Strange bites/scratches? (Should I see a vet?)

[dustytiger]

Okay, so to kick off, I began cat-sitting for a friend and now that cat has been with me a few months and lowkey is something of a weirdo.

I know cats get overstimulated and the like, but I've never had a cat quite like this. Like, I don't understand her behavior at all anymore. The owner says she has always been this way, and she is 8 years old. I know if I pet her more than a couple times or like initiate things myself instead of letting her come to me, I will 100% get scratched, but lately I get scratched no matter what.
Here are some recent situations in which I got scratched and bitten, going by the most recent.

-She came to me, meowing, not long after being fed. I offered her my hand and she rubbed her face on it then sat down at the corner of my desk and did not initiate further contact. I took this as her not wanting more pets and left her alone. She was purring loudly, blinking and visibly just looked very "Happy cat". She then proceeds to like REALLY scratch me, like not a quick whack type of scratch but like I was typing on the keyboard and she scratched my hand so deeply, her claws became stuck in that stretched tissue between my forefinger and thumb, I had to hold her paw and "unhook" them (Which, like, really freaked her out and she started hissing and clawed my other hand) and the cuts swelled after.

-She jumps onto the desk and meows, is purring and seemingly happy. I say hello and I put some treats down on the desk for her because, frankly, I did not feel like getting scratched in that moment, and she eats them then sits, back to me, facing the wall. Like literally the wall, a couple inches away from it. Still purring, but I can see her tail is wagging and her back fur is twitching. Mind you, I am NOT touching her, and I hadn't touched her at that point so I was confused why her back was twitching. She then, after some 4 or 5 minutes, turns, scratches me, hisses and leaves.

-She saw me pick up the brush and came to me meowing to get brushed. I gave her a light brush, only a few strokes because, well, she seems sensitive in general, and again she was purring and happy, blinking, kneading with her paws. I noticed her tail was lashing, though, so I stopped immediately. She went into a "loaf", again perched on the corner of my desk. I was watching a video while texting someone, just trying not to make eye contact in case it started something. After a few minutes, she stands, leans forward on the edge of the desk and chomps down on my forearm before hopping off my desk to go sleep on the bed.

Those are just the past two days, but at this point I have been scratched and bitten so many times, sometimes because I tried a different method of interacting with her when she approaches, and sometimes because I didn't interact with her upon her approach at all.
My usual reaction to being bitten/scratched is to flinch back and say "No" in as level a voice as I can. I DO gasp if it comes as a complete surprise.
Typically when I flinch back she'll flatten her ears and lift one of her paws as if to hit, but when I say "No" she'll usually just go away without any further strikes.

I am currently trying to save up to take her to the vet, as neither myself nor my owner have much because the whole covid situation has eaten our savings and work hours, but I don't know... Is this even something that realistically a vet could help or would I be wasting time and money?

 

[ArtNJ]

My brother had a cat that would literally growl if we looked at it. It was a little better with my brother, but his significant other was always afraid of it to a degree. Maybe he could have used some advanced approaches to help the cat, but he is a good dude and he tried, and it only got a little better over many years. Your just the cat sitter, if the owner says the cat has always been this way, well you can't heal all wounds with limited time. How much longer are you sitting for? To be quite honest, I'd probably put the cat in my furnished basement, and go down there mostly just to do food, water and litter, maybe some play with a laser pointer or ribbon toy (because its long lol). I mean, your friend has you cat sitting a tiger, he can hardly expect you to clip its nails or brush its teeth. Do what you can, that won't get you scratched.

 

[dustytiger]

My brother had a cat that would literally growl if we looked at it. It was a little better with my brother, but his significant other was always afraid of it to a degree. Your just the cat sitter, if the owner says the cat has always been this way, well you can't heal all wounds with limited time. How much longer are you sitting for? To be quite honest, I'd probably put the cat in my furnished basement, and go down there mostly just to do food, water and litter, maybe some play with a laser pointer or ribbon toy (because its long lol). I mean, your friend has you cat sitting a tiger, he can hardly expect you to clip its nails or brush its teeth. Do what you can, that won't get you scratched.

That was my mindset for a while, but she is apartment hunting at this point because the apartment her and her SO were supposed to move to changed their terms, so I no longer have a definite time during which she will come to take her cat. I can't, in good conscience, give the cat to someone else as I don't trust anyone to be as patient, and I feel like with her aggression she'd be killed for sure in a shelter. I was hoping that like there was something I could do to make living with her for however long easier. I live in a tiny apartment myself, so there's not really anywhere to keep her isolated.

I mean, I can live with it, tbh, like... It's unpleasant, but Idk I feel bad for the cat. I just wanted to see if there are options.

 

[ArtNJ]

Folks will come along with some suggestions. Just don't know that its high probability of helping stuff. If the cat has been this way or years, its going to be hard to change the behavior.

Some vets will be willing to prescribe meds, if that was what you were thinking. Those can really help sometimes.

 

[Caspers Human]

It sounds to me like your (your friend's) cat wants attention and play but she's skittish and freaks out or else she doesn't know how to play "correctly."

If you are sitting at your computer, typing and minding your own business but the cat attacks your hands, seemingly without provocation, that suggests that she thinks of your hands like she might think of a mouse or other prey. I'm sure that she thinks that she's playing but doesn't know how to play with a human.

It could be because she was separated from her litter, too young, and didn't get a chance to receive "cat lessons" from her mother and her littermates. It might be because she was a feral or semi-feral cat that was born outdoors and didn't get proper socialization from humans until she was brought in.

Another possibility that cound also go in combination with the ones above is that her owner doesn't know how to treat a cat.

I used to have a cat whose original human gave him up. She claimed that the cat, "Spike" was incorrigible and couldn't be controlled.
She rehomed Spike with us and we never had any real problems. He was a strong-willed cat... a big, long-haired, Van that weighed in at 20 lb.

Turns out that, any time Spike did anything that was remotely "cat-like" his original human would yell at him and throw something.

Come on! That's no way to treat a cat! No wonder she thought he was incorrigible!

It took us a while to get Spike straightened out. Probably six months to a year. He did calm down but there were still times when Spike would lash out, run away or act like he had PTSD if you petted him too much or if the situation got too excited for him. If you yelled, anywhere in the house, Spike would run and dive under the sofa!

I'm not making any claims about your friend's cat but it kinda' sounds similar to the experience we had with Spike.

Our current cat, Casper, will not play if you hold a toy in your hand. You have to put it on the floor before he will attack it.
If you hold the toy, you might be able to entice him to attack it but he will pounce then bolt. It suggest, to me, that Casper has also had a difficult time socializing with humans.

Casper was a rescued cat. He did live outdoors for at least a year before we got him. We are pretty sure that he had a home, before, but don't have any information.

Casper is pretty skittish. Not as bad as when we first got him but still noticeable. He's also hand shy. He'll only accept petting from people that he knows. Now that we've had him for more than half his life, it only takes a couple visits to him to get to know somebody but, still, you can tell.

If you try to pet Casper before he's comfortable with you or if you pet him too much and overstimulate him, he will lash out and attack your hand but, a second later, he will bolt and run away.

That signifies, to me, that Casper wants to play but doesn't exactly know how. He didn't learn proper "cat etiquette" or else has PTSD from some past traumatic experience. The lashing out signifies either overstimulation or the desire to play or both. The bolting signifies that he is afraid of punishment and tries to run away before he gets hit.

Basically, Casper and Spike are both conflicted cats. They want to "be a cat" and act like one but, for one reason or another, are afraid to act the way their instincts lead them to.

Does this sound like your (friend's) cat?