little miss psycho

[judi k]

About four years ago, I finally convinced my husband to let me get a cat. We adopted Anastasia from a shelter. She was with the same shelter twice before we got her (she is an escape artist), but we have managed to keep her. Even though her name is Anastasia, she won't answer to it- she'll only answer to Kitty.

She is very lovable and affectionate, but doesn't like you to cuddle with her if you try to hold your arm around her -- she likes to have her escape route.

Every once in awhile, out of the blue, she will just go PSYCHO. She'll run from one end of the house to the other, and attack anything that moves (or that she thinks moves).

Lately, she will jump up on my lap, lick my chin a few times (Kitty kisses, as we say here), and then suddenly bite my chin. She doesn't break the skin, but it hurts!!! I don't know what's behind this new behavior, but I definitely don't like it!! Any suggestions??

 

[sandie]

Well, kitty probably had a bad experience as a kitten. If she was in a shelter, theres no doubt in my mind. As far as the running around the house. She is probably letting go of pent up energy. Cats really do need to stay active. This is why we always tell people 2 cats are usually better than one. They can play with each other. Of course this works best when they are little. As for the biting the chin, she really is just playing with you. She does not know this hurts you. If she was being aggressive, she would break some skin. I would either clap really loud and say a firm no and then put her down or you can gently tap her on the nose and say no, then put her down. Usually if you keep it up, they get the idea that when they bite, the attention stops. It takes months to years to undo the social behavior you are talking about. It may take that long for her to really trust you and know you are not going to leave her. Once she has gotten the idea, she may want to be your lap kitty.

 

[judi k]

I would like to get another cat, but Kitty does NOT play well with others. If she sees another animal - another cat , or a dog, or even a squirrel or bird outside- she wants to attack. She hisses and growls, fur stands up, and she will bite us if she can't get to the other animal. (not hard , but you get what I mean).

We went out of town last October and I was going to leave her with my friend (who has a cat). I took her over to the apartment to see how she would react, and she was fine at first. Walked all around the apartment exploring, sniffed the cat food, sniffed the litter box, but when Sammy came out of the bedroom, she went crazy! (I'm glad I was holding her when Sammy came out or she would have been hurt).

She really is affectionate, and she loves to sleep on my legs when I'm sitting in the recliner or laying down, but she doesn't want to let you wrap your arms around her and hold her.

 

[sandie]

Time is really the only way with cats. I have had cats from all different backgrounds. I have 11 right now not including the 3 kittens I will find homes for. Usually if they were traumatized as kittens, it just takes the love and understanding of their humans. My moms cat was "neglected" as a kitten. He didn't get lots of love or ANY training. He would attack hands whenever you got close. After my mom started working with him, he decided he would love to sit with her. Over 3 years she has almost got a 100% lap cat. I am sure within the next year he will be 100%. Just be patient and she will come around. I would just let her run when she needs to and give her a variety of toys to choose from. Change them out from week to week. Theres no sense in having another cat if it's going to do more harm than good. I am glad she found a home willing to work with her. Most cats aren't quite as lucky. I wish you all the luck in the world!!

 

[judi k]

We all love Kitty. She doesn't seem to like to play with cat toys. She'll play with a feather teaser for awhile, then attack the feather until it's completely destroyed. The thing she seems to enjoy playing with the most is one of my headbands- she'll bat it around and throw it up in the air and just go nuts with it. This is the same way she will play with a mouse if she is able to find one when she "hunts" (she's an indoor cat; we used to have a mouse problem when we got her, but not anymore! Every once in awhile one will come in the house and she will play with it after maiming it. Depending on how long it's been since the last one got in, she may even forget to main it and the fun just goes on until she finally kills it or we take it away from her.)

When I was growing up, we got a cat from friends of the family that had been abused. Gypsy was about a year old when we got her; the family we got her from got rid of her because their kids were cruel to her-- one of the nicer things the boys did was try to flush her down the toilet whenever mom wasn't around. Gypsy was afraid of visitors, until they had come over a lot of times, but she would always let us cuddle with her. She felt safe with us, but maybe the biggest thing that helped her was the presence of my kitten we got after a few months of her coming to live with us

 

[sandie]

This really belongs in the health forum, but I just want to make sure and warn you about worms. If she plays with and eats mice, make sure you take her to the vet or buy a de wormer to give her every 6 months or so. They get roundworms from rodents. Just a little prevention for ya. Hehe, maybe you can buy her a pack of cheap headbands!!

 

[judi k]

Thanks. The vet already warned us about worms, and told us to bring her in if we noticed any signs of them, also told us to try to keep her from eating mice if possible. But they didn't tell us she could get them from playing with mice. I guess I'll just buy lots more headbands for her!!!

 

[deb25]

Hi Judi!

Neither of my cats seem to go for commercial cat toys either. But both like to chase ping pong balls! Since the balls are so light, they bounce all over when the cats bat at them. My crazy little Joey takes no interest in toys that are supposed to be for cats, but likes certain pieces that belong to my kids' Lego sets. He totes them around and then puts them in an old sneaker I leave laying around for him. Then he entertains himself (and me too) by digging them out of the shoe. He uses his front paws like a raccoon to pick the things up. One piece is rod-shaped. When Joey walks around with it in his mouth, it looks like he's smoking a cigarettte! The one commercial thing he likes is a carpeted cat tower. It's like one of those expensive ones that costs $200 (out of my budget). This one has 3 levels and a tension bar that goes all the way to the ceiling. I picked it up at Wal-Mart for 30 bucks. Joey really likes it.

 

[dejolane]

My husband thinks Bella is psycho because she attacks Thunder all the time.