NEED HELP ASAP! EXTREMLY AGRESSIVE CAT

[christina_ski]

I have had this cat since birth last febuary, he has never been the sweetest of the bunch. But never mean. He was starting to get aggresive, only slightly this spring. Would pick fights with the other boys trying to be the boss. I got him, along with all the other males, nuetered a couple months ago. But his aggression has just gotten worse. Now not only is he flat out randomly attacking his brothers, and has already put 2 in the vet with serious injuries, he is starting to attack me.

He and his brother started a random fight which quickly got out of hand. I put a large piece of cardboard between the 2 and grabbed him (the one who i could reach at the time) and waited for him to calm down. I could still feel him tensing up and he was doing this wierd thing with his mouth (like making an o) so put him by himself in the bathroom to cool down. I went in with him to pet him and check him for wounds and he was happy and calm and layed down and when I went to pet him on the head he grabed my hand and bit down, hard drawing blood in several places. He even started to chew. I pushed him away and stood up and he tried to attack me again, I had to hold him down with my foot to keep his teeth away until I scruffed him and let him go as I darted out the door. Luckily I trimmed his claws recently so they weren't any danger. Just the teeth. This has been this bad for 2 months now, and this is the 3rd time albeit the worst he has attacked me. I have tried to place him with in a new home but now with the attacking people I am not sure I can put someone else in the position to get attacked the off chance he gets mad. Much less he would now need to be in an only cat/pet home without kids.

I am at a loss what to do with him. I can't keep him with the others as he fights them, but I can't keep him alone as he will hollar and scream all night long! I am almost to the point of having him put down. It sucks, he is almost 2 and has never been this way till this spring/summer. He isn't around any girls so I know its not because of that, and he is just around his brothers who has been around all his life. Nothing has changed, food, water, activity level.

Help please! What do I do?

 

[stormo41]

I dont know that much about cats, but maybe if you could find him a home where he is the only pet would be best for him.

 

[Sixstardanes]

You may want to have blood drawn and check his overall panel.

 

[h2t99]

Personally I would have him put down. Make sure your bites are ok, my dad got bit by our cat years ago and he ended up in the hospital!! She thought he was the dog when she bit him, so only one bite!! Your cat has some serious issues and he will hurt someone!! My son was attacked by my MIL's cat when he was 2 and he got very sick from it!! So I would think long and hard about putting him down, I would not take a chance on someone taking him and getting hurt!!

Good Luck!!

 

[christina_ski]

Personally I would have him put down. Make sure your bites are ok, my dad got bit by our cat years ago and he ended up in the hospital!! She thought he was the dog when she bit him, so only one bite!! Your cat has some serious issues and he will hurt someone!! My son was attacked by my MIL's cat when he was 2 and he got very sick from it!! So I would think long and hard about putting him down, I would not take a chance on someone taking him and getting hurt!!
Good Luck!!

Thats my biggest fear in placing him, that he will attack someone else. I cleaned the bite up, luckily nothing too deep. I think they also bled out enough to keep any immediate bacteria out. I don't know what has gotten into him that he is this way. I have given him several chances over the past few months. He is just sooo unpredictable. One minute he is sweet as can be and fine, The next he snaps and is attacking everything in sight.

Anyone on here know someone willing to give my boy a chance in an only cat home?

 

[REO]

Does he only do it after he's been touched? Petted, picked up, pulled away from another cat, etc?

If you're sitting and no one is near him, does he run up and attack?

If he's only doing it after he's been touched, it makes me wonder if he has pain inside. Even a tame cat will bite and attack if it's in pain.

Kidney stone? Intestinal tract? Stomach?

I have been a cat person since birth (I'm 46) and I have had and dealt with all kinds of wild to tame cats and I have never heard of a cat like yours.

 

[Sue_C.]

I had one do this several years ago too, and did have him put down.

You could ask the Vet if there is anything that might be causing this...hopefully not Rabies. We never did find out what caused it with my cat; but even when he was outside, he would dart out from hiding and attack me randomly wherever I was. Hard on the body, and extremely hard on the nerves.

I would not consider giving him to someone else...that would just be passing the potentially dangerous problem on.

 

[White Socks Miniature]

You could always talk to your vet and get some kitty "anti-depressants" We have seen cats that are like yours, the first thing we do is rule out any medical condition and if nothing is wrong we try medications. If the medications do not work then usually they do end up getting put to sleep as they are too dangerous to have around.

