Im Desperate Now ... Help (cat Really Gone Crazy)

[talkingpeanut]

Do you have your cat back yet?

 

[orange&white]

I have one cat who is so laid back that I can pick him up during a full sleep and hug him. I have another cat who I wouldn't dare touch if she's asleep. Her self-preservation instincts are strong, so startling her would certainly cause an attack. That applies whether she's sleeping, or if I were to try to walk up behind her and pick her up without her expecting it. When you bring your cat back home, everyone in your family needs to understand not to bother the cat while it's sleeping. Speak to the cat before approaching him so he is not surprised by your presence. You can talk to the cat to get it to waken before trying to touch or startle it.

That vet is a crook. If he seriously thinks your cat is a physical threat to humans in general, he wouldn't be wanting to sell it to different humans.

Your cat just needs a calm environment and to have his boundaries respected.

 

[Furballsmom]

She had deep cuts all over her arms and legs and had to go to a doctor. They got infected despite antibiotics.

To chikoresc19 please don't think of this happening with your Siamese. If your emotions are broadcasting concern, fear, upset and lack of trust, your cat WILL pick up on those emotions.

If there is a health issue with your furbaby, any emotions that aren't positive ones can cause more stress to that problem. If there isn't a health issue, your stress can cause your cat to be unsure and insecure, and that's also a problem.

Remember how when you let him out after that week and he was acting scared until you petted him, and then he felt calmed enough to eat? That's what you need to focus on.

 

[inkysmom]

Yes I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you or anyone. I was just trying to say that redirected aggression is more common than people realize and there are ways to help the cat. Even playing rough with a cat or changes at home can stress them out. They're sensitive to the household and definitely to our moods and emotions. So if you're afraid of your cat and think it's crazy and planning to hurt or killed you, it will pick up on your fear and be scared too.

 

[Shane Kent]

chikoresc19 I hope you get the cat behavior problem resolved sooner than later. I realize other have pointed it out but it is really good advice. When dealing with the cat, if you feel stressed out take a step back, a deep breath and calm yourself down. The cat is likely to pick up on your anxiety and make things worse.

My cat Taz gets extremely aggressive if he sees or smells a neighbor's cat on our property. He has actually charged at me. I give him a bit of time and space when he is like that so he can calm himself down. I avoid letting it stress me out and he has become easier to deal with.

 

[ineedhelpnow]

Please update us on whether or not you have him back.

Once you do, inspect his body for any physical trauma he may have suffered. Look at his eyes, mouth, ears, and around his face. Gently cup your hands together around his neck and run your hands down his body and around his front paws, down the abdomen and to his hind legs, gently look around the genitalia and tail and if anywhere feels sore, bruised, abnormal, or he makes any sudden movements or noises then look more closely. Let us know if he's okay.

He should also be properly nourished, meaning that he is consuming enough food and water every day to sustain himself. If your cat ever stops eating, then hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease, can occur after 48 hours of malnutrition and is a fatal condition if left untreated, and can lead to permanent damage and liver failure. Monitor how much food he is eating. He should be at least eating 55kcal per kilogram of body weight every day. Usually the food you feed him will have that information on the label. You can test if he is dehydrated by gently pulling on the skin under his neck and it should move back into place quickly, in less than half a second. Do the same for the bit of skin over the top of his neck, in between the shoulder blades. If you suspect he is not eating or drinking enough, please let us know.

Urine and stool output are also vital. If he has any problems in the bathroom, that may indicate much more serious problems.

I hope you can find a new, proper vet asap. It's important you let them know about all of past history, including these events. Mind I ask what country you live in? I know that in some places around the world, including my own country, the welfare of animals is generally disregarded unless they can be used for labor or treated as fashionable accessories. I think your vet may be an animal trafficker.

 

[ineedhelpnow]

To chikoresc19 please don't think of this happening with your Siamese. If your emotions are broadcasting concern, fear, upset and lack of trust, your cat WILL pick up on those emotions.

If there is a health issue with your furbaby, any emotions that aren't positive ones can cause more stress to that problem. If there isn't a health issue, your stress can cause your cat to be unsure and insecure, and that's also a problem.

Remember how when you let him out after that week and he was acting scared until you petted him, and then he felt calmed enough to eat? That's what you need to focus on.

I agree. If you think your vet may be giving more stress to your animal, or you can provide adequate care at home for your animal, you may need to consider getting an alternative vet who cares more about animals or reconsider their treatment plan. Isolation is traumatizing for animals. You should never try to punish an animal by isolating them or physically harming them. Would you beat up somebody with dementia because they keep forgetting things? Would you leave them on an ice floe because they lost your keys? It's not a cats fault that they are misbehaving.

