Lost my temper with my cat :(

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kutubira

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I'll keep it short and come to the incident. My cat has been stressed for a while because of moving to a new house and having to live with me in a small room for a while. And I was stressful because I lost my job, and my school was not going good. 

During an ordinary day, she had her angry moments when she tried to, and most of the time succeeded to bite or scratch me. She did not come to my lap and assaulted me at any time. She also had her "cute cat" moments where she sang to me, slept on my bed, played with her toys etc.

In a moment when I was angry and she was stressful again, she attacked me. I first tried to stop her by picking her up and putting her on the floor (She climbed on me to attack me). This went on for like 10 minutes. She then managed to get a big scratch on me, which bled badly. That moment I hit her harder than I meant, and she got more aggressive. She caught my hand and bit it, and I hit her again, this time less hard. Then I threw her on my bed (Not sure how that sounds, but I went near my bed and let her go off my hands to the bed). 

After this, she took a look at me, I was looking angry, and she slowly went to the corner of the room. I was feeling bad, but I was still angry. She stood there for like 5 minutes. Then she became playful, which was a trap. She came to me to play, I let her. She climbed on my shoulder and bit my face. There's a little mark where she bit now. Feeling bad about what I did before, and guessing this was triggered by my previous bad behavior, but still being angry, I slowly hit her head, and then put her into her carrier.   

After 15-20 minutes, I opened the door of the carrier. She immediately got out of the carrier, and went to the corner of the room again. From there, she looked at me and slowly closed her eyes (I heard that this is the sign of affection, but now I think it could be something else).

After a while, she became normal, I mean not stressed. I let her out of our room, she went there, I saw her sitting in the corner of the other room. She then came to our room, drank some water, then slept on my bed. She got up when I tried to sleep, but she came to the bed while I was sleeping. 

Some unexpected stuff has been happening since that incident about which I still feel bad. First of all, she doesn't run away from me, or feel stressed around me. I expected to have a worse relationship after that, but she seems like she doesn't care. But there are some moments when I catch her looks, saying "Scr*w you, human" lol. But these were always there, I guess. She also somehow feels secure around me, enough to still jump on me to play. Although she now has the chance to go to 3 other rooms, she chooses to stay where I am. First I thought she stays here because her food is here, but she comes with me to another room as well.

Here are some photos which are taken while I'm writing this. Note that the incident is still fresh (Maybe 10 hours ago) and I wouldn't blame her if she tried to attack me again.


"What is this now, human? A selfie of me and your shirt?"


"Oh, my tail!"


"You sneaky you!"


"I don't care what you do"

Now, what is this? Did she forgive me? Or something else is happening? Is it possible that she feels forced to do what she does now because I'm the one who feeds her?

What can I do to strengthen the trust and bond between us ( Of course, first thing to do is not to hit her again, I know)? It looks like her trust and love is not affected by the incident, but it has to... 

I am confused. Help me and my cat.
 

kittywhiskers

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I feel very sad and very angry reading this.
You need to control your temper! Yes I know your cat has sharp claws and teeth but you are a fully grown man who is capable of doing serious damage to your cat.
I noticed the caption under the last photo says "I don't care what you do" and that worrys me a little. This precious baby depends on you for everything, you are her world and she looks to you for love and care and to be sitting on your lap just hours after the incident shows how much she loves you. Please don't let her down.
I think the first thing you need to do is start reading up on cat body language so you can become aware when your cat is agitated or angry.
If you feel this might happen again and you think you will lose control I suggest separating yourself from your cat, both in different rooms with the door shut so that you can both calm down.
 
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kutubira

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Hi. Thanks for the reply.

I know, this is a sad and angering matter. I feel bad about what happened as well, and I'm angry towards myself. This was not the first time she attacked me for a long period of time, so I'm pretty confident that it was one-time incident. 

But should it happen again, I think immediately exiting room or letting Miss Sakiz out of the room is an excellent idea. Thank you for that.

In fact, I am reading about cat body language. And I was aware that she was agitated. I would never react so badly to occasional biting or scratching, but this had been going for more than a month, non-stop. 

I want to cure what happened. Although it seems like there is nothing to be cured on her side, I feel bad. And I feel even worse when she comes to me to be pet, or just sleep on my lap. What she's doing is very similar to what a human would do if she did not want to give opportunity to apologize to the other party and preventing an apology by saying it's okay, everything is fine and acting like it never happened.