 

[mad for mini's]

First I would go to the doctors and get an antibiotic, cat bites are the worst and it will become infected. Better to catch it now than later. Second, I would put the cat to sleep. I wouldn't want to risk more animals and people getting hurt by him. You can't supervise him 24/7 and he will most likely attack again. Not sure if this is something to worry about but maybe rabies ?

 

[MagicTheMini]

My friend recently had to have a cat put down that acted similar. He was a rescue that was hand raised and placed in a home. He became increasingly more and more aggressive with all the people in the house, but was ok with the grandmother. Until one day he started being aggressive with her. He was just over 1 year. The grandmother brought him back to my friend because she couldn't handle him anymore. He was dropped off at our work (a grooming shop, which he had been groomed in before). When we went to get him out of the kennel he went into attack mode and it wasn't just a cornered cat type attack- when we retreated he kept after us. Exactly as the grandmother had explained. You could see in his eyes that he was missing-that he was not 'a cat' something was wrong. This cat was doing a wierd thing with his mouth too. He was immeadiately taken to the vet and put to sleep. I know the vet gave a diagnosis based on the symptoms and said there was no hope for the cat and that it was the worse he had ever seen. They had to sedate the cat to get him out of the box, no one could get near the box.

 

[wildoak]

If you can rule out medical issues, I agree your best solution may be to have him put down. We had one who was similar but never got quite to the point yours is. He was a barn cat and became a sniper - he would randomly attack cats, dogs, your legs.......just came from out of nowhere, grabbed bit and ran. Freaky cat. Always had loads of personality as a kitten. He solved the problem by disappearing for gradually longer stretches until he just never came home, and now his litter mate/sister has done the same. Both were neutered BTW and vaccinated for rabies. I often wonder if the coyotes got him or whether he is out there in the woods making sneak attacks on them.

Jan

 

[KanoasDestiny]

If you do decide to have the vets do a panel on him (which I would do), make sure to have them test for Bartonella (aka Cat Scratch Fever). Most vets don't test for it but it can make cats very aggressive. It can be treated though with medications. Beware - humans can also catch it.

This site may be helpful...

http://www.2ndchance.info/aggressivecat.htm

 

[christina_ski]

He is a 100% indoor cat, never been outside a day in his life. He has never been exposed to any disease. He will attack randomly even when not touched, its just been getting worse and worse and I though for sure the nueter would help him. I hate to put any animal down. But I feel he is suffering being all alone and you just can't relax around him anymore. I thought about letting him outside but I am afriad he will be killed by the nieghbors or their dogs or starve to death. I don't want him to suffer. I will have to think long and hard and talk to the vet. They were iffy on putting down the colicing horse, so not sure about a seemingly healthy cat.

 

[Miniv]

I've grown up with cats.........live with cats..........rescued many too........Every once in awhile there is one who is born just mentally OFF..........much like a psycho human. There really isn't much you can do for them. They are in misery, psychological misery and will take it out on those closest. It's very sad..........(It happens with other animals as well.)

 

[mininik]

Definitely get antibiotics for the bites ASAP. Then you need to have a complete blood panel done on this cat. It doesn't matter if he's been living inside his entire life and has been kept fully vaccinated. Aside from certain diseases, he may also have a thyroid imbalance, etc. causing his aggressive behavior. If everything comes up clear, your next move to save this cat's life should be a consultation with a qualified behaviorist: http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com If you can't commit to doing this, please put the cat down.

 

[Minimor]

I know someone that had a female cat get aggressive this way. They had her euthanized, but the vet did tell them what the problem most likely was--they had tested and treated another cat that was acting the same way. Friend did tell me what the condition was in that cat the vet described but I don't remember now just what she said about it. Your vet may be able to shed some light on the problem.

If there isn't a medical problem that can be diagnosed & treated then I too would say that the best thing would be to have him put down. You definitely do not want him to continue beating up your other cats--he could very well kill one of them next time--and really it would be better if he didn't attack you any more either!

Neutering doesn't always stop aggressive behavior. I've neutered a couple of stray toms that were mature cats when they came here. Actually I've neutered quite a number of cats of various ages, but these two did not 'settle down' after surgery--they would beat up other cats & actually got worse as they aged, and I ended up putting them both down because of it. They were just getting too mean to other cats & one little cat took to leaving & going 'walkabout' because of it. Every night I'd have to drive down the dead end road behind us & call her; she'd come to the road & I'd bring her home. Once those 2 cats were gone she quit heading off down the road--thank goodness! She would have been coyote or fox bait by now had she kept that up.

