# Evil cat, pretty much at my wits end :(



## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

I have a torti female called tula. She moved herself into the house about 2 years ago. Well like the title says i am getting towards the end of my tether with her. She is extremely nasty to everyone. I had the vet take a look at her as i know from experiance that some cats that are nasty can be ill. She had all the checks done that was possible including her thyroid. She is completly healthy. She is netured and vaccinated, she had a lukemia test done when she was vaccinated that was negative. It all came to a head this morning when i walk into the kitchen to get everyones breakfast and she ran in behind me and attached her self to my leg. She was growling and biting me as well and 'bunny kicking' me with her back legs. I have had to go to the docs for a tetnus (i did need it doing before this tbh) and to have my leg cleaned as the wounds are quite deep. I dont know what to do with her. I have never had a behavourist come over for one of the cats and i was wondering if anyone has been in the same situation?? Has a behavourist worked for anyones cats before?? Please help me someone, i love her soooo much but dont know if i can put up with this behavior for much longer


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## wellsandmittens (May 29, 2011)

I can't really help I'm afraid but didn't want to read and run. Your situation sounds terrible, well done for sticking with her and looking for solutions, sadly a lot of people are not as patient. I hope someone with more knowledge comes along soon.


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

I got a behaviorist for my cats (one was spraying and the other was a hellcat). The advice she gave me worked wonderfully and I followed it up by getting an expert in T-Touch, who also helped my cat with claw inhibition. You do nee to ensure it is a reputable trained behaviorist, though. I am sure your vet could provide recommendations.


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## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

Thank you! I havent asked my vet about behavourist yet as i wanted to see if any one had experiance with them before i went down that route. Tulas boosters are due next week so i will have a good talk with the vet then


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

koekemakranka said:


> I got a behaviorist for my cats (one was spraying and the other was a hellcat). The advice she gave me worked wonderfully and I followed it up by getting an expert in T-Touch, who also helped my cat with claw inhibition. You do nee to ensure it is a reputable trained behaviorist, though. I am sure your vet could provide recommendations.


You have my sympathy.My Ragdoll was an evil little thug as a kitten.There is a long story attached to him including his breeding/rearing and lack of socialising from his "breeder".I had to get a behaviourist for him as he was stalking attacking and ripping skin when only months old.As above only use a recommended behaviourist from your vet.There are a lot of folks calling them selves behaviourists but that doesnt mean they are. Normally they will come to you to see your cat in its own surroundings and watch its behaviour and then give you his/her findings and what they think needs to be done.My Raggie is now 16 months old and although not perfect he is like a different cat now.The behaviourists idea's worked.Good luck I do hope you manage to get help for your cat as I doubt that she is any happier than you are.


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## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

That is what upsets me the most the fact that she obviously isnt happy.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

tashax said:


> That is what upsets me the most the fact that she obviously isnt happy.


Oh sorry I dont mean that she is unhappy with you I mean something in her "head" is not happy which is making her like this.I'm sure you only want whats best for her and until you know why she is behaving like this,you cant help her.I was like this until the behaviourist explained what she thought was causing Meeko's aggression and showed me ways to help him.


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## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

It makes it worse that i dont know her back ground or where she came from. She could have been through some bad times and i just want her to relize that i would never hurt her.


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## Taylorbaby (Jan 10, 2009)

tashax said:


> It makes it worse that i dont know her back ground or where she came from. She could have been through some bad times and i just want her to relize that i would never hurt her.


II was just about to ask her background, if you dont know it, I guess she could have been kicked/beaten/shouted at etc 

taken away from mum every early, does she like other cats? or is it just humans?


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## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

She tolerates my other female cats but she will not tolerate the boys at all. I have to lock her in my room at nite so the boys are safe from her (they are quite scared of her) im hoping she will calm down with the boys when i move house (hopefully very soon) my house atm is very small so im hoping a bigger house will mean they can all pretty much stay out of each others way


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## lizward (Feb 29, 2008)

It sounds like a misdirected play instinct to me. At the risk of drawing down the wrath of the forum, I'd say let her out, unless you are somewhere where the risks are so high that it would be a death sentence for her.

Liz


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## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

She's out everyday, none of the cats are house cats. I have a cat proof garden, so the cant get out of it. I did it so ellie my cat with skin condition can get some sun (it seems to do her skin wonders). She is wonderful when she is in the garden. She will get on my lap and have a cuddle. I also get worried because i havent ever herd her purr :001_unsure:


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## Myanimalmadhouse (Mar 6, 2011)

Ok a few question first:-

Whats her approximate age? Was she already neutered or did you have her neutered?
Who or what are the main people/things she directs her aggresion to? Is there anything or anyone that she suprises you and doesn't show her typical aggresion with?
Whats her favourite treat?
Is there anything that she's wary with ie she's not keen on feet or hands or certain objects in the house at all?


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## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

Myanimalmadhouse said:


> Ok a few question first:-
> 
> Whats her approximate age? *she is approximatly 5* Was she already neutered or did you have her neutered?*she was in kitten when she came into the house, i had her neutered when the kittens were weaned.*
> Who or what are the main people/things she directs her aggresion to? *Her aggression isnt aimed at anything in particular, me and the OH get it, my mother, brother and sister do to* Is there anything or anyone that she suprises you and doesn't show her typical aggresion with? *The only thing that surprises me is how she is with the dogs, no aggresion with them at all*
> ...


