Mr. Magoo Update...

[rkidsrcats]

Dang CCL!
Nothin' worse than taking a hit when you're trying to do the right thing! I was sorry to read about Paddy's setback and your injury. It is frustrating to be sure. But you have gotten good advice as usual from those who know cats best!
Pippin was just a 5 month old kitten when we adopted him, but we did see times when he got sensory overload and went into a hissing/spitting/slashing mode at whatever was crowding him - be it us, the dog, cats, inanimate objects, whatever! So it is pure defense mechanism for him. And he has matured into one tough little fighter - if he wants that end of the futon, he will persist until whichever feline gives up. I saw an un-neutered 9 yr old Tom-cat once at Little Shelter and he had HUGE jowls. Didn't look like my hand would have survived a bite from the likes of him! They told me that it is very characteristic of older toms to have over-developed jaws/cheeks because of the hormone levels.
You have several issues going on it appears - least of which is the fact that Paddy is blind! Recently neutered and neutered as an adult no less. He's had years to over develop his muscles and his attitude as a tom cat.
As advised, take it slow and introduce him like you would any other cat, just on a slower timetable if possible. Some kind of calming drug might be a good idea since blind cats can get over stimulated and confused a little quicker than the sighted ones.
But then again, I get over-excited when the Mariners win a baseball game these days!
Hang in there and take it one day at a time - don't forget that you are under stress too - adding a newbie to the brat pack is daunting in itself! I still deal with issues between Normy and William and now Pips has decided that he is going to kick William's behind if anything is upsetting Norman. I can't keep track of who loves who around here!
Keep the wrist up and the Advil handy...

[krazyaboutkatz]

CCL, I'm so sorry to hear that Mr. Scrappy bit you. Like the others have said, he really needs to be left alone so he can get used to his surroundings. I'm sure that everything will work out eventually. Please take care of yourself and keep us updated.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

CCL, I hope I didn't upset you with my frankness about the Ally/Connor situation. There are days when it seams like everything has worked out OK, and then there are days when I wonder what I was thinking bringing another cat into my house.

Is it possible to keep Mr Magoo in a separate room, so he is less restricted than in a cage, and go through the normal slow introduction - swapping scents, and building up to supervised interaction? There must be a lot for him to get used to - new smells, new space around him, new noise, and unfortunately you were at the receiving end of his confusion / frustration.

Space permitting, I would try to have him in a room, rather than a cage - but I don't know your household, so I am not sure if that is possible.

Connor spend 2 weeks in a separate room before any real interaction took place - I am sure the situation here would have been much worse if I had integrated them sooner.

One other thought - did Mr Magoo have a cage-mate at the shelter or was he isolated? If he did, maybe he is missing his friend, if not, maybe he is not ready to share his cage with your other cats, and lashed out at you in misdirected anger???

[carole]

Oh dear I am so sorry to hear this too ,I too know the power of those jaws, I had no choice but to go to the Doctor, as I had four puncture wounds, Lisa a tetanus shot maybe necessary, as it was in my case, and believe me I know the pain, I think it was one of the worst pain I have ever experienced, and I am no stranger to pain, but yes it's pain in it's worst form.

Cat bites can indeed be serious, so maybe you should seek some medical advice soon.

I feel the others have offered you some expert advice, I am sure Paddy is not an aggressive type cat, it must because the fact he is blind, and confused maybe, I hope so.

My cat Ash is somewhat an aggressive animal, I just have to be very careful and not push my limits, I have learned the hard way several times.

Please take care, I am hoping all will turn out well in the end, and I know you are not about to give up on Paddy, you would not have gone this far with him, if you intended to do that, you are his only hope for a happy life, it is just going to take alot of patience and time, and you seem the perfect lady for the job.!!

Good luck, I wish you well and painfree.

[PayItForward]

Lisa,

How is your wrist today ? (I still like the go to hospital and tell them it was a feral cat suggestion that someone suggested)

Have you moved Scrappy into his own room ? How is he today ?