 

[1 bruce 1]

You should never try to punish an animal by isolating them or physically harming them. Would you beat up somebody with dementia because they keep forgetting things?

Sadly, this goes on in the nursing home world!!!!!!!!!! Elderly people are not always treated nicely. So sad..
Where did this "beat the crap out of them" mind set come from anyways (not you ineedhelpnow , just in general) as it seem sadly encouraged by well meaning folks..

I read a really cool story about a farm pup that did his farm chores with some really awesome style. The owner wasn't a trial person but, encouraged by his dogs style and finesse, grudgingly decided to enter this dog into a sheep herding trial and was really appalled when the dog blew the very large outrun and came back to the handler minus the sheep. Handler assumed the dog wasn't used to this situation and the next day the dog did the same thing. The handler admitted he was a little pissed off at the dog and other handlers told him the dog needed an "attitude adjustment" (with dog folks this isn't always a nice thing for the dog.) Handler knew this was a very nice dog and did not understand why he perform perfectly on the farm but blow it at a trial.
Thank goodness this handler realized that his dog, at home, performed a very short outrun and fetched the sheep. The dog went to the vet and found he was in heart failure! The large outrun was too much for him but the short outrun was not. As he stated, "my dog ran out of heart."
Moral is, sometimes these little things we want to secretly wring their necks for will manifest into something larger that's health related. The more experience you get, the more you recognize this stuff...but now is a great time to learn when something isn't right...

 

[Margret]

One evening I was watching television, which was situated at the foot of our bed. My Pretzel was lying next to me, sound asleep, and at the commercial I moved, thinking of getting up and going to the kitchen. This startled Pretzel awake, fight or flight kicked in and she opted for flight and leaped out of bed. Unfortunately, her unplanned emergency leap involved a paw in my face, with the result that I got a gash above my right eyebrow which necessitated a trip to the emergency room and a tetanus shot.

The E.R. doctor was under the impression that I was the victim of a vicious attack from a cat who should probably be put down. But was I? Of course not! From Pretzel's perspective, here's what really happened:

Pretzel was sleeping soundly next to one of her loving humans when the human was attacked by an unknown monster. The human moved to defend herself and her beloved cat. The cat awakened and got out of the human's way, but not fast enough. Even though the cat never actually saw the monster for herself it was clearly a vicious one, because her human was injured before successfully fighting it off. Just think how terrible it would have been if the cat didn't have the lightning reflexes that allowed her to get away in time!

Cats have very active imaginations (ever seen a cat stalk something that isn't there?), and they don't necessarily distinguish between imagination and reality or between dream and waking experiences, but, just like humans, they do their best to make sense of what happens to them. But because they're cats, not humans, their version of "sense" isn't necessarily something that we would recognize as sensible. Your cat's version of what has recently happened to him is probably along the lines of:

Humans are fickle. I thought these humans loved me, but first they attacked me when I was sleeping, then they locked me away, and then they gave me to this horrid person who put me in a cage! I guess they don't love me after all.

I very much hope you can still get him back from the "vet" and that you can win his trust once again, but it won't be easy. He has good reason to be afraid.

Margret

 

[1 bruce 1]

One evening I was watching television, which was situated at the foot of our bed. My Pretzel was lying next to me, sound asleep, and at the commercial I moved, thinking of getting up and going to the kitchen. This startled Pretzel awake, fight or flight kicked in and she opted for flight and leaped out of bed. Unfortunately, her unplanned emergency leap involved a paw in my face, with the result that I got a gash above my right eyebrow which necessitated a trip to the emergency room and a tetanus shot.

The E.R. doctor was under the impression that I was the victim of a vicious attack from a cat who should probably be put down. But was I? Of course not! From Pretzel's perspective, here's what really happened:

Pretzel was sleeping soundly next to one of her loving humans when the human was attacked by an unknown monster. The human moved to defend herself and her beloved cat. The cat awakened and got out of the human's way, but not fast enough. Even though the cat never actually saw the monster for herself it was clearly a vicious one, because her human was injured before successfully fighting it off. Just think how terrible it would have been if the cat didn't have the lightning reflexes that allowed her to get away in time!

Cats have very active imaginations (ever seen a cat stalk something that isn't there?), and they don't necessarily distinguish between imagination and reality or between dream and waking experiences, but, just like humans, they do their best to make sense of what happens to them. But because they're cats, not humans, their version of "sense" isn't necessarily something that we would recognize as sensible. Your cat's version of what has recently happened to him is probably along the lines of:

Humans are fickle. I thought these humans loved me, but first they attacked me when I was sleeping, then they locked me away, and then they gave me to this horrid person who put me in a cage! I guess they don't love me after all.

