Kitty has become increasingly aggressive and violet.

[ncommander]

My co-owned cat, Sabra, has recently become very aggressive and started attacking my mother, and now me with increasing severalty.

She just now turned my right leg into mince meat when I was sitting on my bed, and then hid from me, giving me the look that she doesn't know what she did wrong. She's been somewhat scratching at me lightly, but my entire body is covered with scratches, and she's been tearing up the apartment with gusto. Whats odd is she's fine 95% percent of the time, and then goes absolutely nuts.

I grabbed her when she came out from under the bed, and threw her in the bathroom since I'm not willing to put up with kitty attacking and constantly scratching me; the attack on my leg was simply the last straw. I don't know what's offsetting this behavior, but I can't have a cat that will run up and attack me, and I can't isolate her in an individual room long term in an attempt to re-habituate her. To further complicate the situation, my ex, who was going to take the cat, has managed to bail on me, and I place no faith in her reliability at this time w.r.t. to being able to take Sabra.

I hate to sound harsh, but if I can't fix this behavior and my ex can't pull her act together, I'm going to have to surrender Sabra to a shelter; I can't have a pet that aggressively attacks both me and my mother.

EDIT: Just saw the sticky, I'll now that the cat been regularly played to the point she gets tuckered out, and she displays no warning signs before going after either one of us. With my mom, she'll hide under the bed, wait until my mom walks close, and scratch her badly on the leg or foot. With me just now, she was walking around the bed, then reached up, and clawed the living *censored* out of my leg before trying to make a run for it.

 

[farleyv]

How old is she? How long have you had her? What are the circumstances that she came into your home? Is she spayed? Have there been any changes in her life recently? Are there other cats or animals in the home?

I would definately take her to the vet to r/o any neurological problem or other physical problem. Some here on the site swear by the feliway plug in to calm stressed animals.

Another question, is she a strictly indoor cat?

But to give her up would probably only result in her being put down due to this attack problem. Is there any chance that it is play? It is too bad she is fine 95% of the time and this 5% could cost her a happy home.

But I would definately start with a visit to the vet. An ill cat can display all kinds of weird behavior.

Please keep us posted and I hope she can settle and stay with you.

 

[ncommander]

Originally Posted by farleyv

How old is she? How long have you had her? What are the circumstances that she came into your home? Is she spayed? Have there been any changes in her life recently? Are there other cats or animals in the home?

I would definately take her to the vet to r/o any neurological problem or other physical problem. Some here on the site swear by the feliway plug in to calm stressed animals.

Another question, is she a strictly indoor cat?

But to give her up would probably only result in her being put down due to this attack problem. Is there any chance that it is play? It is too bad she is fine 95% of the time and this 5% could cost her a happy home.

But I would definately start with a visit to the vet. An ill cat can display all kinds of weird behavior.

Please keep us posted and I hope she can settle and stay with you.

She's 7-8 months of age, I've had her 4 months, she was adopted from a rescue by my ex and myself, she is spayed, nothing major compared to when we moved back to NYC, and no other animals and is strictly indoors. I don't have a vet here locally in NYC, but I can find one.

This has been an incremental problem, not something that started over night, but its gone from light scratching to having my leg shredded and this cat has been plan trouble and causing me and my mom undue amounts of stress due to constant (and when I say constant, I mean since the day we got her) whining and begging, and other behaviorial issues that my ex encouraged, and I can't now uncourage, and its at the point that I was going to give her to my ex (who wants her badly) without any resistance.

If I were to give her up, she's go to a no-kill shelter.

 

[kazanlak]

could the absence of your ex be causing frustration or despair which manifests as aggression? i've noticed that with cats, many different feelings, anger, boredom, hunger etc...have a tendency to manifest as aggression. if she was used to living with the both of you maybe the fact that one of her "parents" is gone has upset her and affected her behavior. dunno what i would suggest as a solution since if that is the problem, since i assume you won't be getting back together with the ex

 

[ncommander]

Originally Posted by Kazanlak

could the absence of your ex be causing frustration or despair which manifests as aggression? i've noticed that with cats, many different feelings, anger, boredom, hunger etc...have a tendency to manifest as aggression. if she was used to living with the both of you maybe the fact that one of her "parents" is gone has upset her and affected her behavior. dunno what i would suggest as a solution since if that is the problem, since i assume you won't be getting back together with the ex

She lives in Washington state now, I'm on the other side of the country. I didn't have any issues until we came to NYC, although she's always been a whiny cat, which has always frustrated me.

EDIT: I don't want to sound cruel or anything, but this kitty has been driving me crazy for awhile, and trying to get her to stop has been ineffective. My ex was supposed to take her, but it looks she she's simply dumped her on me, and I can't deal with this cat because its constantly high strung, whiny, and needy, behaviors my ex encouraged when we were living together since she constantly undermined my attempts to discipline Sabra when she got in trouble, and caved instantly to her demands for attention.

 

[ncommander]

so after a night of being in the living room (I didn't let her sleep in the bedroom since I'm tired of getting scratched; she's been oddly calm and she let me clip her front claws without a fight (which is very unusual). Not sure if its a sign, but at least kitty is less sharp.

 

[python]

My first stop would be a trip to the vet and a full examination carried out.

30 odd years ago, my MIL had a cat which displayed similar aggression to your cat. Fluffy would just attack from nowhere. She would hide under the bed and as you walked past, jump out, wrap her front legs round your legs, claws in as deep as she could get them, along with her teeth.

The only one, at least for a while, she didn't do that to was MIL. This behaviour gradually got worse and she was starting to attack MIL as well. Fate took a hand. She was an indoor/outdoor cat and unfortunately, she was out one day and got knocked over by a car.

At the vets she was x-rayed etc. - and an explanation for her strange and aggressive behaviour was only too plain to see. She had a slow growing brain tumour. Sadly, it was inoperable and so she was PTS. The vet said that it was a type of tumour that was present before she was born - hence her mother rejected her at birth and took a lot of persuading to nurse Fluffy.

The poor cat was terminally ill, probably in a lot of pain and scared. She couldn't help her aggression

Often there is a medical reason why a cat or any other animal acts strangely so I would most certainly find a good vet and get her checked out.

I am also more than a little perturbed at your statement of "discipline". In what way do you discipline the cat? Do you put her in another room by herself or in a crate or cat basket until she has calmed down?

Cats are also very good at sensing our emotions and as there are a lot of tensions and your ex (sounds like she was more your ex's cat) isn't there anymore, I can see why the cat could be upset.

Difficult problem but I would most definitely start trying to solve the problem by visiting a good vet.

 

[Willowy]

Be very honest with yourself....if you can't keep her, it would be best to take her to your vet and hold her while she dies. There is no such thing as a "no-kill" shelter for cats, unless it's a full sanctuary that allows the cats to live there forever, regardless of temperment. But at a regular shelter that's trying to adopt cats out, only cats who are perfect housepets are put up for adoption. Even a "no-kill" shelter will have at least a 50% kill rate on cats. And it's better for her to die at your vet's office, with you, rather than alone and scared at a shelter.

I'd also recommend a full vet workup. Sick cats can show some very weird behaviors. Also, what "discipline" methods have you been using?