Remedies to calm an aggressive, scared cat
Discussion
Hi folks,
Yesterday morning, my wife managed to terrify the cat be either standing on her or trapping a bit of her in the bathroom door. Mog attacked the wife and put some pretty deep punctures and scratches into her legs. The cat seems to be uninjured.
Following this, the mog is hissing, howling and then swiping at anything that comes near her. She's ok if you don't move, I spent most of yesterday with her (wife went to my folk's house as she is terrified of being attacked again) and when she chose to be near me, she was fine and would jump onto me for strokes. However, as soon as I get up to move about she'll go into a terrified rage again.
We've got a Feliway plug-in and have been using this since about 10am yesterday morning. I've also had to take to carrying a squirt gun to give her a skoosh whenever I think that I'm about to get swiped. I really don't want to do this, but it's the only way that I can break her trance-like state of mind.
The cat is a six year old neutered female house cat. We tried to let her outdoors, but she got attacked by a neighbour's cat and went into a similar rage for about a month.
All suggestions are welcome.
Yesterday morning, my wife managed to terrify the cat be either standing on her or trapping a bit of her in the bathroom door. Mog attacked the wife and put some pretty deep punctures and scratches into her legs. The cat seems to be uninjured.
Following this, the mog is hissing, howling and then swiping at anything that comes near her. She's ok if you don't move, I spent most of yesterday with her (wife went to my folk's house as she is terrified of being attacked again) and when she chose to be near me, she was fine and would jump onto me for strokes. However, as soon as I get up to move about she'll go into a terrified rage again.
We've got a Feliway plug-in and have been using this since about 10am yesterday morning. I've also had to take to carrying a squirt gun to give her a skoosh whenever I think that I'm about to get swiped. I really don't want to do this, but it's the only way that I can break her trance-like state of mind.
The cat is a six year old neutered female house cat. We tried to let her outdoors, but she got attacked by a neighbour's cat and went into a similar rage for about a month.
All suggestions are welcome.
I would advise a medical check over aswell, this is a bizarre reaction for a cat just because it got stood on
Fenway will take time to kick in. I would recommend both Zylkene (powder can mix in food) and kalmaid liquid also mix in food. All can be used safely at same time.
They are all natural products no prescription from vets needed and they do work, however I still think a vet ck should be done.
Your wife needs to keep an eye on her wounds, sometimes antibiotics will be needed with cat related injuries.
I don't know if squirting her will help long term but can't say I blame you!
Fenway will take time to kick in. I would recommend both Zylkene (powder can mix in food) and kalmaid liquid also mix in food. All can be used safely at same time.
They are all natural products no prescription from vets needed and they do work, however I still think a vet ck should be done.
Your wife needs to keep an eye on her wounds, sometimes antibiotics will be needed with cat related injuries.
I don't know if squirting her will help long term but can't say I blame you!
bexVN said:
I would advise a medical check over aswell, this is a bizarre reaction for a cat just because it got stood on
That's the thing, my wife hasn't got the faintest clue what happened. She's about the dopiest person in the country first thing in the morning, compounded by the fact that we didn't get home until quite late and she was very drunk. We're only guessing that she got trodden on or trapped somehow.If I could get her in her carry case while retaining most of the skin on my arms and face I would take her to the vet to be sure. However, like I said in my OP, she's happy to jump onto me for a stroke and she's walking and jumping about like normal, is carrying her tail in a normal way etc... so I don't think she's actually injured.
I'll try to get some of these things today, because my wife really doesn't want to be in the same house as Ava.
bexVN said:
I'm thinking more about the two recent incidents both extreme responses and more mental than physical but some medical conditions can give rise to abnormal behaviour.
I would do it once she has calmed down!
Thanks Bex, will do.I would do it once she has calmed down!
She's a tortie, so that probably doesn't help much
I'd add Pet Remedy as a spray to the list of shopping items.
I thought Feliway was good, but found that PR works even quicker on my pair when they are scared.
Feliway & Zyklene take a couple of days
Mog & your wife are reacting the same way to each other; they got hurt so now they are wary. A few days of calm normal routine & they'll both get over it (unlike Feliway, Pet Remedy also contains Valarian which works on humans so it will help your wife relax too
)
Good luck!
I thought Feliway was good, but found that PR works even quicker on my pair when they are scared.
Feliway & Zyklene take a couple of days
Mog & your wife are reacting the same way to each other; they got hurt so now they are wary. A few days of calm normal routine & they'll both get over it (unlike Feliway, Pet Remedy also contains Valarian which works on humans so it will help your wife relax too
)Good luck!
Harry let me know how it goes because one of my Dad's rescue mogs HATES me... I actually think she would rather starve than let me feed her etc.
