Why did my cat attack my daughter?

[yarra]

Any news on the kitty? Getting her spayed and home??

 

[jennilou68]

Hi there, just a suggestion....... my cat was diagnosed Hyperthyroid and my vet warned me that a thyroid imbalance could make my cat extemely and unreasonably bad tempered. He was right, it did. She attacked and bit me quite a few times. I was stoking her one day and for no reason at all she bit my index finger on the joint, right through! I was surprised at the viciousness of the attack but then 20 mins later she would be back to normal. Take the cat to the vet and get them to check him/her out. If it is a thyroid problem then you want to catch it as early as possible.

 

[juliekit]

Crazy Hormones

This is why I will never bring in a cat into my home that has not been spayed/neutered beforehand. I just cant deal with this stuff.

Im glad you decided to spay the girl and I hope your daughter has a quick recovery!

 

[goldenkitty45]

Breeding cats CAN be unpredicable sometimes. I know a case where a man was breeding/showing British SH's. He had one or two males he kept in very large walk in cages.

One time he made the mistake of walking in the cage when the male had a female in heat in there with him. The cat thought the man was interfering with the mating (he wasn't) and the male lunged at him and bit him severely on the ankles!

He never went in the cage again when the male had a female with him!

 

[angela luvs kev]

I am glad to see that i am not the only person that has witnessed this !!!! My mother was in for a visit and had only been home for 3 or 4 hrs,I have a cat that is 2 and always very gentle , a little testy sometime but no more than any other My mom was unpacking and had sat down and we were talking, the cat sat beside her and my mom gave her a pat on the head and we continued to talk.A few seconds later i turned to put some clothes away i heard my mom SCREAM "GET IT OFF ME!!!!!!!!" I turned and my cat was biting and ripping at her,so i pick up a purse and start hitting it (blood is actually flying) the cat falls and i kick it under the bed!!!!! Just as i was trying to make sure my mom was ok , to my horror the cat comes back and jumps on her again,ripping her clothes,arms,legs and face.I get it out of the room and slam the door and realize my 2 yr old little boy is in the next room!!!! I run to pick him up and the cat is sitting there and letting him pet it !?!? I pick up the cat and throw it out side ....there was blood 15 feet through my house and she needed stitches,one of the worst things i have ever seen in my life.My decision was to call Animal Control,tell them the whole story and let the cards fall where they may.I would never knowingly chance my families safety,I would feel terrible if another family was hurt because i didn't tell them everything Having her fixed may have worked but way too big of a risk as far as i am concerned,my kids are 2 and 8 they could never have fought that cat off by their self.Sad decision but the only one for me.

 

[ambernicole]

This seems to be happening a lot lately! The same thing happened to me last week! And, like you said, it seemed like my cat was possessed. It was quite scary! Actually, very scary! I cried and begged him to stop...

I still have no idea what provoked my cat. I took him to the vet and he could find nothing wrong. He is neutered, I haven't been around any strange animals, and all I was doing was changing the litter box when this happened. Let us know how it all works out. I've scoured the internet for information on this and it sounds like 'redirected aggression'. If he's going to continue this though, I'm going to have no option but to find him another home...if that's even possible! Best of luck with your cat!

 

[skoozyq]

Yes! Some help maybe. My sons dad has had a few litters of siamese, and about 3 years ago my son gave me a kitten,eko. When my son comes home from his dads eko will hiss at him,spit at him and swat at his legs( front declaw thank god) he is neuterd so that's not it.. My son uses a spray bottle to get him away. We've had my son try the "scruff grab" gently like mom cats do to show dominance and tell eko no but he got more mad so we stoped that. I will go to get him away from my son and he gets mad at me! One time I picked him up to get him away from my sone and he hissed at me and nit me in the face.. Eko guards my sons bedroom door and almost stalks him. I thought it could be because of the smell of the other cats at my sons dads but I have friends over that have cats and he's very friendly to them. Is it possibly the smell of ekos mom on my son that makes him so aggressive.. He is otherwise a big ol baby gives millions of face rubs
Extremely affectionate and loving

 

[franksmom]

Yes! Some help maybe. My sons dad has had a few litters of siamese, and about 3 years ago my son gave me a kitten,eko. When my son comes home from his dads eko will hiss at him,spit at him and swat at his legs( front declaw thank god) he is neuterd so that's not it.. My son uses a spray bottle to get him away. We've had my son try the "scruff grab" gently like mom cats do to show dominance and tell eko no but he got more mad so we stoped that. I will go to get him away from my son and he gets mad at me! One time I picked him up to get him away from my sone and he hissed at me and nit me in the face.. Eko guards my sons bedroom door and almost stalks him. I thought it could be because of the smell of the other cats at my sons dads but I have friends over that have cats and he's very friendly to them. Is it possibly the smell of ekos mom on my son that makes him so aggressive.. He is otherwise a big ol baby gives millions of face rubs
Extremely affectionate and loving

Welcome to TCS! You may want to start your own thread on your specific case to get more advice. I think there are a few things going on here so I will do my best to give you some information that may help.

I would actually not be thankful for the declaw because this is probably one of the reasons your cat is attacking. Declawing amputates the toes causing a lifetime of pain and cats often because aggressive because they no longer have their natural defences causing them to start biting. 100 percent of cats will have pain in at least one of the amputation spots and 30 percent of cats develop behaviour problems after declawing and aggression is a very common symptom. Here is an article written by a vet on what declawing actually does to cats and how it affects them physically and emotionally (http://www.littlebigcat.com.php5-16.dfw1-1.websitetestlink.com/?p=200). 

Since the declawing is probably a factor in the attacks the first thing you should do is follow this advice on how to provide relief (http://www.littlebigcat.com/declawing/relief-for-declawed-cats/). Jackson Galaxy of "My Cat From Hell" fame developed a special declaw remedy that is supposed to help with both pain and behavioural problems that occur after declawing (http://store.jacksongalaxy.com/Declaw-Remedy-p/declaw-remedy.htm). Flower essences have been shown to help calm cats as well so this will help keep him calm, so give him a dose in his food everyday. 

A spray bottle will only make the situation worse as he will now associate getting sprayed with your son and this will only perpetuate the cycle of aggression. Cats are not pack animals like dogs and dominance or discipline doesn't work with them (http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-discipline-dont-mix). Already been posted but take a look at this thread with useful tips on cat  aggression (http://www.thecatsite.com/t/20837/ouch-how-to-stop-cat-aggression-toward-people)

Some tips I think will help. If it is the smell is setting him off keep your cat contained and have your son shower as soon as he comes home and have him change closes. Put an article  of your sons clothing near his food dish so he associates good things with his scent. Try to deflect the cats attention with toys or treats if you sense an attack about to happen. You should also have your son carry around treats and toys to give to the cat so again he associates good things with your son

 

[cabaretthecat]

is this a male or female cat? Neutered?

 

[catspaw66]

is this a male or female cat? Neutered?

Which poster are you asking? This thread goes all the way back to 2006.