt bad about it later, and spent the whole day with me NOT allowing me to get away from her! She'd cuddle with me anytime I tried to get off the couch!

[kb2yjx]

Our ORANGE cat, Ralph Syracuse, acts the same way wherever he sees a cat on his turf. He usually beats up one of the cats if they are in his path after seeing another cat!!! He has never attacked me or my husband. I hope your cat was safe outside and did not get into any fights!!! Good luck when you go to the vet! Please keep us posted.

[DarthCobber]

Thank you all for replying. It means a lot. This is such a great site. I took Cobber to see the vet yesterday. After explaining everything that has taken place, our house setup, activities, etc we planned a course of action. A few things were recommended not necessarily in order of importance: spraying the house with Feliway to help calm him, giving him 10 mg daily of Amitritylin, giving him an anitbiotic for a cut he has in his mouth from a tussle while outside yesterday, playing with him more to keep him active and making sure he has enough toys (he already has more than I did as a kid), using coyote urine outside the house to help deter the other cats, not letting him out on our deck anymore and we clipped his nails to save my legs. Its all trial and error, really.

The vet also suggested possibly introducing a kitten into the household which may help keep him active and have a buddy too.

Does anyone else have any suggestions or comments?

[DallasRechelle]

spraying the house with Feliway to help calm him, giving him 10 mg daily of Amitritylin,

Where do you get Feliway? Shadow is still very upset after yesterday, although he has stopped hissing & growling at me.

Thanks!

[DarthCobber]

Feliway can be bought at pet stores. We got ours from a local place for $30.

[DallasRechelle]

Feliway can be bought at pet stores. We got ours from a local place for $30.

Cool, thanks! If my cat is still stressed on Friday (payday) I'll go get the Feliway. Have you noticed any difference with your cat with it? Shadow is slowly coming around, but will only let the cat he grew up with near him. The others, especially my Siamese, he attacks. :(

[DarthCobber]

I can't really say what is causing him to behave differently, but he is. He's taking an antidepressant now, we have the Feliway spray, etc.

[DallasRechelle]

I can't really say what is causing him to behave differently, but he is. He's taking an antidepressant now, we have the Feliway spray, etc.

I'll try the Feliway first and see if that helps Shadow. He is getting better, he'll come out of the bathroom now and not just attack every other cat, but he is still scared of them. I figured out, it's not anger that's causing this. Yesterday he was actually laying on the bed shaking. This is a cat that normally has no fear, so it's a little worrisome.

I'm glad your cat is doing better!

[DarthCobber]

You may want to consider taking Shadow to the vet. I'm glad I did. Also, I bought a plug in diffuser for the Feliway. It lasts 4 weeks and there are refills for it. My cost was $50, but the refills should be about half of that. I may look online to see if I can find it cheaper if this is something I decide to use throughout the year.

[Lizzie]

I think it's wonderful that you have worked very hard on helping your cat, you're a very responsible cat caregiver. I'm not sure I agree with the vet about a kitten, although it does work for some people and their cats. It can also cause a highly territorial cat, like your own, to start spraying. Your wife might go and live with her mother for good if that happened too. :D

[DarthCobber]

Lizzie, Thanks for your reply. I thought the same thing as you regarding introducing a kitten into the house. I'm not convinced it would work and right now have no intention of doing so. We'll wait and see how everything goes with Cobber for a while. BTW, the picture of your kitty looks like Cobber. I'd like to add a picture of him, but I can't because the picture file size is too big.

[DallasRechelle]

You may want to consider taking Shadow to the vet. I'm glad I did. Also, I bought a plug in diffuser for the Feliway. It lasts 4 weeks and there are refills for it. My cost was $50, but the refills should be about half of that. I may look online to see if I can find it cheaper if this is something I decide to use throughout the year.

Actually, Shadow has settled back down. I think it was just such a blatant attack on his territory by that stray that he freaked out. He's now letting the others near him and cuddling with them. I couldn't be more relieved. He's normally such a good cat that seeing him like that worried me. He won't be venturing outside for awhile though, not after this.

[AbbyMom]

I finally remembered where I saw an article about this. It's called re-directed aggression.

See http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/aggression_to_people/redir_to_humans.html

One of my cats developed this problem when I was feeding a stray. She eventually got over it.

I'm glad your cat is doing better.

.

[DarthCobber]

It has been nearly four months since I have updated you all regarding my cat Cobber. While we have had some instances of redirected aggression toward me I believe the medication he was on - .25 mg of Alprazolam and .25 mg of paroxetine - were working. Two weeks ago, per my vets instructions, I began to decrease his Alprazolam in half since his anxiety appeared to be minimal. This week Cobber has attacked me several times. He has become increasingly scared of me and visibly trembles during these episodes. I have been able to put him in our laundry room when this occurs, but when I let him out after 6 to 8 hours he turns on me again. I am always very loving toward him. He's my best friend. Yesterday he had me cornered for six hours. I didn't move a muscle until he finally directed his attention toward something else. Again, I put him in the laundry room, but this time I got him in his carrier hoping my vet would see him. No luck. The vet called and recommended I a) increase his Alprozolam to .50 mg daily b) seek an Animal Behaviourist or c) put him down. The cats aggression is causing great strife in my marriage as my wife does not like him now and is afraid of him - as am I. The vet recommended keeping him in the laundry room over the long weekend. Normally Cobber claws and meows at the door to get out. Today he is completely quiet and still quite scared as he hissed at me while I tried to send his medicine through a crack in the door. I'm at a loss here. I don't know what to do. I don't want to put him down. I fear he is growing more angry with me since I am the one continuously putting him in the laundry room. I have left a message for another vet to call me today, but I'm not sure if they will or if they will tell me anything I don't already know. This is breaking my heart and I am under tremendous stress. If anyone cares to reply I would appreciate it. thanks,
Scott

[Catty1]

Scott - it's weird that he was getting so much better - and maybe he associates you with medication time. This is horrible if he IS, because you have done all you can to get him better - and it did work for a while.

I think a second opinion is a good idea. Also, someone on Pet Talk has mentioned a psychic who is inexpensive and has worked wonders for people here.

She apparently charges about $30 and can be paid after - it's the animals she wants to help.

I don't think you have anything to lose. I'll PM the person who has the info (moosmom?)

HUGS - don't give up yet! :)

Catty1

[mruffruff]

At this point, the psychic may be your best bet. Her name is Nancy Efrusy. She helped me with a feral/formerly feral cat. E-mail her at [email protected]. Send a picture of your cat and she will contact you.

[krazykitties]

how are things going with the cat now? there is a feliway plug in diffusser too, and I use it from time to time, when one of my cats are stressed about something or a couple of them are not getting along temporarily.

I have never heard of a cat acting like this before, cornered you for 6 hours? yikes! I would definately consult a vet to see if there is a mental or physical problem and then consult a cat behavorist. does you cat drink water...he's not avoiding water is he? is the cat aggressive all the time or just at certain times?