She still eats from my hand, you saw the photos in the OP. She still hangs around me. I really don't know what to do to make this right with her.
 

kittywhiskers

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Can I just say that even occasional biting and scratching should not be allowed while playing as this could lead to her becoming overstimulated and turning aggressive. Always stop play when this happens and go elsewhere until she has calmed down.
Keep reading as much as you can on cat behaviour and body language so you can learn even the smallest signs.
There is never ever an excuse to beat a cat!
 
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Freedom

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Get one of those toys on a string.  Remember that this is dangerous if left around, so when you are not using it, put it away in a drawer, some place she can not get it.  Use that to play and interact with her.  She can bite all she wants, and the stick at the end of the string helps keep her away from you.  In time this (along with other training)  will train her to bite away from you. 
 

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My cat gets naughty and tries and does bite. I find being stern and saying no while not reacting works best. When he stays away I IMMEDIATELY say "Good boy!!" and reward him with a treat. He "gets" it, he really does. The only thing that works on my cat --a rescued semi feral--is positive reinforcement. Sometimes I pretend to cry when he bites me. Which sometimes works too.
 

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I've had several cats, usually females, that get 'overstimulated' and will attack. Your cat may be one of them. Look for a puffed tail, dilated pupils. or a tail that is lashing back and forth. This is a warning, DO NOT try to pet or even move her, just walk away. You may want to try to distract her with a wand toy when it looks like she is ready to pounce. She looks young and will calm down as she gets older, my Chrissy would tolerate exactly 3 strokes and that was it, you will have to learn your cat's limits. Say NO loudly if she looks ready to attack, or even hiss loudly at her, that is speaking her language. When cats are physically slapped, it definitely brings out the 'rebound' effect, they will get MORE aggressive because they are frightened and in pain, not less. Dogs submit, cats are proud, beautiful creatures and are not submissive.Think of how big and mean you looked then, and you inflicted pain too, she reacted in the only way she knew if she was to survive. I know you would never mean to hurt your little girl, so look at it as a lesson learned and move on, you both need time outs in these situations. I take it she is spayed, females can definitely be aggressive when they are not and the hormones rule them. If you think she is getting more stressed and aggressive, and have ruled out any physical problems with a vet visit, you might want to try some 'calming' treats found on Amazon and at pet stores and see if that helps. Lots of playtime and physical exercise might calm her down too. My heart goes out to you, I truly hope you find a solution (and less stress in your life too) so everyone is happy. The best cat I ever owned and my 'soulmate' was a cat that sounds just like yours! I will always miss her 'crabby' little face!
 

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Wow, I'm shocked and sad to read this post. I hate to suggest this, but can you possibly rehome your cat? Or is there a rescue shelter nearby? I suggest this because it's likely this will happen again...I semi-understand your post. When I was younger, I was stressed & angry often due to be raised in a bad family with physical abuse (not towards me) & bad living conditions. Back then or even afterwards in my 20s, in anger I probably would have hit a cat if he or she was attacking me or biting. My heart would have been in the right place if I'd owned a pet then, but my mind definitely would not have.

I am older now and, after living with my sister's 4 cats whom I wouldn't have dared hurt, I got great experience watching when one of their cats would "attack". One loved scratching up feet in socks. Her husband just reacted by saying "Ow! That really hurts!!" They just let the yowling cat yowl away at midnight until he was done.

I have my own cat now and she's my first and I have only accidentally hurt her when I didn't know she was there & once when I accidentally dropped my tablet on her back when she was lying on me. She seems to know this and so forgives me and everything is great with us. She really is a semi-feral and after our first tiff when I was trying to figure out if I wanted to teach her I am "top cat", I realized to not bother because she's a really wonderful cat.

It's in cats' nature to be top of the food chain and to prove this when threatening situations arise. If situations were reversed, I'm sure you might have done the same thing if she beat you suddenly. Pretended everything was okay, got close, then attacked. Cats and dogs are like furry toddlers and should be treated as such. They do learn but they'll always have the minds of toddlers.

Your cat biting and scratching you might have been her wanting to play with you. You got her as a kitten and she might not have learned to not bite or scratch deeply. This is partly why I knew I should adopt an older cat, not a kitten, but even an older cat will possibly anger you sometimes. A kitten requires a lot of playtime.


Because I'm older and because of my experience living with someone else's cats, I've never hit my cat, even when she bites my hand. I just don't react and then since she didn't bite to break my skin, I ignore it. Same with when she scratches my hands. She's given me serious deep, claw marks but I've done nothing to her because I was carrying her when it happened and maybe she didn't want to be carried and I shouldn't have scared her by showing her my shower.

