# Aggressive possessive cat - HELP!



## Nini (May 6, 2007)

This is the message one of my friends sent me this morning:

_I need help really badly and really fast! This cat 'Guy' who has been a sort of mascot to our building for the last 8 months or so has become a serious problem. In the first place he was born feral and doesn't look like a domestic cat--sort of like a link mix. Anyway-he tamed up fine and everyone liked him. He enjoyed being petted by one and all. My neighbor, and old man named 'Naum' and I fed him--sometimes others did too.

2 weeks ago Naum paid and I took him to Laurel pet where he was neutered. Since then he has become completely obsessed with me. He will not move from the front of my door. That is annoying but not the problem. He will not let anyone come near me. He growls and attacks--both them and me. Everyone is afraid of him. He won't let me walk. He jumps in front of me and trips me. He's clawed up my leg badly and has bitten my hand. Last night Naum was feeding him while I was near and he bite Naum really hard.

He growls at old ladies and children if I am near. He is very likely to continue to attack unprovoked if I am anywhere around.

Spray water bottles don't work, the hose doesn't work. I am at my wits end. I hate to call animal control but I don't know what to do. 

This isn't like normal feral cat behavior. He's not feral anymore. He can be very affectionate and doesn't behave in the least afraid of anything or anyone. But he is dangerous.

Friday our 4 year old grandson comes. Last week he growled at Elijah but his father intervened. Elijah had not even gone near him. Guy approached Eli growling and hissing. 

What should I do? He has to go somewhere right away--like today. I called the SPCA and was planning to take him to the Jefferson shelter but they don't have animals there anymore and SPCA has become worthless in respect to taking in animals.--they don't.

Please Advise ASAP---Pam_

She means well but is not ready a cat person - she does not know much about them at all. She is also very pessimistic, and it's hard to convince her to just give a situation time and try different strategies :? 

What could I advise her to do??


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## Nini (May 6, 2007)

This is what I responded to her - it's the best I could think of:

_I would suggest to give up on the water bottle, or water hose, and any coercitive techniques. Those work fine with dogs but are no good with cats - if anything, it is likely to make matters worse. I think you need to train the cat to understand that you are the boss, and he cannot exhibit dominant behavior against other people to defend you. Anytime he growls or hisses at someone, say NO firmly in a stern voice, and push him away. If he gets more threatening and you are afraid he is going to attack the person, lock him in your bathroom for five minutes, time for him to calm down. Don't forget to praise him and offer him treats (like a few kibbles of dry food) whenever he remains calm and well-mannered. How old is this cat? Is he still on the young side? If so, you might want to try and make him spend some energy by playing with him - and having other people playing with him while you are around. If he starts to be aggressive, back to step one: bathroom for five minutes. If he plays nicely with you around, praise and reward him.

I would not recommand leaving such a cat roaming free around children for sure - so if your grandson comes on Friday, it would be a good idea to lock the cat up in your bathroom or bedroom with his food, water, litterbox and a couple of toys. You can go check on him once in a while, taking someone with you - once again if he is well-mannered, praise and reward, if he is threatening, say NO and walk out of the room. He should soon get the message that being aggressive just brings him isolation, while being friendly brings treats and petting and rewards.

If you had a dog crate in which to crate him while you have people visiting, it would be perfect - he could be in contact with people without being able to aggress them._


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

That sounds like excellent advice. But isn't getting a boy cat fixed supposed to *eliminate* this problem? And I don't quite understand the living situation - was he free to roam and all of a sudden he's living with her? Maybe he feels trapped. Sorry, I have no answers (I know - what a shock!)


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## Nini (May 6, 2007)

I think he was roaming in the courtyard of where she lives - all the buildings are gathered around a central courtyard, free to go in and out of her place during the day. Now he wants to be with her all the time. Apparently, he was NOT like this before they neutered him, which seems very weird - I don't fully understand how this could happen either. Maybe he got attached to her, having her pick him up (=rescue) from the scary vet office, and now is slightly neurotic about it... hard to say. :?


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## zippy96444 (Mar 7, 2006)

This isn't much, but when Mango starts hissing or growling, I will hiss at him a few times then he realizes that I am boss and not happy with him.


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## drjean (Jan 6, 2004)

I wonder if this could be a reaction to the anesthetic Ketamine, which is the most commonly used drug for neuters (I hate it, won't use it. It is a very close relative of PCP, also known as "Angel Dust"--which certainly causes severe aggression in people). Some vets use ketamine alone--which is a *really* bad idea since it does nothing for pain and the cat is not truly asleep--a nightmare experience to be sure! But I have seen plenty of serious personality changes from this drug. Perhaps she could call the vet and ask?

Meantime I will pass this on to my behavior experts and see if they have any ideas!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

You know, I was thinking the same thing -- after Cinderella's reaction, but his operation was a couple weeks ago, so I wasn't sure if the effect could last that long. :?


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## Nini (May 6, 2007)

_I appreciate your responses but it seems I did not explain the situation well.

!st of all--'Guy' was a feral cat until we 'adopted' him to our apartment complex. But---he is and always was an out door animal. He can't come in doors. He beat up my 15 year old girl cat a while back. He beat up my neighbors cat. Perhaps he is just jealous of homes--but it is out of the question for him to come in. 

It is also not possible to 'train' or teach him anything. No discipline, at least not coming from me, is going to work. This in not normal domestic cat behavior at all!

