Random Aggressive Attacks From My Newly Adopted Cat. Causing Incredible Strain On Relationship

[kraura]

Hi everyone!
So recently, about two months ago I agreed to adopt an 8 year old cat from my roommate who was moving out.

A bit of background:
My roommate had this cat for 8 years. I met him when he moved across the country into our home. He wasn't able to take his kitty with him so kitty stayed back in Ontario. 2 years later (2 and a half months ago) he was able to get his kitty out here. Unfortunately kitty was attacking his girlfriends toddler and they couldn't keep him in their room. They were also in the process of moving out at this time and I was asked if I wanted to Adopt Aleister, and I agreed.
From what I understand Aleister was found when he was 2 weeks old half frozen outside in a box and had to be syringe fed. He also didn't have the most stable life as my roommate didn't always have a place he could stay and moved around a lot.

Now Aleister is usually a huge sweetheart, He's super affectionate, loves cuddling and giving kisses and always has all the purrs <3
However frequently without warning he'll go into attack mode and cause some serious damage. It's like his personality dos a complete 180 in a fraction of a second.
Now there are times i can tell hes about to go to that place and can remove myself from the situation, but others it seems completely random.

The other night I was lying in bed reading when he jumped on me, purring loudly and rubbing up against my arm. He'd been up there for about three seconds when i went to put down my book to pet him, and before i could even finish that he attacked me really badly. He was on top of me, so i couldn't move without making him more angry and he stood there and attacked me again before jumping off.

This has also happened to my boyfriend a lot and its causing incredible strain on our relationship, to the point where he feels he can't live in the same house as Aleister, which means not living with me....

I'm not quite sure what I can do about this behavior. It's not so bad when I'm ale to tell and move away. But when hes on my lap and it comes out of nowhere (haven't
even pet him yet) It's really hard to deal with....

Any help or advice is deeply appreciated <3

 

[danteshuman]

Is the aggression New? I ask because he may have arthritis or some other medical condition. I would take him to the vet ASAP and ask the vet to look for a physical cause for his aggression. Explain when and how he gets aggressive and how sweet he is otherwise. Make sure he doesn't have the hypersensitivity thing to.

Lastly if no cause can be found I would ask the vet about Prozac. His aggression has already cost him one home. I would think Prozac or arthritis medication is better then his being re-homed again.

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Aleister is a very handsome cat. Sorry, though, that he has aggressive tendencies.

Not sure if it will be helpful or not, but TCS has an article on Cat Aggression Toward People

 

[kraura]

Is the aggression New? I ask because he may have arthritis or some other medical condition. I would take him to the vet ASAP and ask the vet to look for a physical cause for his aggression. Explain when and how he gets aggressive and how sweet he is otherwise. Make sure he doesn't have the hypersensitivity thing to.

Lastly if no cause can be found I would ask the vet about Prozac. His aggression has already cost him one home. I would think Prozac or arthritis medication is better then his being re-homed again.

Apparently it isn't new and one of the reasons my roommate has had such a hard time finding a solid home for him I'm going to schedule an appointment for my next day off work to get him checked out.
No matter what happens I won't be re homing him. I love him no matter what. It's just my partner doesn't feel the same and he may end up leaving

 

[kraura]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Aleister is a very handsome cat. Sorry, though, that he has aggressive tendencies.

Not sure if it will be helpful or not, but TCS has an article on Cat Aggression Toward People

Thank you for the link! Reading it now