My point is maybe you're not ready for a pet like a cat or a dog. Perhaps a gerbil or fish instead or something not so complicated as a cat. Your cat looks really sad in your photos. Even though you don't think she is stressed, she must be incredibly stressed. In her mind, she wasn't attacking you when she was biting or scratching you. You beat her and put her in her carrier. You're her only world, so she has to adapt to this new nightmare situation by "making nice".

If you're determined to keep her and try to win her trust again, then you should take some anger management classes but that would just add stress to your current situation.

Unless your cat is rabid and truly attacking you from having rabies, you should never hit your small cat. She's about 1/20th your size and has a toddler mind. You need to think what you can do differently with a pet like a cat.
 

BonitaBaby

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You need to think what you can do differently with a pet like a cat.
What I mean by this is if your cat is biting and scratching you, you have to pause and ask yourself why this might be. Could she really be attacking you? Probably not or else you'd really be shredded. She might not have learned not to bite and scratch if she was taken too early from her mother & litter or she might be trying to start a play session. Those are just two ideas out of many. Then, you should react accordingly. If it might be that your active kitten wants/needs to play, then you could take 5 minutes and play with her. It's not fair to kittens when people adopt them 'cause they're so cute, but don't plan to plan with them often enough or get them a playmate. If you can't pause to try to reason out what's going on with the way your cat is behaving, you should quickly remove yourself from your cat. Leave your room and go for a walk or something.
 

ritz

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If this is unusual behavior (can't tell from your email), your cat *might* be ill. They can't say, "take me to the vets"; they can only act out.
Definitely read up about body language. I have found that I need to read all of Ritz' body language, not just, for example, her tail. When I pet her, I stop several times just to be sure; if she leans in to me, has a sweet expression on her face, then I continue. And, I never position my body so that it would make it hard for her to simply get up and leave, i.e., I don't 'corner' her with my body.
Just as sometimes toddlers and cats need a time out, may I suggest (as you have yourself suggested), you take a time out. A walk around the block, checking the litter box, doing dishes, taking out the garbage, etc., might be what the doctor/vet orders.
 

p3 and the king

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I am inclined to agree with the "Take me to the vet" statement.  Although it sounds like you are not in a position right now to pay a vet bill.  A lot of it could be because she has been kept in a confined space.  Cats usually don't like closed doors or confined spaces all of the time.  Is she able to get out and explore yet? 

Maybe right now, you can do a little proactive stuff yourself if you cannot get her to a vet.  Take her temperature make sure it's OK.  A cats normal and healthy temp is pretty close to a humans at 99.5-102.5 degrees Fahrenheit.  A fever is anything of excess of 103.5. 

If it's normal pay attention to her eating, drinking and stools.  Is everything OK and normal.  Check the stools for worms.  If she has had fleas at all, then she needs to be dewormed.  And treated for tapeworms... Which you have to get at Petco, PetSmart or some other pet specialty store.  The dewormers are Walmart do not treat tapeworms.  It can be pretty expensive, expect to spend $20-$30 for it at least.  But it's still cheaper than a vet.  If you notice any other changes, such as her mucus membranes (nose, mouth and eyes) seem dry or hot to touch excessively wet, then she will need to see a vet asap.  Because these are signs of an infection. 
 
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kutubira

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Hi all!

I am sorry that I have not replied, I am busy and I don't check the forums if I don't get e-mail notification or I wonder something else. That's why I'm late. I can imagine some of you guys are worried about Sakiz, the wonderful Van cat; is she still at my home? Is she on the streets or on another home? Is she trapped somewhere in my house, only getting food and water? And questions like that. So here is an update:

First of all, I'm not a native English speaker, so when I read my thread title again, it sounded like I regularly beat Sakiz, but that is not the case. The case in the OP is the only case so far. 

She's content of her life. She has full access to 3 rooms and the entrance. She has limited access to the kitchen, no access to the WC, and she stays away from bathroom because she locked herself in accidentally, and she adored my mum when she got her out of the bathroom. 

She is a sweet cat. She greets me with great affection and love when I get home. I always find her near the door, looking into my eyes. I pick her up and carry her around for a while. Then I put her on her favourite sofa and pet her for a while. Then she leaves until she feels like being pet or has a need. I study and when I do, she comes to my table and sits there. If she gets bored, she plays with my pen, this is the moment when I get my backup pen and hold the other pen in my other hand so while she is playing with the pen, I get to go on studying. 