Jenny

[jenluckenbach]

WOW! I know the pain of a serious cat bite. And the fear of it happening again.
With no experiene with a totally blind cat I will not pretend to have advice. But you did not adopt him not knowing his personality, so I agree with the "too much too soon" and "sensory over load" theories.
Your very best thing to do is speak to REAL experts in behavior of cats and especially blind ones.
Best of luck, and hang in their. The end results will be well worth the trouble.

[Randi]

Lisa, I can't add anything to the good advise you have been given here, just want to say I'm so sorry that Mr. Magoo bit you.

I think it's a very good idea to keep him in a room by himself if possible, to let him calm down and get used to your home. He's surely scared and confused about the move to new surroundings and being around cats he's never met before. Poor guy, not being able to see what goes on around him.

Hang in there and take it slowly, I'm sure in time he'll be happy with the new situation and love you for helping him.

I hope your wrist will heal quickly! If you haven't had a tetenus shot in the last 10 years, you should really get one!

Hugs to you and lots of kisses to Mr. Magoo!

[Craftlady]

I've been reading all the great advise given and with no experience can't add any more information. I keep good thoughts and prayers that everything will work out. One thing about medical issue with the new laws of privacy we all have to sign when we go to hospital or doctors office, it might be a mute issue with the hospital being able to contact anyone. Just a thought

[catlady1945]

We have a 14 year old cat who is the sweetest, gentleman ever. He is afraid of his own shadow and he loves to sit and cuddle and drool. I have a two inch scar (which I can still see) on my arm from him from when we first got him.

[sasvermont]

Oh my gosh. I surely hope your wrist is better. I would go to the ER for sure.

Advice? Well, I don't have any solid experience with special needs kittys beyond Gabe, the wild child Ragdoll. He did bite me once, hard, on the wrist when I tried to pick him up while he was wandering around outside. I learned to leave him alone when he was in that mood - and it only happened when he was outside, not wanting to come back inside.

If I were you, I would confine him for a little while, give him some amitripline cream in the ear medication, and wait for him to settle down. He sounds as though he has potential and just needs more quaility time, without all the other cats.

Please go to the doctor about your wrist. If it means that some authority needs to be notified, then so be it. You wouldn't want to have horrible problems for a cat bite if you could avoid it, right? If you have all of the certificates and proof of his shots, then there shouldn't be a problem!

Please keep us posted and your health!

Take care of yourself first, deary.

SAS

[catnapper]

CCL... where are you? I hope your wrist is ok. Please give us an update. We're worried about you!

[catcrazylady]

forgive the no caps but it is just too hard with one hand!

