HELP Bad Cat Behavior.......

I have a neutered Tom cat that is having some behavior problems to the
degree of I have thought about the fact that I may have to put him to
sleep. Before I have to face that I would like to find out if there is
some other way of helping him change his behavior so after reading my
questions if you would be so kind to e mail me with your suggestions we
would really really appreciate it.


Buddy Boy is his name and the problem is that Buddy likes to hunt. This
includes hunting his two other housemates. When they are digging to use
the bathroom or covering it up and if they are playing, running ect.
pretty much any kind of fast movement he feels the need to chase them
and either bite them on the bottom or top of their neck. It's always
their neck. I find scabs on one of his housemates (Miggett)neck all the
time. Even at that Miggett never makes a sound when Buddy does this to
him.

Another problem with Buddy is he is aggressive to humans but only when
he wants to be left alone, you tell him no, you pick him up and he does
not want you to pick him up, pretty much when he does not get what he
wants. Now keep in mind he is so Tom and has so much pride being a male
that he really reminds me of a lion in the wild but a small cat
version. (don't laugh, I'm serious lol)

Last but not least when I tell him no or tell him he is a bad boy after
he does something and one of the other cats are close to him at all he
lashes out at them by either trying to bite them or slap them normally
in the face.

I really need help, if you can help at all please e mail me.

On Thu, 26 May 2005 14:51:52 -0700, "Jo Firey"
yodeled:

And for this you would consider putting him to sleep? I must not be getting
something. Starting with last. Telling him he is bad is not correcting his
behavior, right? And its getting the other cats smacked. So stop it
already. It isn't working - don't do it.

Next. If he objects to being picked up - don't. Many cats won't let you
pick them up.

As for hunting his housemates. That goes on around here every evening
between 7:30 and 9 or exhaustion whichever comes first. Molly attacks Jake,
Jake attacks Molly. They run all over the house. They roll each other on
their backs, the pull out fur. They bite each other on the neck. Nobody
growls and nobody cries. Molly never gets scabs and she's the smallest and
pretty much the instigator. Jake has little scabs on his neck all the time.
He loves it when I scratch them loose. I have little scabs on my midriff
most of the time. Jake thanks me my kneading my skin with his claws and if
I'm wearing something too thin or he's enjoying it too much, it makes pin
holes.

All sounds like pretty normal behavior to me.


Everything Jo said-- there is a wide range of normal behavior in cats,
and Buddy sounds like a normal, lively young boycat. Young cats are
often rambunctious and playful-- and the litterbox is often one of
their favorite places to ambush each other. Wiggly, energetic young
boycats often don't like being restrained- so only pick him up when
absolutely necessary. All the hunting behavior is normal too, for a
indoor cat -- cats are hunting animals. Their normal play behavior is
a version of hunting behavior, and cats play with each other by
stalking, pouncing, and chasing each other around. If the other cat
doesn't fuss when he attacks him/her, it's probably no big deal, and
part of play. People can often be very surprised at how rowdy and
energetic cats can be, when they are popularly supposed to be quiet
animals.

Please don't have Buddy put to sleep. If you cannot deal with his
activity level, perhaps you might have to rehome him to someone who
can. But I assure you, he sounds like a pretty normal guy, and it
just might be a poor fit between you and him.


Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

In article . com, " wrote:
I have a neutered Tom cat that is having some behavior problems to the
degree of I have thought about the fact that I may have to put him to
sleep.

I have to think that's a quite extreme "solution" to the problem. Any chance
of keeping him apart from the others, at least for a while?

I had a similar problem with Watermelon Man, my huge tabby. Not perhaps to
the same degree as yours, but he was often moderately to unacceptably
aggressive to the others. Then Thalia, a small calico, came into my life.
And when Watermelon tried the usual tactics on her, she wouldn't have any of
it. She started attacking him, chasing him, tormenting him, and basically
scaring him so much that he wouldn't even come into the house if he saw her.
I'd have to pick him up and carry him in. As an upshot, he got quite a bit
less aggressive toward the others (most of the time) due to being terrorized
by little Thalia. And she's quite unagressive with all the others.

