# Cat suddenly aggressive after getting stuck in a carrier bag!



## joulsey (Sep 1, 2012)

Our cat got stuck in a carrier bag yesterday morning and was panicking. My boyfriends mum tried to help her out but she started hissing and spitting etc so she had to stop, the cat managed to get free her self then. Since then she wont stop the aggression and has carried on hissing, spitting and growling at her. To the point where she now feels she cannot go in the same room as her. She is ok with me I can stroke her and she will come to me and when I am in the room with her and my boyfriends mum she seems fine. She is just very nervy and spooked. Does any body know what we can do as if this carries on we are going to have no choice but to find her a new home or take her to a shelter?:frown:

She's about 2 years old.


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## oggers86 (Nov 14, 2011)

Imagine you were stuck, thrashing around and some big person was stood next to you getting involved but you didnt know they were trying to help..

I cant imagine you would feel all fuzzy and warm to the giant person..

Give her a few days to settle down, I am sure she will be fine..


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

I can;t believe you would think of taking your cat to a shelter the day after she got stuck in a carrier bag... :mad2:


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

1st post guys - contentious in the least. FInd the popcorn.


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## joulsey (Sep 1, 2012)

Wow well aren't you welcoming, of course this is my first post as I have come here to ask for help as I am not a cat expert and have never come across this.

The last thing we want to do is have to get rid of her. The point is that my boyfriends mum is too scared to even walk from room to room for being attacked. I have to tell her each time she wants to come out of a room where the cat is. She has been spooked before, trapped in places etc and she has never ever reacted like this.


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

What do you expect when you threaten to rehome in a first post. :confused1: If it is the LAST thing you would do why mention it in the FIRST post.

Have you taken her to the vets to see if she has hurt herself? Have you tried using a feliway diffuser to help her? Have you tried getting the person who is scared to do all the feeding / treats etc? 

The cat obviously associates the carrier bag incident with the person who failed to help her - so you need to work on this. Threatening to rehome her isn't going to help anyone.


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

I'm sure it will just take a little time for her to calm down, she just needs lots of reassurance right now.

If she was rehomed for this, she would probably never fully recover from the shock, and never trust people again, but if she is given time and care for the next few days, I'm sure she'll be fine.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Have you checked to make certain that your cat hasnt hurt herself in the struggle to escape,she may associate any pain with the person who was nearest at the time.
As for you assuming we are not giving you a warm welcome,just have a read of your thread,this is a pet forum where we take pets welfare seriously.It is understandable that when someone posts that they are considering rehoming their cat simply because she has had a traumatic experience we are going to react in a less than friendly way.Give your cat time,dont crowd her and let her recover her trust in her own time.


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## joulsey (Sep 1, 2012)

I have mentioned because this is what my boyfriends mum has said she will have to do, as she is THAT scared, she actually will not walk around her house. I am sorry if you saw it as me 'threatening' but I was just asking for some advice to try and build the cats confidence back up.My boyfriends mum is that scared that she rang me from the other room in the house this morning to wake me to go see where the cat was to know if it was safe to come out. I know full well that the cat is sensing her fear which is making things worse, I have tried getting her to stroke her when she has been calmish with me around but she is terrified. And I'm just worried that until I can get her to calm down the cat is never going to. Thankfully she is going ut this afternoon and won't be back until tomorrow so it will give the cat a chance to calm down a bit more.

Excuse my stupidness but what is a feliway diffuser?


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

http://www.feliway.com/gb

Feliway Diffuser - Animed Direct
Vets sell it so I think does [email protected] but it is much cheaper on line.


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## joulsey (Sep 1, 2012)

buffie said:


> Have you checked to make certain that your cat hasnt hurt herself in the struggle to escape,she may associate any pain with the person who was nearest at the time.
> As for you assuming we are not giving you a warm welcome,just have a read of your thread,this is a pet forum where we take pets welfare seriously.It is understandable that when someone posts that they are considering rehoming their cat simply because she has had a traumatic experience we are going to react in a less than friendly way.Give your cat time,dont crowd her and let her recover her trust in her own time.


And I do apologise for that, maybe I should have mentioned its not ME that would ever want that, but my boyfriends mum is petrified and thats what she has said. I'm going to try my absolute best to not let this happen.So now I'm trying to find a answer to all of this to prevent it.

I have had a look at her and she doesn't seem sore or touchy anywhere at all.


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## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

She now associates your boyfriends mother as the source of her entrapment etc and is scared of her. The lady needs to work with you to resolve this - she is the adult and human and able to empathise so needs to stop being terrified and be calm and take over the care of the cat. 

Feliway will help the cat to calm, as would Zyklene tablets. But with your boyfriends mum giving off horrified/ terrified signals it isn't going to be a miracle cure.


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## joulsey (Sep 1, 2012)

spid said:


> She now associates your boyfriends mother as the source of her entrapment etc and is scared of her. The lady needs to work with you to resolve this - she is the adult and human and able to empathise so needs to stop being terrified and be calm and take over the care of the cat.
> 
> Feliway will help the cat to calm, as would Zyklene tablets. But with your boyfriends mum giving off horrified/ terrified signals it isn't going to be a miracle cure.


Many thanks


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

joulsey said:


> And I do apologise for that, maybe I should have mentioned its not ME that would ever want that, but my boyfriends mum is petrified and thats what she has said. I'm going to try my absolute best to not let this happen.So now I'm trying to find a answer to all of this to prevent it.
> 
> I have had a look at her and she doesn't seem sore or touchy anywhere at all.


We will all try to help so I think we should just start again Welcome to the forum, not sure I can advise much more than to just give her time and lots of encouragement.I know you say your bf mum is scared of her but if you could get her to help with the feeding,giving some treats ect so that your cat see's her as a friend rather than an enemy and as far as possible acting normally in her presence and not to stare at her as this can be threatening to a cat.If she finds she has made eye contact to blink slowly and turn her eyes away.I'm sure given time she will learn to trust again but it may be a slow process.


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## Treaclesmum (Sep 26, 2011)

It sounds like she may not know much about cats and how they think and react. When we first got Jumpy, he could get quite aggressive, make a LOT of noise an lash out, but when he saw we were kind and loving, he grew to trust us, and is now the soppiest ball of fur ever! He had been roughly handled in his last home. He can still get like that when he's at the vets, and when he catches prey - I was scared to walk past him the other night with the rat he'd caught, because he was growling madly, and I thought he might lash out, but all he needed was space and time to calm down. I'm sure your cat will be the same!


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## Cookieandme (Dec 29, 2011)

joulsey said:


> She has been spooked before, trapped in places etc and she has never ever reacted like this.


Where has she been trapped before ?

Oh and tell your boyfriends mother to get a grip


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## rose (Apr 29, 2009)

My old cat (put to sleep 3 months ago aged 18) once got caught in a plastic carrier bag when he was about 2 years old. He really panicked and thrashed around the garden resisting any attempt to get him out by scatching and clawing. We eventually cut him free and he was very upset. After a few days I noticed his claws smelled bad, took him to the vet for antibiotics, He had damaged his claws trying to escape the bag. Perhaps your cat has done the same? Till the day he died he was terrified of plastic bags,


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