My cat has suddenly gotten very aggressive/vicious towards me. Here's the back story:
He was taken in at a shelter I used to volunteer at. We had problems with him swiping at people and then one of the volunteers mistook what was probably play behavior for aggressive behavior so the shelter head had to get him into a cage with gloves etc. After that he hated the shelter head and would lose his mind whenever she was around. I suggested we put him in a back room where he wouldn't be overstimulated (the shelter was in a pet store with constant traffic) and I used to go visit him. Being in a quiet room seemed to make him much calmer. Then the shelter head was going to give him to this home that wasn't a good prospect -- someone pretty bad-tempered who just wanted a mouser - in a high city apartment without screens on the windows.She just wanted to get him out of the shelter. I said I would foster him because by that point I had bonded with him.
I was pretty scared when I brought him home, but from that day over three years ago, he's always been very sweet tempered. No agression ever. Cut to last month, when I had a housecall vet come do his and the other cat's checkups (I live in a 6th floor walkup and it's gotten really hard to transport these guys). He flipped out during the appt. and went after the vet and then me when I pulled him away.
Today my grownup nephew came over for the first time. I noticed Malc was acting kind of wary and thought it might be because my nephew's a big tall guy like the housecall vet. Malc started hissing so i picked him up - I had to use a towel - and put him in the bedroom.
Now he hisses whenever he sees me. After some time passed, I let him out of the room and he seemed fine for a minute and then went for me. I had to use a pillow, a jacket and a towel to get him back into the bedroom. And I'll tell ya, he really did a number on that pillow on the way - if it'd been me instead of the pillow, I'd be in pieces.
Now he's in the bedroom again and he still hisses if I open the door. I don't know what to do. Given that he never forgave the shelter head and would go for her whenever she was around, I don't know if he'll ever go back to liking/trusting me. He's very scary right now.
And he's in my bedroom with all my clothes and well, the bed. I don't know what to do. I can't not have people over or never go away (which means a cat sitter has to come here.) We're both very freaked out.
He was taken in at a shelter I used to volunteer at. We had problems with him swiping at people and then one of the volunteers mistook what was probably play behavior for aggressive behavior so the shelter head had to get him into a cage with gloves etc. After that he hated the shelter head and would lose his mind whenever she was around. I suggested we put him in a back room where he wouldn't be overstimulated (the shelter was in a pet store with constant traffic) and I used to go visit him. Being in a quiet room seemed to make him much calmer. Then the shelter head was going to give him to this home that wasn't a good prospect -- someone pretty bad-tempered who just wanted a mouser - in a high city apartment without screens on the windows.She just wanted to get him out of the shelter. I said I would foster him because by that point I had bonded with him.
I was pretty scared when I brought him home, but from that day over three years ago, he's always been very sweet tempered. No agression ever. Cut to last month, when I had a housecall vet come do his and the other cat's checkups (I live in a 6th floor walkup and it's gotten really hard to transport these guys). He flipped out during the appt. and went after the vet and then me when I pulled him away.
Today my grownup nephew came over for the first time. I noticed Malc was acting kind of wary and thought it might be because my nephew's a big tall guy like the housecall vet. Malc started hissing so i picked him up - I had to use a towel - and put him in the bedroom.
Now he hisses whenever he sees me. After some time passed, I let him out of the room and he seemed fine for a minute and then went for me. I had to use a pillow, a jacket and a towel to get him back into the bedroom. And I'll tell ya, he really did a number on that pillow on the way - if it'd been me instead of the pillow, I'd be in pieces.
Now he's in the bedroom again and he still hisses if I open the door. I don't know what to do. Given that he never forgave the shelter head and would go for her whenever she was around, I don't know if he'll ever go back to liking/trusting me. He's very scary right now.
And he's in my bedroom with all my clothes and well, the bed. I don't know what to do. I can't not have people over or never go away (which means a cat sitter has to come here.) We're both very freaked out.