I made a place for her in a high place. I had soft shoes and put them up on my closet, and she found a way to climb there and she usually sleeps there, sometimes she stays near the windows. She sometimes jumps from that place to my bed if she feels my bed is more comfortable, which is the most of the times. 

She still attacks me. I can't find any reason to that. That is totally random. I mind my own business and she minds her own, and out of blue, she gets anxious and attacks me. I get a tennis ball, and throw it and she goes after the ball. Sometimes I hug her, and she calms down. Sometimes she doesn't go away whatever I do. I just hold her and put her out of the room or I get out of the room. 

Lately, she attacked my face. Twice. She never did this. I took her to the vet. Vet told me that she's fine. But her bites get stronger and stronger. Sometimes she doesn't use her full power, but when she does, she makes it hurt. I immediately get out of the room I was in, leave her in there.

In one of her calm moments, I clipped her claws. She doesn't cause much damage to me by scratching. 

Her aggressiveness goes on. And there is no pattern. Sometimes she comes out of the other room just to bite me. Sometimes she gets mad while she was calmly sleeping on my lap and bites my hand. I can still feel "play" bites and "warning" bites. But there are definitely "I wanna hurt you" bites.

She eats from my hand. That is another detail I want to share.

By the way, I put things on their way. I have a job, and my school is not so stressful now and going well. I stated this many times in my posts, Sakiz is my biggest supporter when it comes to studying, so I increased my studying hours just to please her. Like I said, she gets near my book, lies down and watches my pen move.

I want to thank @KittyWhiskers  for his/her suggestion about separating myself from her. I get less damage this way, but I'm not sure if that helps her.

@misterwhiskers, saying no never worked. Pretending that it hurt works but it's totally random. Sometimes I push her and turn the other way. She either gets to my hand and licks it or attacks it harder. I can't seem to find a solution to that. I think she sometimes understands that I hurt, but that's what she wants. I don't know how to make peace with her. 

@Di and Bob, Most of the times, she loves me. She always sleeps with me. Last night, she hugged me. Those were priceless moments. And this morning, she slept while she grabbed my leg. I did not move. I'll post pictures. I really need a solution to this. I LOVE her. And she loves me. But I think she hates that she loves me. And that hurts, really. I'm trying to make it right by her, but I don't know how. She just does not stop being randomly aggressive to me. I came to the site to get you guys updated and ask for solution again.

@Bonitababy, I sometimes feel her dilemma, she likes to be around me and she is afraid of me. Imagine loving something that frightens you. I totally get this, and I certainly don't blame her for her behaviour. However, why I got her was not just that she looked cute. She was damn cute, that's there. But the guy who owns her mother couldn't afford to take care of her, and he was going to give her to someone who I knew would hurt her. I knew, because that wouldn't be the first pet of that person. This was the time I was considering having a cat, because I love their nature, being independent and having a character. I thought I could take better care of her.

Guess I was wrong. 

Shelter is a no. And I did not look for a new owner, but as you can imagine, that's because I don't want her to leave. But I tried to give her to a friend for a couple of days. According to her, she stayed in a corner of the home for 3 days, and when I came to pick her was the happiest moment for her. Is it me or it it her home? I don't know. I like to think it was me she missed. 

I want to try something to make this right. I just don't know what. From now on, I'll try to distract her to something else when she attacks me, but I think I can do better than this.

@Ritz, I took her to the vet. He told me that she's a healthy and (I am not sure if this is true but,) happy cat. I never corner her, especially after I did what I told in the OP, because a) I understand what she feels, b) She attacks me, c) Yesterday she went for my face, so cornering her would be more stupid than ever.

@P3 and The King, I know I don't  sound like a guy who would take care of his pet even when he can't take his own, I am :) I took her to the vet. Vet says everything's okay. Like I told in the beginning of this post, she has full access to 3 rooms which are connected to each other, and the entrance. She doesn't like the bathroom now and she is not allowed in the WC (The door is always shut anyway). Thanks for the product suggestion, but I'm not in the US, so Walmart and Amazon mean nothing to me :) But I'll ask the vet about worms. 

I was hoping that all the aggression was caused by the fact that I and she had to live in a small room together, but now she has all the room (even before the sad event), and she was still angry. This is now understandable, because I hurt her, but I was really hoping she would get better as her space got bigger.

