- Joined
- May 4, 2022
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I need to preface this with a big thank you as I have been reading threads as a guest for the past month. So much valuable information.
I have grown up with cats. My mom always had multiple cats and my sister usually had two. Both unfortunately have passed, my sister at a very young age from bc. But I digress.
A month ago I had to rehome my beloved MC. She has redirected aggression issues and the last one was pretty awful. I moved last June from NYC to CT and thought she would be so much less stressed without the constant blaring of NYC noise. A few weeks before the move last year she had an incident that I believe led to PTSD. I have always been so careful to never leave bags lying around, I always keep the toilet seat down (I read once that if cats fall in they often cannot get out because they cannot grip porcelain), etc. My apartment was cat proofed. But last spring I had one of those reusable shopping bags looped over a doorknob as I was getting ready to bring some items out for recycling.
My mobile rang and I went to answer it. In that moment my MC pulled the bag down onto her head and started frantically running around the apartment. It only lasted a few momenta and the bag flew off her head quickly. She did not run into anything or injure herself. She did not get stuck in the handles. It all happened so quickly, like less than a minute. I had a 500 sq foot apartment and ran across the living room area. I picked the bag up and noticed that it had a lot of saliva in it so I knew my poor cat had been scared. She then ran into the bathroom and jumped into the sink and started howling and crying. She hissed at me and so I left her alone to decompress. It took her five days to calm down. I called my vet numerous times. Tried gabapentin flavored, unflavored and in caplets/powder but she would not eat it.
She corned me a few times and for several nights I did not sleep because she kept approaching me in an aggressive manner. She would block me when I tried to come out of the shower etc. I was also stressed because I had sold my apartment and was trying to figure out where I would live, had to buy a car, plan a move, get a closing date, etc all of which very likely played into my cat picking up on my anxiety and I know this impacted her.
At the end of 5 days she finally returned to her sweet self and I thought with relief that we could put this episode behind us. Even though she was extremely aggressive during that time she never intentionally attacked me. She would hiss at me when I walked by and eventually come over to where I was in my apartment (I was working remote since March 2020) but then sitting next to me she would look at me and hiss so I woukd pick my lap top up and move to another spot in the apartment.
She and I moved in mid-June last yr. With the help of some friends we got her in her crate (no easy task) and took her to the new place so that she would not be in my tiny apartment on moving day. This was on a Sun. I spent Sun night with my cat in the new place and left her Monday morning to go back into the city. My friends in CT visited her Mon and Tues the day of the move they got her into the bathroom and a few hrs later I was there with the movers and the move went well! No incidents. New place has 3 Feliway diffusers for a tiny 1 bedroom 680 sft apartment and so quiet.
Friends came over to see the new place, some slept over and my MC was great the whole time. She seemed like she was so happy. I work from home FT now (my company lets me) so she and I spent a lot of time together. This cat was not left alone for long periods of time. So how did it go so very wrong??
February was a difficult month for me. My cousin died of cancer (after keeping the diagnosis a secret) so I was extremely upset when I found out. Then in early March I caught covid (yes I was vaxxed, yes I was boosted) but thankfully it seemed more like just a bad head cold. As far as I know my MC did not catch covid but I was careful not to cough and sneeze around her.
So right before April of this yr I remember how we are coming up to that bag incident last yr and I think wow we have really worked thru it things seem really good and my cat seems to really like the new place. She has more windows to look out of, new places to perch, I take breaks from work during the day and play with her with a wand/feather toy which she adored.
Sure enough, in very early April, another redirected aggressive incident occurs. This time my MC somehow gets the string part of the wand toy caught in one of her hind legs. I hear this frantic running around again like what happened last yr and see the look of intense fear in my cat’s face. She jumps up on the counter top in the kitchen and as quick as I can I grab a pair of scissors and cut the string so the toy breaks apart and I hope she will not be upset.
What happened next I never could have imagined. She was howling and yowling and hissing. I tried to remain calm and leave her alone. She was staring at me intently and on top of a desk. I took a shower, and was going about my business trying hard to remain calm and let her decompress. I watched tv, straightened up my apt, talked on the phone, etc for about 3 hrs. She continued to howl, yowl, hiss, on and off but then she jumped off the desk, jumped into a chest in front of my couch were I was sitting, ears flat back, fur up, pupils dialated and lunged for me, full on attack. I grabbed a big pillow and was able to block her/push her away and she scampered into the bedroom. At that point I grabbed my phone and called animal control. They came over, got her in her crate and I was a mess.
I contacted PAWS which worked with a cat fostering program and my cat was rehomed. She became a “foster fail” and found a new home very quickly (she is a beautiful, purebread torbie, 4.5 yrs, healthy, spayed, shots all current, etc). Needless to say I am a wreck, miss her terribly and don’t understand how things went sideways in such a short amount of time. And now I am afraid of cats. I miss my cat so much, but I think maybe my place was too small for a MC, I was too stressed and the cat knew it. I loved my cat, I would never hurt her. I cannot believe she associates me with someone who would hurt her.
