Rescued Declawed Cat Bites Me

[momtotomandjes]

About a month ago, an extremely matted, long-haired cat showed up at my door and it was quickly apparent that it was a stray that had been on its own for a while. He seemed very friendly and tried very hard to come in our house.  I also noticed that he was declawed.  I took him to our local shelter to see if it had a micro chip, and they told me that  he did and from it I found out that he was a 6 year old male named Sebastian. They gave me the address and telephone number of his owner, but after an exhaustive search, we were unable to locate the owner and from the neighbors of the address listed were told the house had been empty for several months. He apparently had been dumped.   So, the shelter took Sebastian in, had him shaved, cleaned him up and gave him his shots.  We took him in and gradually introduced him to our 13 year old cat and two dogs with very little incident.  However, he definitely has ideas about touching (only on the top of his head) and brushing (absolutely not).  He's still finding his way, but what I don't understand is that when he wants something, usually to be fed, he will circle my legs and rub against me.  If I don't respond quickly enough, he'll hold on to my leg and bite it, as if to say "hurry up, I'm hungry".  Not hard enough to break the skin, but not a love bite either.  He will also bite if anyone tries to touch him in a way he doesn't like.  Any ideas what's going on?  

 

[Kat0121]

Welcome to TCS and thank you so much for taking this little one in. he obviously picked the right house. It's amazing how cats instinctively know who will help them. 

Your cat has been through a lot and is getting adjusted. Your post doesn't say but I assume he's been neutered? He may not have socialized much in his previous home. Feliway diffusers and/or spray can help with this as they mimic the "feel good" pheromones that cats give off that helps them relax (they do work for a lot of cats but not all- if you do choose to try this, Amazon has the best prices that I have seen). They also make calming treats that are available from Petco, Petsmart and Amazon to name a few. 

We'll assume he was not socialized much before (if they ditched him, I doubt that's much of a stretch 

). Take it slow with him as far as petting is concerned. When you want to interact with him, sit or lie on the floor so you at his level. Looming above him is threatening to him because you're so much bigger than he is. Give him some slow blinks but try to avoid direct eye contact because this is a threatening move to a cat. Look towards him, blink, hold it a bit and then release as you turn away from him. This is telling him that you are not a threat to him. You will see that he'll eventually return this. This is how cats greet one another.

When you want to pet him, reach your hand out in a fist. Cats also greet each other with head butts and your fist is close in size to a cat's head. He will take that as a non threatening greeting as well and eventually will rub his head on your fist. 

Relax. Cats are very intelligent and intuitive and they pick up on the vibes we give off. He likes you. He chose you 

 Once you relax and let the relationship build naturally (which will be at HIS pace), he will relax as well and the biting should stop. If he has not been neutered, I recommend that this be done ASAP. We can help you find a low cost spay/neuter clinic if you need one if you let us know where you live. 

The whole thing at feeding time could be about the fact that he had to fend for himself for a while and he might be feeling vulnerable about food. Once he's sure that his food supply isn't going anywhere he should calm down about this as well. We'll never know what his life was like at his previous home and mealtimes may not have been guaranteed there either.

This boy is very lucky to have you 

 

We would love to see some pictures of him if you have any 

 

[momtotomandjes]

Sebastian and Jake.jpg

• momtotomandjes
• Aug 7, 2015

Sebastian.jpg

• momtotomandjes
• Aug 7, 2015

Yes, he was neutered when he came to our house.  He is quite handsome and someone cared enough about him at one time to get him micro-chipped, but you never know what happens in people's lives.  I will definitely take your advice. As you can see from the other picture, he has adjusted very nicely to being around dogs!  I'm just afraid that with his extreme aversion to brushing, we may have to keep him trimmed, but I probably have a couple of months before I have to decide to get him shaved again, so will try ever so slowly to introduce him to brushing.  will try the calming products you mentioned as well.  Thank you for the advice!  Will keep you posted! 

 

[Kat0121]

Wow. He is gorgeous. I might be biased because I have a female that he resembles quite a bit. She's not a fan of grooming either. 

image1.jpeg

• Kat0121
• Jul 11, 2015

She is a sweet, loving little girl but has a seriously sassy side as well. 

 

[catanalyst]

He is quite handsome and someone cared enough about him at one time to get him micro-chipped, but you never know what happens in people's lives.  I will definitely take your advice. As you can see from the other picture, he has adjusted very nicely to being around dogs!  I'm just afraid that with his extreme aversion to brushing, we may have to keep him trimmed, but I probably have a couple of months before I have to decide to get him shaved again, so will try ever so slowly to introduce him to brushing.  will try the calming products you mentioned as well.  Thank you for the advice!  Will keep you posted! 

He's beautiful! Also it's possible that his previous owners didn't leave him behind intentionally (although who knows for sure). Maybe he somehow got away as they were moving and they thought he was lost forever.

About grooming, my short-hair cat also doesn't like brushing. She'll tolerate it for a few seconds and then get up and walk away. I'm trying to get her slowly acclimated to it. I would recommend approaching it the same way you would clipping a cat's nails for the first time. First get him used to seeing you holding the brush near him. Then work up to brushing the air above his fur. When he's comfortable with that, you can brush just one stroke and then give him a treat. Eventually he should get used to it.

As for the biting, I've heard that it's a common issue for declawed cats since they can't swipe with their claws. My fiance's old cat Annie was like that. She would immediately escalate to biting if she was irritated. See if you can spot cues in his physical body language so that you can avoid getting bitten.

 

[momtotomandjes]

Wow.  They do look alike.  Thanks for the great advice! 

 

[momtotomandjes]

Yes, I've heard that declawed cats are more "mouthy" than non.  Plus, I don't know how long he was outside.  He was so matted, I couldn't tell if he was a he or a she, so I totally understand that any pulling on his hair had to be painful.  Will take it very, very slow and am sure he'll come around.  Thanks for responding!