Aggressive Rescue Cat Of 2 Years

[mashpototo]

Hi everyone!

This is my second of year owning Maurice, a stray/feral tomcat that stayed in my friend's front yard for about a week before handing him over to me.
For extra context, he's about 2-3 years and we found him as an adult. He's very vocal and amicable towards other people.

However, since he's stayed with me I've had a giant problem to deal with: unprovoked aggression.

I'm coming to terms with the fact that this is just probably how he will forever be considering that he's semi feral. My friend owns 4 other cats and even he says he's not able to understand his body language and has never experienced what I've experienced owning Maurice. My other conclusion is that he is trying to initiate play and just plays very, very rough.

It's not that I'm not listening to his body language, I understand the tell-tale signs of cat aggression: dilated pupils, a low meow, hissing, wagging tail... etc. I'm not overstimulating him either. I understand when Maurice no longer wants to be pet because he walks away or gives a few warning licks. My problem is when he just attacks while showing typical FRIENDLY cat body language!

Examples:
I was doing curl-ups on a yoga mat on my bedroom floor the other day while Maurice was curled up asleep a couple feet away from me. From my peripherals while I work out I see him get up, stretch, and walk up to me with his tail pointed up. I thought he was just going to walk up to me out of curiosity or go downstairs to get a snack, but within 5-10 seconds + no time for me to react, he bit and clawed an open gash into my arm resulting in a lot of blood dripping from the wound and a halt to my workout. Mind you he didn't make a single noise either; I did not a single warning from this kitty.

Another time, he clawed and dug 7-10 straight gashes in both of my boyfriend's arms. For extra context, Maurice is usually an easygoing cat and could be compared to limp dough when picked up, because he really doesn't care or mind being handled. However in this situation, Maurice was around a lot of my friends who came to visit at the time and my boyfriend was going to pick him up because he needed to be fed. We know our cat wasn't nervous around everyone because he is highly social and asks EVERYONE to be pet, bunting people's hands and purring like crazy! The minute my boyfriend picked him up, it's like someone flicked a "FERAL" switch in Maurice's mind: he dug at his arms and chewed them up until they were riddled red sores, cuts, and abrasions in a matter of seconds. He had to wear bandages for two weeks because of the bleeding and how deep the cuts were. What was mind boggling too was that Maurice immediately switched back to his "good boy" persona after my boyfriend dropped him back on the ground.

I think today too makes a little more sense, but this type of aggression was still unprovoked and it has never happened to me before. I was in the middle of playing with him with his stick toy with a little cloth snake in the end when he attacked me. Before that though, he was playing with the toy and directing his energy towards the toy alone. But when I stood up to move and wiggled the toy around the carpet he came for leg instead and left a wound so deep I can see some of the fat in the gash; kind of like the shape of an open eye. He didn't hiss, didn't yowl, didn't do anything to show me he was angry... If he was trying to play with me I'm sure he wouldn't have clawed me that badly.

I have countless of other examples but these are the most recent ones.

Putting him down is NOT an option.
I have tried hissing at him to scold him but he does not take it well and becomes more aggressive.
I have tried screaming in pain to make him understand but it aggravates him EXTRA.

As easygoing as this cat's personality is, unprovoked aggression can get scary and these wounds are very costly on my skin. I have a few keloid scars that show how angry he can get, and I don't want to feel uneasy around my own pet.

Locking him out of the room is not an option because he will meow and yowl or hours on end until his poor little cat voice is hoarse and sore.

Please help me and if you have any other questions or any solutions, feel free to ask and please share this post around! I need all the help I can get.

 

[Furballsmom]

Bless your heart, you're amazing for hanging in there!!

I've seen where feliway can, in the cases where it doesn't work, make things worse. This might not be a good product for you.

Does your vet have thoughts about zylkene or other over the counter products, or gabapentin or cbd if it's legal where you are?

 

[shadowsrescue]

First off, is he neutered? Also has he been to the vet for a check up to rule out anything medical?

Zylkene and Composure can help as well as CBD. I am currently using Zylkene on one of my cats and CBD on a few others. I have an impulsive cat that will randomly attack one of my other cats. The CBD is helping him out.

How often do you play with him? Cats need to be able to hunt catch kill eat groom sleep. That is part of their dna. If they are not able to fulfill these needs, it can make them act out. Try playing with him with a wand toy and really get him moving. You want him to be very tired when the session is done. If you don't normally do this, you will have to start slow and work your way up. You can also use a laser pointer or any toy that will get him moving. After a play session, he needs to fulfill the "eat" portion so you need to offer him a special snack or special meal. Just something small to satisfy him. Some people like feed a meal after the play session. Once the cat has eaten, he will groom himself and most cats take a nap.

 

[moxiewild]

I was going to echo most of what shadowsrescue said - neuter, vet, play, calming aids. Like Furballsmom, I was going to suggest Feliway - however, I do think it's always worth a shot. Same with other calming aids like Composure, Bach's Rescue Remedy, Zylkene, CBD oil, and certain calming collars. And if it comes down to it, the vet can prescribe something stronger if absolutely necessary.

This kitty doesn't sound feral at all though. I think you would get more advice posting in the behavior subforum. I don't think it's a "feral switch" that's flipping, it's something else.

You definitely need to have him neutered if he's not already and take him to the vet to rule out anything medical. This is very important.

The next line of defense will be ample, interactive play. Play until he starts panting if you can. Play for 20 minutes at a time, 2-3 times a day. Play with him as much as he's willing to for a few days - if you see a difference in behavior, then it should be a good indication of what the issue might be and will help to guide you toward what your next steps should be.

Obviously, you can't be there to play with him 24/7, and sustaining that amount of play every day is not going to be practical for most people.

However, having at least one long, good interactive play session a day and adding other various ways to stimulate and entertain him might help and is far more doable.

There are a lot of things you can do to help fulfill this need - adding more cat furniture, creating a cat "super highway", making a catio, adopting another cat with similar energy level, automatic toys that are set to go off at certain times of the day, leash training, clicker training, cat music (which will also help to calm), etc.

My favorite toys for interactive play are the Go Cat wands like da bird, da bee, da mouse, etc, and the Cat Dancer for the kitties who like strings/ribbons more. I have more consistent luck with these to get a cat moving than anything else.

The hunt-catch-kill-eat-groom-sleep model that shadowsrescue mentioned is a very good model to follow, especially before bed, or during any times that kitty may have a tendency to exhibit unwanted behaviors.

You've done good with trying the hissing and the yelling. You can also try whining, but I think you might have more luck by trying "passive" timeouts. No scolding, other than maybe a firm no, and then place him in a separate room or purchase a "time out" crate (like a wire dog crate). I would not use a carrier because you don't want him to develop aversions toward it for vet visits.

Do not talk to him while he is in there, cover it with a blanket if necessary. Place him in there for 5 minutes. If you let him out and he does it again shortly after, then lock him up for ten minutes, and so on. However, if he tends to only do it once at any given time, then perhaps just lock him up for ten minutes each time.

Cat scratches and bites can develop very nasty infections. Please be sure to disinfect appropriately.

More than anything, thank you so much for putting your foot down on euthanizing him over this. You obviously care. I often wish there were as many cat behaviorists around as there are dog trainers - well, more, in fact, since pet cats outnumber pet dogs by quite a bit. Maybe some day we'll get there.

For now, members here will advise you as much as possible. Watch episodes of My Cat from Hell if you have access to it, or other wise search for videos by Jackson Galaxy on Youtube and follow him on Facebook/social media. He is an extremely trusted, knowledgeable, and compassionate cat behaviorist.