Art

wrote:
I have a neutered Tom cat that is having some behavior problems to the
degree of I have thought about the fact that I may have to put him to
sleep.

Since I smell a troll, might as well smell something yummy for dinner.

Macaroni Pie
based on a recipe courtesy of The Frugal Gourmet a la Thomas Jefferson, who
introduced the dish to the United States (it wasn't the United States back
then) in the 1700's.

8 oz macaroni, cooked and drained
1 Tbs. butter
1 egg, beaten
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup warm milk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
pinch of paprika

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter a 2 quart casserole dish. Combine
cooked hot macaroni with butter and beaten egg. Add 2 cups of the grated
cheese and stir well. In a small bowl, combine the milk with salt and dry
mustard. Blend into the macaroni and turn this into the casserole dish.
Sprinkle all over with the remaining cheese and dust with paprika. Bake
35-40 minutes or until top is crusty and browned.

Jill

On Thu, 26 May 2005 14:41:32 -0700, wrote:

I have a neutered Tom cat that is having some behavior problems to the
degree of I have thought about the fact that I may have to put him to
sleep. Before I have to face that I would like to find out if there is
some other way of helping him change his behavior so after reading my
questions if you would be so kind to e mail me with your suggestions we
would really really appreciate it.


Buddy Boy is his name and the problem is that Buddy likes to hunt. This
includes hunting his two other housemates. When they are digging to use
the bathroom or covering it up and if they are playing, running ect.
pretty much any kind of fast movement he feels the need to chase them and
either bite them on the bottom or top of their neck. It's always their
neck. I find scabs on one of his housemates (Miggett)neck all the time.
Even at that Miggett never makes a sound when Buddy does this to him.

Another problem with Buddy is he is aggressive to humans but only when he
wants to be left alone, you tell him no, you pick him up and he does not
want you to pick him up, pretty much when he does not get what he wants.
Now keep in mind he is so Tom and has so much pride being a male that he
really reminds me of a lion in the wild but a small cat version. (don't
laugh, I'm serious lol)

Last but not least when I tell him no or tell him he is a bad boy after he
does something and one of the other cats are close to him at all he lashes
out at them by either trying to bite them or slap them normally in the
face.

I really need help, if you can help at all please e mail me.

I have a question: Have you ever had a tom cat before? MLB

Jo, thanks for the input. What I failed to mention is that the other
two cats do not play back when he does this matter fact my female will
cry and run and sometimes poop on her self when he chases her. It
really upsets her. As for the other male most of the time when he sees
Buddy coming he tries to get away by runnung in the other direction. If
they went back and forth I would not be worried about it at all.
You said don't tell him that he is a bad boy, so what do I do just let
him attack them? I can't do that.

Theresa thank you for your input. Buddy is FIV positive and a
aggressive cat I don't think rehoming him is really an option to boot
we have had him for over 3 years now. Please understand that putting
him to sleep would be my very last choice I would like to understand
him and I am reaching out so that all three of my cats will be happy
cats. This behavior is really effecting the two other cats. Please also
read the reply to Jo so that you can further understand why I feel this
way.

wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a neutered Tom cat that is having some behavior problems to the

You might try posting this question on rec.pets.cats.health+behav - there
are people there who will flame you, but there are also some people who know
a lot about cat behavior and might be able to help you.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Thanks Art for your reply. My concern is that the other two cats are
really being effected by his behavior. It seems to really scare the
other two cats. Buddy plays very rough and they do not like it. As for
keeping them apart that would be impossible because we are full time
RVers and there is no way to seprate them. Keep in mind that my cats
only know full time traveling because of my boyfriends job, it requires
us to move approx. 3-4 times a year.

NO. Is this normal behavior for a TOM?