Hi all, I have a propblem with my cat suddenly turning aggressive and hope some here can help. It's lengthy but I want to be absolutely sure what is wrong, please bear with me.
I live in a fairly small apartment, I got her when she was a kitten and have had her for 10 and a half years now. We've always lived here, no other cats and she's been a good girl until recently.
It started off that she was being more cuddly than usual, coming on our laps or snuggling into our sides when we sat down or were in bed. But then she started hissing when we moved her or just moved at all. When she did this we stood up to drop her on the floor gently or just put her on the floor. One night she wouldn't move, she just kept hissing so I picked her up and put her in the bedroom to cool off, shutting the door so that she wouldn't just come straight back. I've done this with her in the past and it's worked, she's been fine. However this time when I went back to open the door she immediately started attacking my feet and hands and yowling in a way indicating she was threatened. And when I say attacking this wasn't just latching on, this was digging in her claws and teeth and pulling back so as to gouge the flesh. She even bit through my thumb nail! She was actively going for me, not waiting until i approached and acting in defence. It was very unexpected and distressing and she wouldn't stop, we had to throw something across the room to distract her (she went for that), shut the door again and leave the flat until the next day. When we came back she was fine and sweet as normal.
I took her to the vets the next day for a checkup and they discovered as she was unspayed she had an infection in her uterus and needed major surgery. It was upsetting but also a relief as they were sure they had found the reason for her aggression so the surgery went ahead. We were worried that with the flat being small she might hop up on the bed and we squash her or knock her off in the night after so we decided to put her in the main room with her tray and her toys and she freaked out again. She was attacking less but yowling and occasionally attacking all the same. We left her there for the night (we didn't have much choice at that point, we were basically trapped in the room) and she was calm again and unfussed by the morning. Concerned this was going to happen again, or worse happen when we were in bed, we decided to go to my parents with her for the weekend. It's a familiar place for her as she has visited with us for holidays many times in the past and she has a large, spacious room to herself. We sat with her in the day and she spent the night there alone. She seemed much better! She was purring and letting people pet her and check her wound, she wasn't at all fussed about any doors being closed, so we figured she was probably feeling a bit fragile and worried after the op before.
We brought her back again, she seemed ok, my partner decided to sleep at her place as she was still feeling a bit nervous about it all so it was just me and the cat. She decided to sleep on the sofa so everything was fine. Tonight however, again it just being me and the cat, she decided she wanted to come into the bed to sleep. I gently picked her up off the bed and put her in her basket and petted her, she was happy but immediately got out and tried to hop in the bed. I stopped her and gently said "not tonight", directing her towards her basket again and she yowled and lashed out at my hand again, biting in and dragging her teeth to wound. I had read that I should not show any sign of aggression back so I just calmly told her "no, it's ok" a few times and she let go slowly, though whilst still growling. She tried to get back up again at the base of the bed and I blocked her with my foot, she tried to go for that but thankfully the duvet was between us so I was ok. I turned my back on her, as I had read this is what you must do and put some Sudocrem on my wounds, unable to go and wash them properly. She tucked herself in the corner for a bit, and then strolled over to her basket, hopped in and purred away.
I had thought that the aggression was due to her illness, but it appears there is more too it. She seems to be trying to use it to get her way (which has never worked and until now she has never tried). She's now spayed, is recovering well (basically normal bar the scar itself and shaved patches) and seems mostly happy. But these sporadic bouts of extreme aggression are going to cause a problem. Is this something that I need to ride out and they will go away? Is there something I need to be doing to stop them? Doors have to be shut occasionally and neither of us can sleep with a potentially explosive cat in the bed so we can't just give in to these things.
I live in a fairly small apartment, I got her when she was a kitten and have had her for 10 and a half years now. We've always lived here, no other cats and she's been a good girl until recently.
It started off that she was being more cuddly than usual, coming on our laps or snuggling into our sides when we sat down or were in bed. But then she started hissing when we moved her or just moved at all. When she did this we stood up to drop her on the floor gently or just put her on the floor. One night she wouldn't move, she just kept hissing so I picked her up and put her in the bedroom to cool off, shutting the door so that she wouldn't just come straight back. I've done this with her in the past and it's worked, she's been fine. However this time when I went back to open the door she immediately started attacking my feet and hands and yowling in a way indicating she was threatened. And when I say attacking this wasn't just latching on, this was digging in her claws and teeth and pulling back so as to gouge the flesh. She even bit through my thumb nail! She was actively going for me, not waiting until i approached and acting in defence. It was very unexpected and distressing and she wouldn't stop, we had to throw something across the room to distract her (she went for that), shut the door again and leave the flat until the next day. When we came back she was fine and sweet as normal.
I took her to the vets the next day for a checkup and they discovered as she was unspayed she had an infection in her uterus and needed major surgery. It was upsetting but also a relief as they were sure they had found the reason for her aggression so the surgery went ahead. We were worried that with the flat being small she might hop up on the bed and we squash her or knock her off in the night after so we decided to put her in the main room with her tray and her toys and she freaked out again. She was attacking less but yowling and occasionally attacking all the same. We left her there for the night (we didn't have much choice at that point, we were basically trapped in the room) and she was calm again and unfussed by the morning. Concerned this was going to happen again, or worse happen when we were in bed, we decided to go to my parents with her for the weekend. It's a familiar place for her as she has visited with us for holidays many times in the past and she has a large, spacious room to herself. We sat with her in the day and she spent the night there alone. She seemed much better! She was purring and letting people pet her and check her wound, she wasn't at all fussed about any doors being closed, so we figured she was probably feeling a bit fragile and worried after the op before.
We brought her back again, she seemed ok, my partner decided to sleep at her place as she was still feeling a bit nervous about it all so it was just me and the cat. She decided to sleep on the sofa so everything was fine. Tonight however, again it just being me and the cat, she decided she wanted to come into the bed to sleep. I gently picked her up off the bed and put her in her basket and petted her, she was happy but immediately got out and tried to hop in the bed. I stopped her and gently said "not tonight", directing her towards her basket again and she yowled and lashed out at my hand again, biting in and dragging her teeth to wound. I had read that I should not show any sign of aggression back so I just calmly told her "no, it's ok" a few times and she let go slowly, though whilst still growling. She tried to get back up again at the base of the bed and I blocked her with my foot, she tried to go for that but thankfully the duvet was between us so I was ok. I turned my back on her, as I had read this is what you must do and put some Sudocrem on my wounds, unable to go and wash them properly. She tucked herself in the corner for a bit, and then strolled over to her basket, hopped in and purred away.
I had thought that the aggression was due to her illness, but it appears there is more too it. She seems to be trying to use it to get her way (which has never worked and until now she has never tried). She's now spayed, is recovering well (basically normal bar the scar itself and shaved patches) and seems mostly happy. But these sporadic bouts of extreme aggression are going to cause a problem. Is this something that I need to ride out and they will go away? Is there something I need to be doing to stop them? Doors have to be shut occasionally and neither of us can sleep with a potentially explosive cat in the bed so we can't just give in to these things.