Cat hissed at me and defecated on me

Bao

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Messages
4
Purraise
4
Hi guys, this is quite “gross” so I will try to keep it as simple and delicate as possible and would appreciate any professional/experienced feedback.

I have a 1 year old British shorthair and he is a complete asshole (I say that endearingly).I work from home and let him do his thing most of the day and he typically comes to bite my feet and scratch me when I’m not looking, or try and destroy my wallpaper despite having 5 scratch posts, none of which he uses.

Well today I say him scratching my wall paper per usual and so I went to pick him up to put him by the scratch post instead. In doing so he scratched me and so I blew a little air on his face (I know he does not like this so it is what I normally do to make him stop things like biting and scratching because I don’t want to physically harm/touch him).

Well for some reason this time he started hissing at me (he has not hissed at me since I brought him home from the pet shop) so I blew on his face again (in retrospect I understand this was an awful idea and I should have let him down when he hissed). After the second one he hissed again and I felt something warm on my leg which is when I noticed he had peed on me and the floor (this has never happened before). In respite/shock I dropped him and he ran to a corner. I noticed he seemed scared so I tried to slowly approach him but he then hissed, rolled on his back and peed on my wall, and then pooped all over my rug.

at this point he and I are both covered in excrement so I had to put him in the bathroom while cleaning up the mess. Afterwards I gave him a bath (which he also hates, but I can’t have him covered in urine and feces) and then I gave him his favorite treat.

He is now currently walking around the house licking himself and doing his normal business as if nothing happened.

I want to emphasize that there was no physical harm or ill intention towards my cat because I absolutely adore him! I just want to know what type of things could have escalated to this behavior and how can I be sure to avoid this in the future? (For starters I will stop blowing wind on his face..)
 

Maurey

Maine Coon Madness
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
1,592
Purraise
1,822
The peeing and defecation sound like a fear response. Seems like your cat is afraid of you, and generally doesn’t have a positive relationship with you, sadly. How long have you been blowing in his face? How does he normally react? When was the last time you had a positive interaction? Is he neutered?
Also sounds like he doesn’t have enough enrichment in his life, which is why he’s trying to initiate play by biting and scratching you. Scratching the walls is also an indication of the fact he’s bored, and potentially not secure in his environment. When did these issues start? If it’s been a sudden change, you should get him checked out at the vet, to rule out any health issues.
 

di and bob

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
16,582
Purraise
22,950
Location
Nebraska, USA
YOU know there was no harm intended, but he didn't. Peeing and pooping like that is absolute fear, enough to make him let his bowels go.....he thought you were not going to quit and got scared enough to pee, after hissing his second plea/warning. When you approached him after the second warning he lost it. Why so extreme? It may have been building up, he may have gotten yelled at more lately for the wallpaper, enough to know that when you approach he gets in trouble, or he may have had some frights lately from loud noises, people coming to the door, loud voices, etc. while you are gone. He obviously is a sensitive cat and picks up on your unspoken anger and feelings. When you go towards him when he is scratching the wallpaper he senses you are not happy and gets scared. Then he got a hated bath, even more traumatizing. Get a roll of double-sided tape at Walmart or online and put long strips on your wallpaper, they hate the feel and avoid it. Make sure you get the kind that releases gently. Get him a corrugated cardboard scratcher and see if that helps. Get a kickeroo on Amazon or a favorite toy and throw it towards him to distract him when he is going for the wallpaper. I keep an extra in a bag of catnip to keep them fresh. He is left alone during the day and is used to doing what he wants. then you come home and stop him, which confuses him. Just don't approach him if he hisses, it is the only way a cat can give a warning or a plea. He may even attack if it escalates. The fact that it hasn't shows what a good temperament he has. Use distraction to steer him to what you want. He is smart, but an animal, and what he is doing is instinctive. Cats are absolutely not deterred by physical punishment, such as blowing, hitting, spraying with water, or even yelling at them. They just get scared of you and avoid you. Pick your battles, it could be even much worse, he could be peeing/pooping on your pillow or all over the house! I know these are trying times, and it is hard to have patience with something you have to repeat over and over, but they are like small children and need to be treated as one. I know I have yelled enough to cause my cats to fear, and I always feel ashamed after. It is like having a toddler in the house......
 

Talien

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
2,650
Purraise
5,131
Location
Michigan
How often do you play with him? If you don't have much time for that, consider getting another younger Cat for companionship. Kittens and younger Cats need to be kept occupied and don't do well when left to their own devices, as you've been seeing. As Maurey mentioned he is bored and is looking for something to do, if you aren't providing for this need he will seek it elsewhere with anything that looks interesting. If you provide a companion for him then they will keep eachother occupied.