It all started when she hadn't been with us for toooooo long but the other mog had more than settled in... I went to the loo but didn't realise she was in there (curled up on a towel on the floor behind the door). Anyhow I'm in there but the cat is going bat sh*t crazy. I actually worried for her.. I thought she was going to have a seizure! She was running along the bath, up along the window ledge, across the back of the sink, along the wall, across the back of the loo, across to the bath & off again. That madam defied gravity the rate she was going.
As a subsequence of this she cannot stand to be anywhere near me. She won't eat if I feed her, she won't come in to the house/room if I'm there. I adore cats but this fuzzy bugger would rather leave home than be in the same building as me
It all started when she hadn't been with us for toooooo long but the other mog had more than settled in... I went to the loo but didn't realise she was in there (curled up on a towel on the floor behind the door). Anyhow I'm in there but the cat is going bat sh*t crazy. I actually worried for her.. I thought she was going to have a seizure! She was running along the bath, up along the window ledge, across the back of the sink, along the wall, across the back of the loo, across to the bath & off again. That madam defied gravity the rate she was going.
As a subsequence of this she cannot stand to be anywhere near me. She won't eat if I feed her, she won't come in to the house/room if I'm there. I adore cats but this fuzzy bugger would rather leave home than be in the same building as me
http://www.icatcare.org:8080/advice/problem-behavi...
This link is definitely worth a read. Very knowledgeable behaviourists write these advice pages.
This link is definitely worth a read. Very knowledgeable behaviourists write these advice pages.
A wee update... My wife refused to stay in the house again last night, so she was shipped off to my parent's house. Wifey ended up at the doctor yesterday as the bite wounds on her leg are now infected.
I went in to deal with Madam. On arrival, she was trying to be normal. She jumped up on the couch as she would normally do to greet us coming home, but as I got near she started to hiss and growl again. I am feeling really sorry for her, as she seems to want to be normal again but she's just so damn scared that her fight instinct kicks in. She's eating, drinking, peeing and pooping as normal so I don't think that she has any actual physical issues.
Cheers all
I went in to deal with Madam. On arrival, she was trying to be normal. She jumped up on the couch as she would normally do to greet us coming home, but as I got near she started to hiss and growl again. I am feeling really sorry for her, as she seems to want to be normal again but she's just so damn scared that her fight instinct kicks in. She's eating, drinking, peeing and pooping as normal so I don't think that she has any actual physical issues.
ali_kat said:
I'd add Pet Remedy as a spray to the list of shopping items.
Good luck!
Thanks Ali, I'll have a look for that too.Good luck!
PinkRinse said:
Harry let me know how it goes because one of my Dad's rescue mogs HATES me...
Will do Pinky bexVN said:
http://www.icatcare.org:8080/advice/problem-behavi...
This link is definitely worth a read. Very knowledgeable behaviourists write these advice pages.
Thanks again Bex. Our vet has an animal behaviourist on the staff so I think that we're going to book an appointment with her to see if we can get to the root cause of her anxiety.This link is definitely worth a read. Very knowledgeable behaviourists write these advice pages.
Cheers all
A further update...
My wife still seems more scared of the cat than the cat is of us... she won't stay in the same house.
However, some progress was made this morning. I was in the kitchen pottering about, and the cat was at the other end of the livingroom, being 'good' (no hissing etc). As she was being good, I thought I'd reward that, so I rattled a box of dreamies. Ava ran right up to me, and ate them gently from my hand, game me headbutts and purrs
I think that I've found a way of re-establishing the trust by exploiting the fact that she's a greedy f
ker
I still think that I'll get her checked over and speak to the pet behaviourist at the vets, just to make sure that there is no physical problem and to double check that she's not some kind of bipolar kitteh
Cheers for all your advice folks, I'll buy you all a virtual pint (or glass of white wine or fruit based drink for the ladies)
My wife still seems more scared of the cat than the cat is of us... she won't stay in the same house.
However, some progress was made this morning. I was in the kitchen pottering about, and the cat was at the other end of the livingroom, being 'good' (no hissing etc). As she was being good, I thought I'd reward that, so I rattled a box of dreamies. Ava ran right up to me, and ate them gently from my hand, game me headbutts and purrs
I think that I've found a way of re-establishing the trust by exploiting the fact that she's a greedy f
ker I still think that I'll get her checked over and speak to the pet behaviourist at the vets, just to make sure that there is no physical problem and to double check that she's not some kind of bipolar kitteh
Cheers for all your advice folks, I'll buy you all a virtual pint (or glass of white wine or fruit based drink for the ladies)
ali_kat said:
And her fear of the cat?
Probably quite sensible, if i trod on my elder cat i'd leave the house for a week or two as well until she had calmed down. On topic, my mother is terrified of most cats but deals well with mine when i am away. She fell for the "rub my belly" trick once and was geniunely scared of the boy for a few weeks. It took a couple of hours one a couple of saturdays with her in the house with me and Horror before she got back to being able to stroke/deal with him but it can be done.
The best thing your wife can do is spend time with the kitty, they sound like they need to repair the trust levels a bit.
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