Help! I'm scared of my cat...

[PussNBootz]

Good evening,

I'm fairly new to this forum. I have a 6 year old feline cat that I adopted from an ex-coworker when the cat was around 8 weeks old. She was healthy and gregarious; and I was planning on getting her spayed. Well, one evening I was working when I received a call from my mom that our siberian husky caught the kitten in it's mouth. When I came home, she was obviously bloodied pretty bad and her guts were hanging out. I took her to the vet and he diagnosed her with a hernia that would cost $5,000 to operate. He said she had a couple of months to live otherwise. At that point, the kitten looked healthy and joyous; obviously she miraculously was fine the next day. I was 18 years old and could not afford such an operation, but she looked fine so I didn't want to put her down either.

Throughout the years, she has been fine, except that she sometimes vomits when she eats too fast or we change her meals. The problem that I have with her is that she pee's on EVERYTHING! This was a big problem when she was a kitten up to a year old. She would pee in the corner of the house, and claw at the carpet. She destroyed each doorway's carpet in our house (we have 6 doors) and the downstair's STINKS of cat piss! We washed & cleaned but can't seem to get rid of that stinky (no pun intended) smell! We moved her litter box to a particular corner of the house she liked to pee in and that seemed to help stop her. She's gotten older and her mannerism has changed; she's no longer peeing everywhere BUT occasionally if she enters a new part of the house she pee's.

I tried to get her spayed but no vet will perform the operation since she has the hernia. They say it won't be safe to spay her.

Here is my BIG problem with her: She sometime's has her "crazy spells". She either attacks me or my mom at random. Like we'll walk by her and she hisses and swats at our feet. I rough house with her so I figured I'm the bad reason BUT... I've never been afraid of her. Well, that all changed today because while I was at work I get a call from my mom saying she was attacked by my cat and she's bleeding all over... I leave work early to come home and find my mom BLOODIED from arms and legs; I mean she ran to the garage in fear of her life from my cat! My cat scratched her so badly that I thought it punctured a blood vessel. We took my mom to the doctor and she got stitches and all. My cat ran upstairs to my room where I fortunately trapped her by closing the bedroom door.

She's been locked inside ALL day. I tried to bring her water and food but when I open the door she hisses and comes running to attack me! I doubled up on the jeans, I wear tennis shoes, gloves and eye wear for protection ~> that's how scared I am of her! So I attempted a second time to bring her food & water, but this time when I opened the door she was NO where to be seen! She was either hiding from me. Again, this is so unusual. A couple hours later, I snuck in her litter box and she was again no where to be seen in the room. But I am so creeped out and scared to go inside the bedroom in fear she'll jump out and attack me!

I really, really do NOT want to put her down but my mom is, obviously, traumatized and scared of her. I am too, but I cannot bear to put her down, since last November I had to put my Siberian Husky down.

Please advise. Any help would be appreciated. How do I get her out of the room or how do I know it's safe? Is there someone I can call to help with temperament? Will they put her down? Any one else seen this or dealt with this? Help!

Thank you in advance.

PussNBootz

[Karen]

First of all, take a deep breath. You need to not only capture her, but get her to the vet. It is possible that something is wrong medically, and she is in pain, which is why she is lashing out. I know you are afraid of her right now, but even of you have to dress in a winter coat and mittens, boots and jeans over jeans - two layers, you need to go in there. If you can talk to her, you may be able to calm her down some, but what you really need to do is get her to the veterinarian first thing in the morning. You may need to "burrito wrap" her to get her in the carrier, but this is an emergency. In fact, if you can get her now, and put her in the carrier tonight, you can give her some food and water in there, and take her to the vet in the morning. This is NOT normal behavior for a cat, any cat. Something is wrong.

The vet's office would not immediately suggest putting her to sleep for good, but they will likely have to sedate her to examine her. She has lived with the hernia for 6 years, but bring any medical records you have, just so they will know everything they need to know.

Once she has been checked at the vet, there are certainly cat behaviorists out there, but I have a strong inclination that there's some medical reason for her acting out.

[Freedom]

What Karen said.

You are a pet guardian and you need to do what's right for this cat. That means getting her the medical care she needs, including repairing the hernia if that is what needs to be done.. She's not spayed and has hormones coursing through her body all these years; she needs to be spayed if that can be done. Most states require this by age 6 months, so you need to be an adult, take responsibility and get this cat the care she needs. Something has her very upset and as Karen said, you need to address medical issues first.

[sasvermont]

I would take her to the vet as soon as possible. It sounds as though she is ill. The vet may be able to give you something to put in her food, to calm her down.

The story is a sad one, especially the dog bite at the early stage.

Good luck. Take care of that kitty. She didn't ask for any of this. Save your money and have the hernia operation and spaying.

Keep us posted, please.

[moosmom]

I echo what Karen said. Vet ASAP!

[Catty1]

I know the money can be hard to get. Take your cat to the vet ASAP.

You can see if the vet will take a payment plan. Look up Care Credit online and apply.

Is there a vet school in your area? If so, they can perform the surgery at a lower cost.

I know you and your mom are terrified...your poor mom! I hope she heals soon.

Like others here said it sounds like your cat is in pain. Maybe the vet can give you a tranquillizer to put in her food so she will calm down.

How sad and horrible for all of you. Please keep us posted!

[Soapets]

I am just now reading all of this. What happened with your cat.....did you take her to a Vet and get her checked out? I can't imagine that she would behave like that if there weren't something terribly wrong medically causing her to lash out in pain or fear or both.......... I hope everything worked out and she is not suffering and you are able to live without fear...........please let us know what happened..........