Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice on what I should do about my cat ... She's a DSH
calico, she's fixed, she's up to date on vaccines, she's an indoor cat, she
came from a pet store so I don' t know how she was treated for the first 7
weeks of her life, she's almost 4 years old, she has had a heart murmur for
about 3 of those years that has been getting worse, and her behaviour has
gotten worse over the same time frame. Before she developed the murmur, she
was a great cat, very friendly, loved being picked up & given attention by
anyone who came by.

Around the same time she was diagnosed as having a heart murmur, I had moved
with her into a 1br apartment. It was just me and her for about a year. She
started showing signs of fear when strangers came to visit, but would soon
warm up to them, usually within hours or if not, then days. When she was
about 1 1/2yrs old, she started exhibiting signs of intense fear by hissing
at people with high voices who talked to her (my mother and sister). At
around 2yrs old, I brought in another cat (male), a very social and friendly
cat. At the same time, my then-boyfriend (my ex now) moved in. At first, she
was very defensive of her territory, but soon warmed up to both the cat and
the ex. The 2 cats got along well until she was about 3 years old, when I
brought in a third cat, who was (and still is) very playful, friendly, and
active. He seems to frazzle her; when he was a kitten, she just avoided him,
but now they get into full-blown hissing, growling, scratching, and biting
battles. The 2 male cats got along great; they played and slept cuddled into
one another, and she pretty much stayed on the sidelines, every now and then
getting in a cuddle herself. However, at this point she was still showing
aggression towards strangers, often hissing, growling, and even trying to
block people from walking past her. At this point, I tried to teach her not
to do this by rewarding her with treats whenever she didn't show fear and
aggression towards strangers, and that seemed to help sometimes, but she was
still pretty fearful overall.

Due to the breakup last year and the fact that my ex decided that the cat I
gave him was better off alone than with the 2 cats he grew up with, the
middle cat was taken away from the equation, leaving me with the oldest
(female) and youngest (male). As a result of the more than messy breakup, I
ended up moving to a different province with the 2 cats in tow, and moving
into a basement apartment.

Ever since these changes, the oldest cat has been very aggressive, attacking
anyone who walks past her (except me for the most part). I have tried over
the past few years treating her with patience & kindness, awarding her for
good behaviour, squirting her when she's not behaving, and sometimes
ignoring her when it seems she's acting out for attention. I am at my wits
end. She has taken to attacking my roommate and new boyfriend, as well as
anyone who visits. She hasn't bitten (only because she hasn't been given a
chance to get that close) but she has scratched a couple people pretty
badly. She has even started lashing out at me. My schedule is pretty much
the same work-wise as it was before the move, and she is using the litter
and eating as normal. The only thing is, she sleeps a LOT more, and has
taken to hiding under the bed in the room until I get home from work. Does
anyone have any ideas what is going on here? I'm taking her to the vet on
Saturday... I just don't want to hear that I have to get her euthanized
because she's either got something physically wrong, or got something
mentally wrong, and there's nothing that can be done. Does anyone have any
similar experiences with a cat that is afraid of everything and everyone
(except her owner) and reacts to this fear by showing increasingly
aggressive behaviour over time?

I'm tired of worrying that she will scratch someone's eyes out, or do
similar brutal damage. It is my responsibility to get this taken care of,
just as if she were a dog attacking people. I'm just reaching out for
similar stories because I love this cat to pieces and can't bear to think of
having her killed because she acts like this. Overall, she has been very
tolerant of me. I can pick her up, pet her, call her over, I even have her
trained to sit for treats! She loves cuddling with me, and has held on to
the kneading behaviour that many kittens show when they are separated from
their mother too early. She just has this Jekyll/Hyde switch whenever she
pleases. Could this be an indication that she has developed more severe
heart disease?

PS I was thinking that perhaps there was something I was doing to make it
worse, but I was thinking that the youngest's behaviour would probably have
changed a little by now, but it hasn't, not even a little bit. I'm stumped.

Thanks,

sugarface