I very much hope you can still get him back from the "vet" and that you can win his trust once again, but it won't be easy. He has good reason to be afraid.

Margret

This solidifies my anti-Disney views of how cats and dogs (and other animals) really view the world!
It's great fun to personify them and think " if this cat/dog were a famous human, who would they be" right down to " if this cat/dog were a breakfast cereal, what would they be?" (We like "Post Toasties" for a dog that likes being burrowed in a crazy amount of blankets during the cold weather. He even responds to the words "Post Toasties" now!)
Our guys are spoiled. They're talked to like they're people and have personalities, quirks, likes, dislikes, just like any other living being. Our dogs are worked hard and loved harder, and we make up fun sayings or thoughts for them based on those personalities. We make them out to be dignified but when the dignity wears off they are still dogs and enjoy a good roll in cow crap =D
Our cats are no different. Their personalities are there, their quirks are there, they are who they are and we have fun with it.
But at the end of the day this is just good fun. Our dogs and cats are NOT little people in fur coats. We pretend they are sometimes (we're not perfect) but a cat will react like a cat and a dog will react like a dog and a goat will react like a goat in the face of danger, and their definition of danger sometimes is so NOT ours and we wonder why the heck they reacted so dramatically.
If I woke up and some thing (familiar or not) had their claws (hands/arms) around me, I would freak out. I'm not feral (most days) and sometimes we see wild reactions from a species (cats) that are domesticated, but as "domestic" as we feel they really are.

 

[chikoresc19]

Sorry guys i didn't update you about the issue, unfortunately my familly was too scared to agree that he comes back, tried to convince them in everyway but unfortunately they refused, thanks everyone who replied to my thread it's been a good one.

 

[ineedhelpnow]

Sorry guys i didn't update you about the issue, unfortunately my familly was too scared to agree that he comes back, tried to convince them in everyway but unfortunately they refused, thanks everyone who replied to my thread it's been a good one.

I'm at a loss for words. You need to talk to them again, you can't let this happen to your kitty. If there is absolutely no way your family will let them back into the house, are there any shelters, any humane societies who can take him? You can't let your vet keep him, you need to get him back asap or he may be a goner. Please let me know what country you live in so I can give a list.

 

[inkysmom]

This may sound judgmental but you need to take that cat back from that awful vet and either give him to another friend or family member who will commit to keeping him or give him to a guaranteed NO KILL rescue or shelter immediately. If they demand a rescue fee, then your family needs to pay it since they're condemning this poor cat to an awful life out of fear and not actual facts or being willing to learn. Ignorance should cost them to save the poor cat from suffering, torture and abuse.

Once he's safe, I'd report the horrible vet to the veterinary licensing board.

That's the decent and responsible thing to do rather than just abandoning the poor helpless cat to a potentially horrible suffering end

 

[Furballsmom]

I think the OP is gone. I got to thinking that the OP mentioned Siamese are royalty in his country. I'm hoping against hope that means this meezer ends up in a home with another family, possibly even well treated.
I may be a dreamer but even so, I'll hang my hat on that good thought and keep this cat in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[chikoresc19]

The more i thought about your guy last night the more it reminded me of my big guy, it was several years ago, and i had kind of forgotten. He is the sweetest, most gentle lovable cat ever, would never hurt anyone. But he sleeps hard. I remembered one time he was sound asleep on the couch, i walked by and just reached down to touch him. Startled him awake and he came out fighting, teeth and claws. I could tell he was a bit disorientated, he had been sleeping hard, and he didn't know who, or what i was. This is survival instinct. Many animals, and even some people have this fight or flight response if touched or startled when sleeping. I am careful not to touch my guy unless he is awake and aware. If i need to move him or something i talk softly to him, until i know he is awake and aware.

i'm curious, what happened to your cat? and incase you kept him, did he stop acting aggressive ?

 

[duckpond]

i'm curious, what happened to your cat? and incase you kept him, did he stop acting aggressive ?

I still have him. The only time he has been aggressive is if i startle him awake. I just make sure to never do that. If he is sleeping i talk him awake, i dont touch him until i know he is awake and aware. I dont come up on him suddenly and grab him, i make sure he knows im there, and who i am. You don't want to startle, Scare, or corner any animal, it kick in the survival instinct and they will try to fight. So will many people.

Once i realized he had a problem with this i just make sure not to approach him, unless he knows its me. we have never had another problem in 3 years or so.

 

[duckpond]

Any updates on your cat? is he home with you now?