I've also got a cat now that was neutered young, before he showed any aggression to anyone. He's now nearly 2 years old, and the last few months he's taken to picking on a couple of the older cats. I'm not happy about that, and have to hope he won't get any worse than he is now or we may have to make a decision on him too.

I've only ever had one cat that was aggressive toward people, and that was a defensive aggression. When Pierre first came here he was not aggressive. Then we had company for a few days--an older woman who was visiting from overseas. She slept on the couch while she was here--and the couch just happened to be Pierre's favorite bed. The day she was leaving this gal was in the house alone, and Pierre jumped up onto the couch. I don't know what she did to him--she said that she pushed him off the couch and he attacked her (she had two little red spots to show for that "attack"). She had to do more than push him, because for a mere push Pierre wouldn't have attacked. More likely she grabbed him hard, and he retaliated with a slap. From there I believe that she beat him up & then threw him outside. She denied throwing him out but afterward he was outside & in those days we had no cat door--so she had to have opened the door for him to get out. After that he was VICIOUS but only when touched. We were careful with him & warned everyone else to stay away from him. He bit me once just because I petted him & then went to withdraw my hand--I had to get a tetanus shot & when I went to the doctor for that he automatically gave me antibiotics too. Pierre did outgrow his meanness--the viciousness faded after a year, though it took 2 years before he quit being at all grumpy about being moved off of furniture! It was sure nice to have him get back to his placid self--it was really quite amazing, though, how that once incident could ruin his temperament to that extent.

My point is aggression can be caused by poor handling, but I'm guessing no one there is tormenting or abusing this cat of yours?

 

[HGFarm]

I am also a 'cat person' and something is wrong here. I would have him looked at by a vet. Possible tumor or something that is making him do this - and for him to just be on your lap and happy and then bite you so hard that you bleed that bad is NOT normal. I am worried for him, and for you. Poor guy and I see why you are concerned.

I wrestle with my young cats and they get pretty rough sometimes, but to just attack like that for no reason, and not in a playful mood... and his getting worse... I fear for him and feel sorry for him. How frustrating for you and I would not place him in another home either. Something is 'missing' there!

Please let us know if you find anything out. Maybe even a call to your local vet could shed some light on something?

 

[~Lisa~]

I had a cat who did the same thing. He was fine as a baby and the older he got the more agressive he got. He would get this look in his eye and that was all she wrote... he would chase you down and bite or jump out of nowhere and bite he sent me to this hospital twice with some serious bites that got infected. So please be careful of that I to thought I cleaned them well and before I knew it the infection was very bad

He was checked by a vet (and fixed early) they never found anything wrong with him. It was horrible cause when he was not crazed he was the sweetest guy I had to put him down

Interesting though that the pattern with most here is male cats who have become so agressive and most it seems have been fixed.

 

[KanoasDestiny]

I was thinking about it...besides having a vet check for Bartonella (which can be caused by fleas, whether a cat is indoors or out), maybe you can request a titer of his testosterone hormones to see if it is conistent with a neutered male cat.

You might also try a couple of plug-in feline pheromone diffusers. These product are sold under the name "Feliway Comfort Zone". They mimic the “happy cat” pheromones cats produce from the glands on their faces. Veterinarians usually sell these, and you can also find them at major pet retailers or online pet supply stores. I've heard that they can work quite well.

Maybe as a last resort, you can build him like a kitty coop outside? That way he'd be out of the house and away from the cats he fights, yet he would be safe from preditors and cars? Some cats just do not like being around other cats, and as a result, maybe he's taking that anger out on you.

 

[miniwhinny]

My heart breaks for the anguish that you must be going through with your kitty. If he's attacked his house mates seriously then it's no joke.

Although it's a terribly painful thing to do I almost think putting him down is the only way to go - he just sounds like there's some serious issues going on. I presume he's been wormed on a regular basis? If he had a parasite that migrated to his brain it could be causing this.

The only other option is a cat rescue facility - maybe they can help you place him with someone - with obvious full disclosure of his problems - that would be willing to try to see if he can be helped.

Cats have evolved into the "pur"fect (sorry

) preditors and despite their small size can inflict quite a bit of damage.

I feel really bad for you but it doesn't sound from the info supplied that he's going off the deep end.