If you haven't gotten him neutered yet then do that ASAP, if you don't get him neutered he is almost assuredly going to begin spraying in your house and trying to get outside to mate. Given his reactions to you that you have described it's likely if he does get outside he will not want to come back home.
 

arr

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 20, 2020
Messages
333
Purraise
587
As far as the scratching posts, you say you have five. Are they all upright? Are they all the same material? Are they tall enough that he can completely stretch out his body? Are they sturdy enough that they don’t move if he tries to use one? If he’s not using them then they aren’t right for him. We have three cats and they all prefer something different. One cat loves cardboard scratchers, another uses sisal rope, the other loves bare wood. None of them like carpet, which a lot of cat trees are covered with. Some like to scratch horizontally, some like to scratch vertically. There are many variations out there, start experimenting.

Also, if my cats start acting “bad”, (chewing cords, jumping on the kitchen counter, getting into my plants) then I know they are bored. Play with him as much as you can but also try to enrich his environment, cat tunnels, boxes and brown packing paper. Cut holes in the boxes. If he loves wallpaper he might really like the brown packing paper. Lots of toys, also things he can climb, shelves on the walls that are just for him, access to windows and perhaps bird feeders to attract critters to your windows. To be honest, you have to kind of turn your house into a cat playground to a certain extent, especially if you only have one cat and especially when they are so young.
 

Willowy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
31,886
Purraise
28,287
Location
South Dakota
That's a really extreme fear response for what you describe. Either he's particularly sensitive or he had a very bad experience in the past.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7

Bao

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Messages
4
Purraise
4
Thank you all for your responses! I have not yelled at him before but I normally try to move him away or make a clicking noise to distract him from scratching.

To answer some of the questions:
Yes he is neutered.

2. I had thought that most of our reactions were positive, but I’m wondering if that was more one sided and I had been misreading the signals?

3. I really only recently discovered the blowing in his face thing. He had had some dust on his face and I blew it off and he flinched a bit and that’s when I realized that he would stop scratching/biting etc if I lightly blew on his face. It seemed like a gentle alternative to yelling or pushing him away but that does not seem to be the case.


He was always a fickle cat since we got him but as stated I have never had any previous experience with hissing expect for the first day we brought him home.

I must admit that the past few months my partner and I have been slammed with work and have not had much play time with him as we previously had.

I never thought of some of these behaviors stemming from boredom because in the past I have always kept more than one cat.

As far as habits, he is normally very sweet other than the toe biting. He sleeps next to us and purrs in my ear when I wake up and he follows me into almost any room, so he’s never been one to be reclusive or skiddish. He doesn’t mind being held and is not very vocal. It’s really just the standard things like nail clipping and brushing that he is not fond of; which is why this event was such a shock to me.

I truly appreciate the candid feedback because I love the little guy and want him to feel safe and happy; I’d rather have to replace my wallpaper than make his life unenjoyable (ideally I could resolve both). I will look into the double sided tape option and start scheduling in play times throughout the day to try and keep him occupied and see if his demeanor changes.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #8

Bao

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Messages
4
Purraise
4
That's a really extreme fear response for what you describe. Either he's particularly sensitive or he had a very bad experience in the past.
If it wasn’t extreme I wouldn’t be taken to the internet forums to try and find a solution. As I said I’ve never experienced this before with him or any of my previous cats, nor have I had any signs even remotely related to something like this.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

Bao

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Messages
4
Purraise
4
As far as the scratching posts, you say you have five. Are they all upright? Are they all the same material? Are they tall enough that he can completely stretch out his body? Are they sturdy enough that they don’t move if he tries to use one? If he’s not using them then they aren’t right for him. We have three cats and they all prefer something different. One cat loves cardboard scratchers, another uses sisal rope, the other loves bare wood. None of them like carpet, which a lot of cat trees are covered with. Some like to scratch horizontally, some like to scratch vertically. There are many variations out there, start experimenting.

Also, if my cats start acting “bad”, (chewing cords, jumping on the kitchen counter, getting into my plants) then I know they are bored. Play with him as much as you can but also try to enrich his environment, cat tunnels, boxes and brown packing paper. Cut holes in the boxes. If he loves wallpaper he might really like the brown packing paper. Lots of toys, also things he can climb, shelves on the walls that are just for him, access to windows and perhaps bird feeders to attract critters to your windows. To be honest, you have to kind of turn your house into a cat playground to a certain extent, especially if you only have one cat and especially when they are so young.
All of the scratch posts are sisal rope and vertical; we’ve installed posts to make sure they do not move when he scratches them. We bought them because he seems most attracted to the corner walls where he can reach high and scratch. He does use one of them every now and then but always goes back to the wall. I will look into other kinds!

I have actually been considering seeing how he interacts with other cats to see if we could have a second in the home to play with him.. I had two cats previously who got along swimmingly and always tuckered each other out and come snuggle with us after.

I know that my current cat prefers a healthy distance so I’m not upset about lack of snuggling or lap-sitting. But I’m beginning to wonder if the lack of playing helped to snowball all of this. Additionally, I know that my partner does yell at him from time to time when he does “bad” things. I plan to have a discussion with my partner after hearing everyones feedback and discussing new rules surrounding the cat and his environment
 
Top