She also chews plastic bags. Not plays but sits there and chews on them.


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## Myanimalmadhouse (Mar 6, 2011)

*Quote:
Originally Posted by Myanimalmadhouse View Post
Ok a few question first:-

Whats her approximate age? she is approximatly 5 Was she already neutered or did you have her neutered?she was in kitten when she came into the house, i had her neutered when the kittens were weaned.
Who or what are the main people/things she directs her aggresion to? Her aggression isnt aimed at anything in particular, me and the OH get it, my mother, brother and sister do to Is there anything or anyone that she suprises you and doesn't show her typical aggresion with? The only thing that surprises me is how she is with the dogs, no aggresion with them at all
Whats her favourite treat?Cheese
Is there anything that she's wary with ie she's not keen on feet or hands or certain objects in the house at all? she is weary of feet more than anything, she will tolerate being picked up and occasionally stroked so i dont think she is weary of hands. She is very weary of the boy cats, flattens her self to the floor, ears back, growling and hissing, even if they are just walking past her. I have even seen her do it if she sees them through the window
She also chews plastic bags. Not plays but sits there and chews on them.*

Ok this actually helps quite a bit, if her approx age is about 5 then you'd be looking at about 2 and a half years of having to "defend" herself against toms. This is most likely why she is tolerant with your girls but attacks the boys as survival tactics for cats left to their own devices is to attack first as its the best defence. And its a long standing behaviour so its doable but will take some time and patience and a keen eye to distract her behaviour at key moments.

If she's wary of feet it would suggest behaviour that indicates that she's used to being kicked in the past.

No fear of dogs would suggest at some point she was either born into a household and reared around dogs or she's lived with dogs at some point in her past.

The chewing the plastic bag is most likely habit from having to find her own food at some point to, rubbish bags tend to be the smelliest and so best place to find something to eat for most stray cats.

ok, got a bit of a profile going now, most of it actually sounds alot like fear aggression, where basically she doesn't really know how to respond to things so her instinct is to lash out and keep everything she's not sure of away.

So will have a rack in my brains see if we cant come up with a plan for you to start with, a behaviourist would be the most ideal solution but they can be expensive, but always worth asking the vet to recommend one for you and dont be embarrased to tell them your budget either!


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## Cazzer (Feb 1, 2010)

sounds like stress to me. Some cats are just meant to be only cats. I had an evil tempered raggie that used to attack both my OH and myself. He was scary in his evilness and would fly at your eyes. Other times he was a loving typical raggie. My vet said rehome him as an only cat and he was fine thereafter!!! He just hated being in a multi cat home. Sounds as though she is stressed by the boy cats. You could try bach feliway,zyklene but to be honest we found nothing worked. We didn't try a behaviorist though although thought about it but vet didn't think it would work in our case


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## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

I have a feliway plug in and a spray, pretty useless. If my vet recomends rehoming her then i will do it. Would rather see her happy and relaxed. I do find she is alot more relaxed with a full stomache. when she has eaten she does relax. Its so noticeable that my mother who has only ever seen her relaxed was surprised.


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## Cazzer (Feb 1, 2010)

with Beau I resisted it for a long time as I thought no one would want him. {He also sprayed and would wee on beds daily at least once! - I was for ever washing and my electric bill went down about £30 per month when he went!}. He also had herpes and would be very poorly with it, but that again was stress related and he has been fine since. Once we made up our minds to do it he was rehomed quickly and I wish for his sake we had done it earlier, as he is a much happier cat. We had put up with it for probably 18 months.

Hoping that it won't come to this though for Tula


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## Myanimalmadhouse (Mar 6, 2011)

Just wanted to let you know i've not forgotten about you chick! Its a hectic week this week - so much for a calm few days lol

Rehoming is an option, it will solve the agresion towards other cats if she's rehomed to be an only cat and this will be the hardest bit of her aggression to crack also but thats up to you to decide.

To start with though try and create a safe space just for her that she can retreat to when she's had enough and just wants some space to herself - a bedroom is usually good but you need to try and keep the other cats away from it - just keep shifting them or body block if they try to go in there.

Also start carrying some treats around - you can get lots of cheese flavoured ones that she should like - and then just before you go to walk past her throw a couple of treats on the ground in front of her but not in your direct path where you want to go then when she goes for the treats walk straight past her in a smooth motion.

And you need some nice dangly stick toys that your going to start playing and get her interacting in the right way with you, when she's interacting and playing or attacking the toy she gets a treat. When she's doing something you dont want her to do make a loud "ah ah" noise and if she stops straight away give her a treat and lots of praise. (this also includes as soon as her body language goes into attack mode but BEFORE she actually attacks)

This should get you started, let us know how you go with this and I shall keep thinking for other things x


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## tashax (Jun 25, 2011)

Thank you! If you read my post update on tula in cat health you will see we found the problem. But i am going to use all your suggestions (apart from the rehoming) as she still isnt madly in love with the boys but has eaten with the other cats for the first time since she moved in  x


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