# Vicious Ragdoll prefers male company!



## ragdollkitty (Jun 24, 2008)

Please Help!

I have a male ragdoll, just turned one (he has been spayed). He is a very beautiful cat - we decided to choose a ragdoll due to their relaxed nature. unfortunately my Ragdoll has recently started to attack me! Out of the blue, i can be walking past him and he'll launch an attack on me, jumping on my leg, biting and scratching! he has caused many injuries! This also happens when he is being stroked. My ragdoll is never alone, and gets plenty of love and play as my partner works from home. He is in good heath and is very good with his litter tray. He doesnt attack my partner and is also very good natured with other male members of the family. 

I find it difficult to groom him as he bites and scratches - but as he needs grooming often due to his fluffy fur - this cant be helped. I dont know how to tame his wild ways, or what to do for the best when he launches an attack! i normally have to retreat to another room while he calms down. does anyone have any advice as to what to do for the best? 

Thanks!


----------



## bee112 (Apr 12, 2008)

OMG thats odd, he is still very young, as you may know it can take 4 yrs for a Raggie to reach maturity..

I really cant offer much advice on this one though as I have never experienced it myself..

There are a few Raggie breeders & owners on here who may be able to help more.

Welcome to the forum!


----------



## Guest (Jun 24, 2008)

does he perhaps need another pussy companion?


----------



## ChinaBlue (Feb 3, 2008)

How long ago was he neutered? It could be that if it was fairly recently he may still have some hormones playing havoc and I think it may well be worth a visit to your vet to check that a) the neutering was done properly and b) there is nothing physical wrong with him. Once you rule those out try to pin down when this behaviour started - can you remember when it first happened and if anything triggered it? Does he have enough toys and/or a decent sized cat post to stimulate him - as it sounds like he could be a bit frustrated/bored and by doing what he is doing he certainly is getting your attention! 

It may well be that your cat does prefer male company - some do! As already suggested, and bearing in mind he could be a bit bored/lonely, it may be an idea to consider a companion for him - a female may be best.

I would suggest also that you contact his breeder if you can and have a chat with them. 

Also may be worth investing in a few Feliway diffusers - may help him feel calmer.

I do hope you sort things out as nine times out of ten Raggies are wonderful - and if they behave in such a way you describe there is usually a reason behind it.


----------



## Saynamore (Feb 28, 2008)

ChinaBlue said:


> How long ago was he neutered? It could be that if it was fairly recently he may still have some hormones playing havoc and I think it may well be worth a visit to your vet to check that a) the neutering was done properly and b) there is nothing physical wrong with him. Once you rule those out try to pin down when this behaviour started - can you remember when it first happened and if anything triggered it? Does he have enough toys and/or a decent sized cat post to stimulate him - as it sounds like he could be a bit frustrated/bored and by doing what he is doing he certainly is getting your attention!
> 
> It may well be that your cat does prefer male company - some do! As already suggested, and bearing in mind he could be a bit bored/lonely, it may be an idea to consider a companion for him - a female may be best.
> 
> ...


Exellent response, would recommend you go along with all of China's ideas! C.x.


----------



## Guest (Jun 28, 2008)

Hi this is very unusual behaviour,definatly get him checked by a vet,my entire male is the most affecianate cat i have,and the girls are all friendly to,one is slightly nervous of strangers though,but would hide upstairs,never had one attack,Even kittens when playing never get their claws out


----------



## Violentia D'Arrangement (Jun 2, 2010)

I joined these boards specifically to offer support to Ragdollkitty by telling you that you are not alone. We have almost the exact same situation with our ragdoll and have no idea what we can do as he is becoming ridiculously vicious. It has reached the stage where we are considering our options regarding giving him to someone who can handle a very vicious cat or having him euthanased. 

The main difference is that our cat is targeting eyes in his attacks. Less than 5 minutes ago, he only missed my husband's eye by less than 4 millimetres and there is a row of puncture marks where the claws hit his nose and inner lower lid. 

This ragdoll is our 9yo daughter's first pet and we are both terrified he will bllind or damage her and sad that we may have to remove him from our family. We have two other cats, both of whom are sweet-natured, although the older one was quite aggressive when she was younger (she was never as out of control as this boy, though). One is about 7yrs and the other is about 18yrs. This boy (14 months old, desexed at approx 6 months) is reminding me more and more of the feral cats that I saw on the farm as a child. He growls, hisses, spits and crouches over his food. My husband is the only one who gets any affection from him. 

We researched and bought this cat because we thought they were sweet natured, not docile, but laid-back cats. What we got was about as far from that as you can get.

I have heard that there are tranquillisers for cats. Would anybody recommend these?


----------



## Milly22 (Sep 15, 2008)

Yes tranquillisers can work but it's only a short term solution, I think you may be better re-homing him if you are thinking of having him PTS.


----------



## vivienne (Jun 2, 2010)

Hello Ragdollkitty
I sympathise I have a cat that can be "bossy" though he does not attack for no reason merely box our ears if we are not giving him the attention he thinks he deserves!
I would not advise getting another cat in the hope it may resolve the problem. You may want to check with the vet that there are no health problems and you may find a leaflet of the FAB website useful. Go to the pet owners pages, look under leaflets and read the one on nervous and aggressive cats.


----------



## ragdollkitty (Jun 24, 2008)

Just an update for you all. Bought Clint my male ragdoll a little ragdoll female kitten called Ellie 1 year ago. This has calmed him down completely! He still hates being groomed and can have a bit of a stop when i get the brush out but he does not attack me any more. it may be that he has matured a bit more too, but Ellie is so playful he is always occupied. I even managed to get him to purr  he even lets her eat first! 

