I adopted a poor little abandoned kitten last summer (he was about 4 weeks old, we think), who was sick and about starved to death. He had a bad eye infection, was covered in fleas and had horrible ear mites. After taking him to the vet for medicine, we decided to keep him. We named him Monty, and he was an outside cat until we were able to get rid of his fleas.
A little while later, we noticed that Monty was a very frisky kitten. He liked to play a lot. The problem was that sometimes he played a bit too hard - and I have the scars to prove it. Our vet said that he would probably be less aggressive after being neutered. So, when he was old enough, we had him fixed, but it did not help the agression at all.
We've had him for almost a year now, and not only is he aggressive, but he is almost NEVER affectionate or nice at all. He is mischievious and just plain BAD sometimes. He knocks things over, he misses the litterbox, he attacks my 7 year old daughter at random (and today he REALLY hurt her - he slashed her finger open, and it's pouring blood) and he will not allow us to pet him half the time, and brushing him is out of the question (and he REALLy needs to be brushed - he's shedding everywhere and it's killing my allergies).
I have no idea what to do. I don't want to get rid of him, but he is causing way too much stress for me to handle. Believe me, I've got plenty of stress. I'm a single mom, graduating college this semester (I should be writitng my thesis paper right now), and I just landed my first professional design job.
Thinking about getting rid of this cat just makes me sick, because we do love him - but I'm wondering if this is just his personality. Maybe he's not right for this family? Please help me - is there anything I can do? Or is it a lost cause? I absolutely cannot have him hurting my daughter anymore. But he sneaks up behind her and jumps on her back and bites her! She probably does provoke him sometimes, but he attacks her even when she doesn't. He does the same thing to me, too.
What should I do?
When we got him he was so sick and docile - now he's just a terror.
A little while later, we noticed that Monty was a very frisky kitten. He liked to play a lot. The problem was that sometimes he played a bit too hard - and I have the scars to prove it. Our vet said that he would probably be less aggressive after being neutered. So, when he was old enough, we had him fixed, but it did not help the agression at all.
We've had him for almost a year now, and not only is he aggressive, but he is almost NEVER affectionate or nice at all. He is mischievious and just plain BAD sometimes. He knocks things over, he misses the litterbox, he attacks my 7 year old daughter at random (and today he REALLY hurt her - he slashed her finger open, and it's pouring blood) and he will not allow us to pet him half the time, and brushing him is out of the question (and he REALLy needs to be brushed - he's shedding everywhere and it's killing my allergies).
I have no idea what to do. I don't want to get rid of him, but he is causing way too much stress for me to handle. Believe me, I've got plenty of stress. I'm a single mom, graduating college this semester (I should be writitng my thesis paper right now), and I just landed my first professional design job.
Thinking about getting rid of this cat just makes me sick, because we do love him - but I'm wondering if this is just his personality. Maybe he's not right for this family? Please help me - is there anything I can do? Or is it a lost cause? I absolutely cannot have him hurting my daughter anymore. But he sneaks up behind her and jumps on her back and bites her! She probably does provoke him sometimes, but he attacks her even when she doesn't. He does the same thing to me, too.
What should I do?
When we got him he was so sick and docile - now he's just a terror.