@desigirlmonica, Yep. She allowed me to do it and I clipped her claws while talking soothingly. She just watched me do it. You'd expect her to attack in that moment, right? That's what makes me confused. It looks totally random.

I'm going to try to distract her with toys or pen or whatever I got in my hands in that moment. If that won't solve, I'll leave the room for her to calm down. 

But if this aggression is towards me (which sounds like it is), I have to do more. I have to be able to communicate to her that I am sorry and I sincerely wish we can go back to being great buddies. That's where I get clueless. That's where I need help. 

Here are some pictures I took this morning. I was working on my computer and she jumped from the window to my bed, and took this position:


She then got up, took a look around. Then got this position:

 

kittywhiskers

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Thank you for the update. I'm glad everything is working out for you and that you have a job and school is less stressful.
It sounds as though you are making progress with Sakiz with regards to understanding her body language. Keep up the good work.
Why she randomly attacks you is puzzling. If the vet said there are no health problems the only other things would be that she is either bored and wants to play or is over stimulated from being petted too much. I would watch her tail, if it starts swishing then leave her alone as she is probably about to bite.
We care for a stray who will randomly bite even if we are not petting him and we can't figure out why (we think maybe a human has been nasty to him in the past) but his tail is a very good indication to leave him alone. He is getting better the more he learns to trust us.
Sakiz is beautiful. From your photo's it certainly looks as though she adores you!
 
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kutubira

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@KittyWhiskers,

I think I figured out most part of her behaviour. For instance, she comes to me and shows me her neck when she wants to be pet. She then purrs, and sometimes she backs a little and I stop even though she still purrs. Sometimes I go her to pet her, whenever she doesn't want that, she takes my hand and puts it away. That's how she says "Not now". I walk away. 

What I find interesting is that, when she is overstimulated by something, she runs around in the house for no reason. She jumps at the furniture, sometimes jumps on me (but not to hurt - just to pass to another place), then she runs to the other room. And I can hear her running, which is odd because when Sakiz wants to do something, she's so silent that you wouldn't hear her even if you held your breath. She then calms down, walks slowly and after a while, she just sits somewhere. 

If this is overstimulation, then it's wrong to say that she attacks me when she's overstimulated. Because she never attacks me when this happens. 

I asked about her aggression to some other people. Most of them told me that it might be because I was petting her too much. But most of the time, she comes out of nowhere, comes to me, bites my hand. First I take this as a way for asking for play. Sometimes it is, sometimes not. 

Actually I can safely say that especially after the event, she never bit me while I was petting her. I always knew my limits when it comes to petting, before and after the event, and I think she appreciated that. She "held" my hand with her teeth, but never bit me. I can tell the difference. Because sometimes that's how she initiates the petting session. She gently holds my hand with her teeth, then looks at me. If she wants me to stop and she decides to tell me that by her teeth, then she gently takes my hand between her teeth, and looks away. 

As for the body language while attacking, I cannot tell any stress or aggression signs (the ones that are mentioned in this thread or any other signs) until I react to her action. I try not to react, but sometimes she hurts, so I have to react. Even putting my hand away makes her angry! 

It took a while, but I learnt to manage most of her attacks, not all of course. But what puzzles me is the reason. Sometimes she comes from other room to attack me, sometimes she gets up from her comfy spot to attack me. As if someone is whispering to her to attack me.

I hope the pictures show her real feelings. But, if they do, this would make things sadder, because that would mean she'd be posting to a human forum about me if they had a this kind of forum available to them. It would mean we're just two confused friends.

Man I wish she could know how to write or talk in human.
 

kittywhiskers

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Ok, so I have read through all your other threads about Sakiz to see if there are any clues as to why she is randomly attacking you.
I'm not an expert on cat behaviour by any means but I'm just making observations based on my own experience with cats.
Firstly, you got her when she was just 4 weeks old. This is way too young to be away from her mother and siblings. Cats learn boundaries from their mother when they are young and Sakiz has never had this so she doesn't know when her playing is too rough. I think this may be where the problem lies.
You also said that you used to let her play with your hands when she was little. Never let a cat play with any part of your body, it's easy enough to do when they are cute little kittens but it quickly turns into an issue when they still do this as they grow up. As you have found out.
How long is Sakiz on her own during the day? Maybe if she has spent the whole day alone she is desperate to release her pent up energy with some playtime and knowing no boundaries this ends up being quite rough.
Never use physical punishment for discipline no matter how gentle as this will never work and could very well make her more aggressive or even lead to her being stressed and fearful causing other problems.
Does she have a cat tree or scratch pole to be able to get her claws into? If not then I would definitely invest in one, preferably one that has a few levels so that she can get up high and place it near a window for her to look out.
Try not to take her actions personally, cats don't do things just to annoy us, they don't think like we do. Always reward good behaviour and ignore, walk away from bad behaviour.
In my experience the best way to get a cat (or any animal for that matter) to behave the way you want is to teach them with love, understanding, LOTS of playtime and a TON of patience!
 