Virginie, I have rescued and worked with hundreds of animals.--maybe hundreds of cats. I've even encountered and saved truly feral dogs (that is something few people can even imagine). but--There is nothing I can do for this animal.

He is not in pain--at least not anything having to do with his being neutered. I talked with the vet a few days ago--after his first 'attack'. and that's all there is to that.

Guy is terrorizing me and others in the building. This isn't some light weight behavioral problem that we can sit around and theorize about. He attacks unprovoked. He behaves as though he owns me and is going to keep me inside my apartment--allowing no communication with anyone else.

He guards my door.

I wasn't trying to teach him anything with the hose---just move him so I could walk outside and empty the trash.

Like I said, I've worked with and rescued more animals than most anyone (or any group) I know.

Guy is behaving in a way that is probably quite natural to a male lion or other large cat. I think I mentioned that many of us have wondered if he was part Link even before this.

Bottom line is he is unpredictable and dangerous.

He has to go. Tomorrow I will call Pet Pride. I don't like the place but it's better than nothing--maybe. The only other options I can think of is that I'm either going to call Animal Control to pick him up (which seems cowardly to me) or take him over to Laurel and have him put down.

I feel terrible about this. I wish I would never have gotten him spayed or paid any attention to him at all. 

A year ago I trapped and rescued his 6 week old kittens and his wife. I had her spayed and returned to this neighborhood where I feed her every night. The kittens were rehabilitated (young so easy) and found good homes---but Guy is another matter, perhaps another breed.

There is no locking him into bathrooms or teaching him who is boss. It is an horrible situation._

I hate this woman - she is a friend of my rescue friend's, but I really do not understand how she can possibly think of herself as a great rescuer and animal lover... earlier this year I helped adopting out a pitbull that her son had to give away, she was ready to have him put to sleep just because she thought whoever would adopt it would fight him - great mentality :evil: 

Thanks everyone for your help... I wonder why she asked for help if she did not need it. GRRRRRRR!


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

It is awful to even think that Guy might have felt the surgery. That would seem to me to be an unthinkable thing to do. I have had that experience personally, and I was an emotional wreck for quite a while, and had nightmares for about five years. I _had_ to talk about it, because I was expecting a baby within a month, and spoke to an anesthesiologist, who picked up my horror story where I left off, thank God. Someone finally understood! Most people didn't and still don't know that this happens. The cat would not be able to explain to anyone what he went through. I hope he soon forgets it. I would assume this would be similar to post-traumatic stress syndrome in human beings. Who knows how it would effect an animal? Poor baby.  

I agree that Guy should be kept away from children and given a lot of love and rewards for remaining calm around other adults.


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## Nini (May 6, 2007)

Jeanie said:


> I agree that Guy should be kept away from children and given a lot of love and rewards for remaining calm around other adults.


Well, she made it obvious enough that she is going to have the cat either put down or picked up by animal control - who will put him down. 
She makes me sick. If my friend had not fostered this pitbull she ended up with, and if I had not posted an ad on craigslist and screened a bunch of applicants, to finally find him a great home, the dog would be dead. She did not even want to put an ad to try and find him a family - she wanted him put to sleep because she was convinced he would "fall into the wrong hands"... and she calls herself an animal lover. Yeah right :evil: 

I just emailed her that since she knew everything about cats and judged the situation could not be helped in any way, I did not understand why she forwarded this email to me asking for help. I also asked her to keep her horror stories to herself and stop forwarding me emails from now on. I have had it with her, I usually try to give people I don't like the benefit of the doubt, but I guess with her dislike at first sight was founded. I still can't believe she is going to just have that cat put down without trying anything.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I'm sorry this is ending so sadly, Nini.  

I remember you showing me pictures of lovable Louie, the pit bull that you helped re-home. You were his angel, just remember that.


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## AddFran (Jul 10, 2004)

Nini, I think you did the right thing. She's not looking for help, she looking for someone to condone what she's already decided to do. Cut your losses with her and move on. She's not the most positive person in the world and she certainly doesn't come close to sharing your views on what is acceptable in terms of caring for an animal. No loss leaving her behind! I am sorry this poor cat is going through this though. There is obviously something wrong. 

Oh and if she was so smart and such an expert on cats she'd know there is no such thing as a _Link_. Bahahahaha. What an idiot.


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## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

That woman is obviously *not* an animal lover. Quite the opposite.

It's so sad that poor Guy fell into the "wrong hands" of someone who is missing a "link" in her brain.


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## Nini (May 6, 2007)

Thanks a lot everyone for your input! Feels good to see that everyone can see right through her, since she really cannot keep her ego in check even in a simple email... and you should see her house, I don't think I have ever seen anything so filthy - her old dog does not have a single hair left on his back, yet she declared it was because he is old, and won't take him to the vet again. GRRRRR!

Anyhow... just got an email response from her, NOT READING IT! Hubby will read it and just tell me if it is just as stupid as the other ones I got so far... I don't want to spend another night boiling at her stupidity :evil:


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Nini said:


> Anyhow... just got an email response from her, NOT READING IT!


Good for you! I wouldn't be able to resist - and then I *would* spend the evening fuming! :?


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## AddFran (Jul 10, 2004)

If you haven't had him read it already - just DELETE it and then delete it from your trash folder to. She's not worth your husband's time either!


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## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

Agreed. You don't need the aggravation.


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## Nini (May 6, 2007)

Yup, you both are perfectly right. Now will I have the willpower to delete those two emails before hubby gets home?


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