My cat, Pinball, is a mostly-black DSH. She's around 5 years old and has been spayed since before her first heat. Lately, we have been having a problem with her viciously attacking my wife whenever she gets near the cat.
Prior to this, she's been sweet, even protective of my wife, even though she has always been a little mischevious and willful. We had a two-cat household for awhile, and now we are down to just her. We moved around the end of February, and there was an attack shortly after that, but nothing between then and the past week. Her behavior has been a little worse of late, and a sprayer has been used to try and modify this behavior, primarily by my wife.
Last Friday, things came to a head when my wife went to check on Chekov, our guinea pig, when he let out a distress scream. Pinball was sitting on top of his cage, dangling her paw in to try and reach him. My wife tried to shoo her off verbally, then with the sprayer, at which point Pinball bared fangs, hissed, and stared straight at her whilst defecating in Chekov's cage.
Since then, it's been a nightmare. She won't attack me (I raised her from a kitten, R is a more recent addition to the household than Pinball is), but she has ripped the unholy heck out of R on more than one occasion, including a 'go for the eyes' attack in which she almost nicked R's jugular.
She starts growling whenever R gets near her, though, whether she's running around the apartment, or penned up in her carrier, which is the only way we've found to stop her from attacking. We are giving her food and water, and letting her out for using her litter box, but at this point, we're both more than a little scared of her. Letting her have some space to calm down doesn't seem to work, either, as she starts growling and hissing anytime R gets into proximity.
We've got calls into a couple of vets, the SPCA, and our local animal shelter for advice, though we're waiting for callbacks. I'd appreciate any advice you may have as well.
Thanks,
Steve
Prior to this, she's been sweet, even protective of my wife, even though she has always been a little mischevious and willful. We had a two-cat household for awhile, and now we are down to just her. We moved around the end of February, and there was an attack shortly after that, but nothing between then and the past week. Her behavior has been a little worse of late, and a sprayer has been used to try and modify this behavior, primarily by my wife.
Last Friday, things came to a head when my wife went to check on Chekov, our guinea pig, when he let out a distress scream. Pinball was sitting on top of his cage, dangling her paw in to try and reach him. My wife tried to shoo her off verbally, then with the sprayer, at which point Pinball bared fangs, hissed, and stared straight at her whilst defecating in Chekov's cage.
Since then, it's been a nightmare. She won't attack me (I raised her from a kitten, R is a more recent addition to the household than Pinball is), but she has ripped the unholy heck out of R on more than one occasion, including a 'go for the eyes' attack in which she almost nicked R's jugular.
She starts growling whenever R gets near her, though, whether she's running around the apartment, or penned up in her carrier, which is the only way we've found to stop her from attacking. We are giving her food and water, and letting her out for using her litter box, but at this point, we're both more than a little scared of her. Letting her have some space to calm down doesn't seem to work, either, as she starts growling and hissing anytime R gets into proximity.
We've got calls into a couple of vets, the SPCA, and our local animal shelter for advice, though we're waiting for callbacks. I'd appreciate any advice you may have as well.
Thanks,
Steve