Please Talk Me Out Of My Resentment

ileen

with Luciano since 12/5/16
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For those who have read previous threads about Luciano, you know I got him in December after he had been in a large cage from April-Dec at a neighbor's due to his aggression towards her other cats. I have struggled with his attacking/biting/scratching behavior and yesterday he got me 3x in a row, right shin, left thigh, left shoulder as I told him no & tried to move out of his way.

This latest attack got to me more than the others because a bit earlier in the day, my super was over discussing what I need to do to prepare for workers who are there today changing out the windows. The super is a gruff guy, not a cat person, but Luciano walked over to him on the bed & the super rubbed his head a bit. Then Luciano rolled over and showed the super his belly! I couldn't believe it! I didn't say anything at the time, but I did wonder why he reacted this way to this rough handed guy who smells of cigarettes. I left with the super for a few minutes as he showed me what the new windows will look like in an apartment that has had them done & it was shortly after I came back that Luciano struck.

I am really trying with this cat. He's on medication now for about 3 weeks, but it's supposed to take 4-6 weeks for it to work. There are times when he is purring and loving towards me, but the attacks have to stop. My boyfriend is also at the end of his patience, more so when I am attacked than when it happens to him (but it does happen to him also).

People have been calling this a foster fail because I see Luciano as my cat living with me now, but I'm starting to worry it will be an actual foster fail and he'll have to leave and won't be easy for someone else to adopt. I need some encouragement and support if you have any.
 

maggiedemi

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He attacks you when you aren't even touching him? My cats are former ferals and they don't even attack unless they don't want to be touched or picked up. I can't find your other thread about him, I don't remember if I read it or not.
 

Purr-fect

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I havent read your other threads....but I see you have been having some ongoing issues that seem to have escalated.

I wonder if the cat sees you as a subordinate and the super as an alpha figure. (You said the super is gruff and I assume larger than you. The cat likely has little interaction with the super and so hasnt "pegged" him yet.)

Im not a cat specialist, but if your cat came from an environment where it felt insecure, it may have used dominance as a survival tool....and is using that on you to establish a pecking order.
 
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