New Cat, Growling & Hissing

[maggiedemi]

Has he had a vet check to make sure his health is okay? Been treated for fleas and worms? I know when my female cat doesn't feel good, she can be a bit hissy. I didn't do the "ignore" thing with my cats. I took a different approach and spent a lot of time with them and just got them involved in my daily life. I talked to them constantly and taught them a lot of words.

 

[Twinklesized]

Yes. He's been to the vet and he's healthy.

He doesn't get involved in my daily living. I talk to him every day but he hisses and growls at me. Very gentle approaches to pet him have given me wounds and bruises. I'm at the end of my rope with him. I tried to pet him with a long stick but he goes wild. Spitting and pissing himself, growling and hissing like I'm trying to kill him. Any attempts to socialize with him are all for nothing!

I'm losing hope with him. I have seen some attempts by him to be less fearful but I'm beginning to think this is a semiferal cat that someone tried to bring indoors, failed, and pawned him off on me.

So unless anyone knows why this dude is actively seeking me out to attack me after three weeks of working with him slowly and patiently instead of defensively being a grump if I get to close to feed him (etc) and has some advice for me?

I just feel like I'm over it. There's no house cat things happening with him. I anticipated a scared cat and thought he's be a companion cat as he was grandma's cat but I think the story was a lie. That said, this literal wild child doesn't deserve to die.

What do I do with this angry ball of antisocial?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - oh my goodness!

Can you try Feliway products, and there are other products with different ingredients such as L-Tryphophan and casein if the feliway doesn't work.

Try Spraying/rubbing the Feliway on your clothing.

There is Zylkene, Calming Care, Calm-o-mile, Sentry, Natures Miracle calming spray, Vetri-Science's Composure is another item to look at, Pet Remedy (it has valerian) is yet another, as is Essential Pet Pet-ease, Only Natural Pet (brand and website) has a calming product, Pet Naturals also has one I believe.
Lambert Vet Supply is a website to look at, and of course amazon and chewy, also there's Petwishpros, drsfostersmith, animaleo.

There are also a couple of recent discussions about calming items, here's the link to one thread. Post #6 in this has a link to the second discussion.
Calming Treats?

Cat Aggression Toward People
A Feral Cat Or A Stray Cat? How To Tell The Difference
Handling Feral Cats
14 Cat Experts Reveal: How To Get A Cat To Like Me
Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats

 

[rubysmama]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this, when all you wanted to do was give an unwanted cat a home.

 

[Norachan]

That doesn't sound like feral behaviour. I have a house full of former feral cats. They don't attack, they just try to stay invisible when they're not used to people. It sounds as if he is either in pain or was abused at some point.

What does he do all day? Hide in one place, roam around the apartment, meow a lot, really quiet, try to get outside?

Does he attack you at random, when you go to feed or pet him, when you walk past him?

Could you try to film him and upload it here? We might be able to work out what is wrong with him.