If anyone can shed any light on this I would appreciate it.
I have grown up with cats. My mom always had multiple cats and my sister usually had two. Both unfortunately have passed, my sister at a very young age from bc. But I digress.
A month ago I had to rehome my beloved MC. She has redirected aggression issues and the last one was pretty awful. I moved last June from NYC to CT and thought she would be so much less stressed without the constant blaring of NYC noise. A few weeks before the move last year she had an incident that I believe led to PTSD. I have always been so careful to never leave bags lying around, I always keep the toilet seat down (I read once that if cats fall in they often cannot get out because they cannot grip porcelain), etc. My apartment was cat proofed. But last spring I had one of those reusable shopping bags looped over a doorknob as I was getting ready to bring some items out for recycling.
My mobile rang and I went to answer it. In that moment my MC pulled the bag down onto her head and started frantically running around the apartment. It only lasted a few momenta and the bag flew off her head quickly. She did not run into anything or injure herself. She did not get stuck in the handles. It all happened so quickly, like less than a minute. I had a 500 sq foot apartment and ran across the living room area. I picked the bag up and noticed that it had a lot of saliva in it so I knew my poor cat had been scared. She then ran into the bathroom and jumped into the sink and started howling and crying. She hissed at me and so I left her alone to decompress. It took her five days to calm down. I called my vet numerous times. Tried gabapentin flavored, unflavored and in caplets/powder but she would not eat it.
She corned me a few times and for several nights I did not sleep because she kept approaching me in an aggressive manner. She would block me when I tried to come out of the shower etc. I was also stressed because I had sold my apartment and was trying to figure out where I would live, had to buy a car, plan a move, get a closing date, etc all of which very likely played into my cat picking up on my anxiety and I know this impacted her.
At the end of 5 days she finally returned to her sweet self and I thought with relief that we could put this episode behind us. Even though she was extremely aggressive during that time she never intentionally attacked me. She would hiss at me when I walked by and eventually come over to where I was in my apartment (I was working remote since March 2020) but then sitting next to me she would look at me and hiss so I woukd pick my lap top up and move to another spot in the apartment.
She and I moved in mid-June last yr. With the help of some friends we got her in her crate (no easy task) and took her to the new place so that she would not be in my tiny apartment on moving day. This was on a Sun. I spent Sun night with my cat in the new place and left her Monday morning to go back into the city. My friends in CT visited her Mon and Tues the day of the move they got her into the bathroom and a few hrs later I was there with the movers and the move went well! No incidents. New place has 3 Feliway diffusers for a tiny 1 bedroom 680 sft apartment and so quiet.
Friends came over to see the new place, some slept over and my MC was great the whole time. She seemed like she was so happy. I work from home FT now (my company lets me) so she and I spent a lot of time together. This cat was not left alone for long periods of time. So how did it go so very wrong??
February was a difficult month for me. My cousin died of cancer (after keeping the diagnosis a secret) so I was extremely upset when I found out. Then in early March I caught covid (yes I was vaxxed, yes I was boosted) but thankfully it seemed more like just a bad head cold. As far as I know my MC did not catch covid but I was careful not to cough and sneeze around her.
So right before April of this yr I remember how we are coming up to that bag incident last yr and I think wow we have really worked thru it things seem really good and my cat seems to really like the new place. She has more windows to look out of, new places to perch, I take breaks from work during the day and play with her with a wand/feather toy which she adored.
Sure enough, in very early April, another redirected aggressive incident occurs. This time my MC somehow gets the string part of the wand toy caught in one of her hind legs. I hear this frantic running around again like what happened last yr and see the look of intense fear in my cat’s face. She jumps up on the counter top in the kitchen and as quick as I can I grab a pair of scissors and cut the string so the toy breaks apart and I hope she will not be upset.
What happened next I never could have imagined. She was howling and yowling and hissing. I tried to remain calm and leave her alone. She was staring at me intently and on top of a desk. I took a shower, and was going about my business trying hard to remain calm and let her decompress. I watched tv, straightened up my apt, talked on the phone, etc for about 3 hrs. She continued to howl, yowl, hiss, on and off but then she jumped off the desk, jumped into a chest in front of my couch were I was sitting, ears flat back, fur up, pupils dialated and lunged for me, full on attack. I grabbed a big pillow and was able to block her/push her away and she scampered into the bedroom. At that point I grabbed my phone and called animal control. They came over, got her in her crate and I was a mess.
I contacted PAWS which worked with a cat fostering program and my cat was rehomed. She became a “foster fail” and found a new home very quickly (she is a beautiful, purebread torbie, 4.5 yrs, healthy, spayed, shots all current, etc). Needless to say I am a wreck, miss her terribly and don’t understand how things went sideways in such a short amount of time. And now I am afraid of cats. I miss my cat so much, but I think maybe my place was too small for a MC, I was too stressed and the cat knew it. I loved my cat, I would never hurt her. I cannot believe she associates me with someone who would hurt her.
If anyone can shed any light on this I would appreciate it.