Those claws can be very sharp and it is distressing when all you want to do is make them happy. I had quite a few serious scratches from Clint and sometimes had to shut him in the kitchen for a few minutes to calm him down. Now he sits on my knee (when he decides im worthy of his attention!) and we have a nice cuddle. 

I hope you manage to find a solution, i know how hard it is! keep us updated


----------



## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

Yes raggies are usually laid back loveable cats that follow you around like lost puppies. What you do have to remember is that ragdolls are cats at the end of the day, so yes you will get the odd few that act like ferals.when a cat goes to bite you or scratch you move the cat and walk away, I know its hard but the key to it is to totally not react at all, wear gloves and trousers and don't scream when they do attack you. They will soon get bored and do something else. The reason they often do it is that they get a reaction off you like when their prey cries out , and of course that just makes them want to do it more.


----------



## Cazzer (Feb 1, 2010)

These two sound just like my raggie Beau. He can be loving one minute and going for your eyes the next. We've tried tried feliway, zyklene bach flower remedies etc. Have found that hissing at him diffuses him though. He makes some of the other cats lives a misery. We are currenly considering an outdoor run to give everyone a bit more space.


----------



## Violentia D'Arrangement (Jun 2, 2010)

A quick update:

Obviously we would prefer to keep him or at worst, rehome him and we are trying some behavioural approaches that have been recommended by a few people here and elsewhere with what seems initially to be some success. We have an appointment with the vet on Thursday and have been unable to contact the breeder by phone. He's as sweet as pie occasionally, but truly vicious more often and he can switch from sweet to savage in a millisecond. Getting back is a slower process, though...

I've had cats since I was about 4 years old and I've never seen anything like it in a domestic cat. Even some siamese a friend had (which until now I considered the most vicious cats I had ever met) have nothing on this boy.

With regard any concerns that our house may be a noisy "kid crazy" house, my daughter has been brought up to respect animals and is very good with regard to noise, and startling, doesn't interfere with the food, etc.

I genuinely don't know anybody at the moment who would be a suitable rehomee although I am starting to ask around.

Thanks to all for your concern and offer of help. We are planning on continuing with a few management protocols that we have noticed seem to be working. Hopefully these will have some long term benefits to all of us =)

Well, not so quick, perhaps. I'll keep updating periodically =)

Cheers


----------



## Trace40 (Dec 9, 2009)

We have a male and a female Ragdoll, a male persian and a female exotic.

Our male raggy is normally a lovely cuddly boy but sometimes hes a proper little rogue. He's 3 yrs old now and we have a spindled staircase. If hes laid at the top of the stairs as we are walking up or down he will swipe through the spindles for us also if hes laid in the living room and our foot goes near him he sticks his claws in and tries to bite our feet. He also picks on our other raggy and the exotic sometimes.

He has been neutered and we hoped this would calm him down but it hasnt. We just put up with but would be nice if we could calm him down a little bit as it does get depressing when hes bullying the other 2 ladies as theyre quite calm cats.

Raggy's arent the docile , sleepy cats everyone thinks they are. Our 4 cats charge around the house like a herd of elephants and our 8 month old Pug puppy follows them and tries to join in. Its a mad house sometimes.


----------



## Violentia D'Arrangement (Jun 2, 2010)

Well, two weeks later and while there has been (some) progress with the human side of interacting with this ragdoll, there has been no improvement with the way he treats our two older female cats. He still beats them up whenever he feels like it. 

The vet said (after being caught with very quick claws - twice) that he couldn't find anything physical that might explain the behaviour and the breeders have apparently moved interstate. I doubt they'd say anything other than "How strange, that's NEVER happened with any of our cats before..." anyway, so I don't really see any point chasing them up.

While we have decided that we want to keep him and work with him, he has ensured that I will not buy or recommend a ragdoll ever again. In Australia they are sold as being very quiet cats, suitable for therapy or young families. Obviously they are not. Even the positive posts in this thread describe cats that are quite different to how they are pitched. It's terrible to think about how many must be purchased under mistaken assumptions then euthanased (as happens to pretty much any animal labelled vicious in Australia). In addition, I'm pretty angry that something that was supposed to be a positive, responsible, loving and reciprocal experience for my daughter (i.e. her first pet) has turned out so badly.


----------



## kelly-joy (Oct 14, 2008)

I am sorry you have had such a bad time from owning a ragdoll,They are usually the sweetest natured cats.One of mine is such a baby,follows me everywhere and sleeps round my head at night and I would say he is the most loving cat I have ever had in my life.He not got much up top bless him,he thinks he is a girl and loves to mummy any babies that come into the house be it a kitten,puppy and even baby rabbits.The babies really do well with him acting as mum and its funny to see some of them that I have kept still think he is mum even now they are older.I could never not own at least one raggie now.
Like I have said that ragdoll and indeed any other cat breed are still cats and all come from wild cats which means that any cat can inherit the wild cats behaviours and temperaments,having said that a lot of these cats come from bad breeding,usually back street breeders that don't breed for temperament, they breed for money and it doesn't matter about health in temperament to them,just how many kittens they can churn out and what price they can get for them. The thing is these breeders do produce kittens like yours and give the said breed a bad name,which is very sad


----------



## Cazzer (Feb 1, 2010)

I've sadly decided to rehome my ragdoll as myself, his breeder and my vet are sure his problems are due to the fact he is in a multi cat home. He's been out in our secure garden all day and has been lovely but moment he comes back in the house he changes. Not looking forward to having say goodbye at all to him though.


----------