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Yeah..I agree with Kittywhiskers..Momma cats discipline kittens..

I guess you are the Momma cat now

I have a male that would get out of control and scare me,even hurt me..

separation,playing dead,ignoring bad behaviors..I mean shut down and keep yourself from getting injured..
 

p3 and the king

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I am happy for you and for her.  At least she isn't ill.  Sometimes we just don't know what causes certain behaviors.  It's just a fact.  Cats like it that way... To have a little mystery about them.  ;)  I hope things continue to improve for you and her!  Best of luck to you both!
 
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kutubira

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@KittyWhiskers  Thank you for going through my posts about this beauty. This means a lot to me, and I'm sure Sakiz appreciates this as well :)

About the age I took her, people around me told me that after 4 weeks it is fine. I think they only meant the physical health (They don't need mom's milk and they learnt self-care etc.). I assumed she's 20 in human ages, but she was more like 3 years old, I realize this after reading your comment. She's not even a teenager... That might explain some of her aggression.

I'm not sure if she doesn't know when to stop playing rough, where to draw the line. Because sometimes she takes a defensive posture after attacking me, and I think that means she knows she attacked. And if she bites me while we're playing, it's never too rough. But combined with overstimulation, maybe she sometimes misses the line and hurts me without knowing. I'll observe her attacks closer.

Sakiz is generally alone for 7-8 hours. It's never more than 8 hours. She has many toys around, balls, sticks, cords etc. These of course get boring quick. I bought an interactive toy (A stick rotates under a cover), but she figured out how to catch the stick and make it stop. So that's my wasted $20 there lol. I'm hiding it from her for now to be able to use it later.

She has a scratching post. She uses her time to time, but her favourite scratching post is actually my bed, which is fine. Also I observe her scratching the carpet sometimes. Maybe the scratching post is not good enough for her?

It makes sense that her aggression is caused by the fact that I might have disrupt her social development. Because there are some things that are going better comparing to the day she came her home. 

@smokem  Playing dead is a good idea, if I do nothing when she bites, she just leaves me alone sometimes. But not always. Sometimes I'm forced to react, either by holding her and putting her away or putting my hand away. 

Separation also good idea but there are times when she instantly calls for me, and when I open my door, she rubs herself to me. That makes me feel awful. 

@P3 and The King, I know. I love  her mysterious behaviours. She's like the friend who's never the same as yesterday. Everything mysterious about her except aggression is great. For instance, there was a time when she stared at me near her bowl and turn it over while I'm looking at her. Then I tried to pick up her food and she tried to help by collecting her food together :)

By the way, in the last two days, she bit me four or five times. Only one of them was for no apparent reason, she just came and bit me. I made a sound with my mouth and she stopped it. One of them was an attack to my feet when I was lying on my bed, which was not actually an attack, it was more like a game.

In one of them, I picked her up to take her from kitchen to the living room. She turned to me and bit me looking into my eyes. Her posture looked frightened and defensive. Her mouth was open after her attack, and her claws were open as well. But she did not try to escape. She just stayed on my hands. I decided to stay like that to see what else she can do. She stayed like that, and I tried to pet her slowly. She returned to her normal posture and then I released her from my hands. She's generally okay with me picking her up. If she doesn't like it, she just tries to escape and I let her go. 

4 times in 2 days is progress. I hope it decreases to "Once whenever she feels sick".

Thanks for your support, people. I'll keep you guys updated and I hope we won't have aggression issues big enough to require another thread, so I'll post here if I have any other problems with her aggression. 
 

kittywhiskers

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Just one thing. You said she has toys left out for her including cords. Playing with cords or string is fun for cats, my two love playing with string but it should never be left out for unsupervised play as it's dangerous. She might eat it or become tangled in it.

Owning a cat is a new experience for you and every cat is different. The more time you are together the more you will understand her.

The Cat Site is always here for any questions or worries you may have. There are a LOT of very experienced cat owners here. Good luck!
 
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