i want to cry when i read all of your posts. the concern for me and mr. magoo is so wonderful! i don't know what i would do without all of you.
julie you are still in a similar situation and i'm paying close attention to your advice. we have a very old home that is basically a square with four rooms on the bottom floor. in our case you have to go through one room to get into another. we could possibly puthim in our bed room but this would create seriously hard times for a few of the cats. if they could not sleep with us or go into one of thier favorite rooms i'm afraid it might cause some serios resentment. especially with lazy sammy who practically lives in bed. he is one that i really don't want to get angry at mr. magoo! we have finished attic but we use it mostly for storage. there are boxes everywhere! talk about sensory overload! plus the upstairs is the safe place for my current crew. company comes and up they go! i have never allowed anyone in that space because i want them to feel secure there. so basically the answer is no to putting him into his own room to run free. i really thought that since he has been caged for so long that by getting a bigger cage and letting everyone get to know each other that way would be the best for all involved. i guess i was wrong. well maybe, i'm not sure about that yet.
i know everyone keeps suggesting quiet but i'm telling you he is not used to that. he is used to noise, ringing phones, lots of voices, cats crying, cages being cleaned, loud radios. the quiet here seemed to really scare him. when turned on the tv and we are up moving around he seems calmer. i also would think sensory overload but he seems happier that way. maybe i'm wrong.
anyway, i had minimal contact with him yesterday. we are leaving him alone and letting him take it all in. the fur crew usually come along off and on and smell him and say hi. he seems ok with that. some progress...pepper is no longer hissing at him. he went and said good morning to mr. magoo and then started playing right in front of his cage. my current guys will adjust rather quickly i think. maggie sue went to him this morning and sniffed, growled, hissed, then just sat there looking at him. i think she was making sure that he understand her queen b status. mr. magoo takes it all in stride. for now anyway!
i spent this morning on the verge of tears. tomorrow is hubby's birthday and my stepdaughter's is today. we always have a big dinner and celebrate them together. i'm getting ready to have a house full in a few hours. for my hubby's birthday i bring home a blind cat that attacks me, screws up my wrist and now i'm virtually helpless. he is having to do all the cleaning and cooking for his own party. he has been so wonderful about mr. magoo. he feels so sorry for him. i was so surprised yesterday because he didn't want me to take mr. magoo back to the shelter yesterday. i think that is funny because i thought hubby would try to make me take him back after he saw my arm! i guess we are both on the same track and just didn't know it! it still really stinks about his birthday and i feel so guilty.
the wrist is no better and more swollen than yesterday. i'm packing on the ice and starting to think the hospital is going to be unavoidable. i also thought about telling them that a stray did it bt hubby pointed out that if i did that then i would probably have to take rabie shots and i don;t wanna do that!!!
thank you all again and please know that i'm absorbing every word you all post. i don't think i can ever tell you how important it is too me.
will keep everyone updated.

[Kirsten]

i know everyone keeps suggesting quiet but i'm telling you he is not used to that. he is used to noise, ringing phones, lots of voices, cats crying, cages being cleaned, loud radios. the quiet here seemed to really scare him. when turned on the tv and we are up moving around he seems calmer. i also would think sensory overload but he seems happier that way. maybe i'm wrong.

Well, this is making some sense to me. He cannot see, so he probably depends on noises to have some orientation in his environment. I figure this is why silence scares him.

Kirsten

[nibblets]

I'm sure if your hubby has a soft spot for Mr. Magoo and he understands the pain you are in, both physically and emotionally from what happened, he isn't thinking twice about cleaning and preparing for his bday party. Sounds like you have a good man there! Big props to Hubby!

It is unfortunate that it happened...but it did...and now all you can do is learn from it and move forward. Take care of your wrist and continue as you have done for the last day, letting Magoo get his sense of where he is and where he fits in. The kitties will place him in his slot in the pecking order on their own and with time he will be one of the gang.

I think we humans tend to get excited about things and don't realize that the way we think and the way our pets think are on very different levels. I have been teaching Julie to walk on her leash with her Walking Jacket.... last night she decided she was Julie, Queen of the Jungle and went up our tree and in about two seconds flat she slithered out of her jacket....of course I was frantic and grabbed her....Jeez her claws were wicked looking as she dug into the bark of the tree. I did manage to pull her down and run inside, but not before she laid her ears down and growled while digging her claws into my tummy. She went from a casual stroll to wild cat in a heartbeat. Once inside she was fine. I wouldn't read more into Magoo's behavior than just being a cat at this point, unless it becomes a recurring problem.

It will be fine...{{{{{{CCL}}}}}}

[Grace]

the wrist is no better and more swollen than yesterday. i'm packing on the ice and starting to think the hospital is going to be unavoidable.

Butting in here - you REALLY need to get that wrist checked out. Even if there is only the tiniest break in the skin, an infection can start. When Reese bit me last year, the MD told me I should have come in immediately, instead of waiting 36 hours. As it was, I had to have IV antibiotics in the ER, and then was on two of them for 10 days. Cats have really dirty mouths.

Please take care of yourself, CCL.