Agressive Cat Advice

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jenn22424@aol.com - 05 May 2006 22:56 GMT

Dear Friends:
I am very stuck!! I have a 2 year old cat that I have had since she
was a kitten. I found her behind an automotive garage when she was
three weeks. I took her to a vet and he allowed me to bottle feed her
for 4 weeks. She is healthy and has all of her vaccinations. She is
spayed and de-clawed. I work an 8-3 job and I am home on the weekends.
It is just the two of us in a 6 room apartment. She has had love and
affection since the moment she stepped into my home. I have consulted
three vets and have even put her on the "kitty antidepressants" several
times.
However, she is extremely aggressive. She bites constantly and draws
blood on almost anyone she comes in contact with. She has been doing
this since she was a kitten and the vet told me she would grow out of
it. The vet told me my only option would probably be to out her to
sleep because know one will adopt her. Do you have any ideas of what I
can do? Who I can contact for help? I don't want to put her to sleep.

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bearclaw@cruller.invalid - 06 May 2006 03:22 GMT

> Dear Friends:
> I am very stuck!! I have a 2 year old cat that I have had since she
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> sleep because know one will adopt her. Do you have any ideas of what I
> can do? Who I can contact for help? I don't want to put her to sleep.

If you are willing to make the investment, I would try a different vet;
one more interested in feline behavior. Perhaps your current vet could
recommend someone. Aggressive behavior can have many causes. The first
step is to eliminate all possible medical causes. This can take time,
testing and money.

It also helps for you to have some idea of what might be affecting her
in your home environment. For instance, what kinds of plants do you
keep? How exposed is your cat to external influences like other animals?

Before making any decision, I highly recommend going to a library and
finding a book on feline behavior. I bet some contributors in this group
could suggest some good ones.

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Anna - 06 May 2006 03:37 GMT

>sleep because know one will adopt her. Do you have any ideas of what I
>can do? Who I can contact for help? I don't want to put her to sleep.

Here are a couple of books that are supposed to be good for behaviour
problems, the first by Dr. Nicholas Dodman, a professor of behavorial
pharmacology & director of the behaviour clinic at Tufts University and the
second by Pam Johnson, a feline behavioural consultant:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553378546/qid=1146882797/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2
_1/103-1791810-8508654?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895947102/ref=pd_sim_b_1/103-1791810-8508654?%
5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

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Catlover Medway - 06 May 2006 15:38 GMT

Hi, Jenn, there are some excellent posts here. In addition, I believe
aggression is a known problem with hand-reared kittens. In nature, a kitten's
mother would teach her boundaries, and the kitten would learn to deal with
frustration. But this is a complex area with numerous possible causes. A
couple of useful sites:

http://www.fabcats.org/nervous-aggression.html
http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/aggression.html
http://www.fabcats.org/behaviour_kitten.html

I'd agree with other posters that no caring vet would suggest that a
perfectly healthy animal should be PTS, and that no caring vet would declaw.
Plus, absolutely, recreate as much as you can of what would be a natural
environment for your cat.

http://www.fabcats.org/cat_friendly_home.html
http://www.fabcats.org/behaviour_playtime.html
http://wizz-catz.co.uk/playtime.html

>Dear Friends:
> I am very stuck!! I have a 2 year old cat that I have had since she
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>sleep because know one will adopt her. Do you have any ideas of what I
>can do? Who I can contact for help? I don't want to put her to sleep.

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send reply - 10 May 2006 05:17 GMT

I have just invested in a shock collar to try to weed out unacceptable
behavior. You may want to do the same. If you time it correctly (and
timing is everything when using a shock collar), you may be able to
condition the cat that the aggressive thoughts and actions bring pain to her
also. Be quick with the OFF. If you keep it on a few seconds after the
aggression has ended, during the retreat, you may add more confusion.

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Vet2Be - 10 Sep 2006 06:58 GMT

Oh my goodness, I could not disagree more!! I would NEVER consider a shock
collar for this case. This cat is not likely being mean by conscious choice
to be spiteful. This cat probably has real problems, mental or physical,
that are out of his control. A shock collar would be reckless, cruel, and
probably make the situation worse.

We are all entitled to our opinions and we are on this forum to share them.
Shock collars on the market do ahve a place and may be appropriate for some
cases, but I don't think this is one of them.

>I have just invested in a shock collar to try to weed out unacceptable
> behavior. You may want to do the same. If you time it correctly (and
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>> sleep because know one will adopt her. Do you have any ideas of what I
>> can do? Who I can contact for help? I don't want to put her to sleep.

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John Ross Mc Master - 12 May 2006 04:00 GMT

>Dear Friends:
> I am very stuck!! I have a 2 year old cat that I have had since she
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>sleep because know one will adopt her. Do you have any ideas of what I
>can do? Who I can contact for help? I don't want to put her to sleep.

Ignore kitty when she bites. It works when I want to stop my agressive
Cinder. Walk away. Learn to recognize when she's loving and when she's
spiteful.

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