Any advice? sort of long

About 14 days ago my cat of 6 years (Moggy, spayed calico female, 6
years old), attacked me with all the ferocity and viciousness of a
wild animal. She wanted to hurt me and hurt me badly. It was only
the quick thinking of my husband and a handy chair that kept her from
inflicting some serious wounds.

Of course, I contacted the vet immediately (this was a new vet, as I
have recently moved), and he saw her two days later (the first
appointment that was available).

Aside from the fact that the doctor discounted everything I said and
actually made fun of me saying that her attacks were "nothing", he
told me that the best thing I could do would be to assert my dominance
over her by "smacking her good" the next time she pulled a stunt on me
like that.

Horrified at his advice (using violence against an animal that is
obviously upset or sick), I left. Oh, by the way - a blood work-up
was done to try to establish if there was any organic cause. Rabies
was ruled out because she is an exclusively indoor cat and also
because she is not exhibiting this behavior to anyone other than me.
That is - she is still a purring bundle of fluff to my husband.

I did some googling and found that the best treatment for unexplained
aggression is to remove the simulus - so we isolated her in an unused
bedroom for one full week.

When we let her out, I kept out of sight for about two hours while she
readjusted to not being in the living room. She greeted our other cat
(her friend and playmate) with a nose touch and spent most of the time
interacting with my husband in an affectionate way and laying behind
our couch in the sun in her "usual" place.

After a couple of hours had passed, I decided to make an entrance.
Bribed with a bit of cheese, my kitty came out and sniffed my leg once
and then the fur puffed up, the eyes dialated, the ears went back and
the horrific MEWRROOOWWWWWWWWWing and hissing started. Luckily, my
husband snatched her up and threw her back into the bedroom before she
could inflict anymore painful damage to me.

Needless to say I am heartsick about this. I cannot understand WHY
she hates me so. I have never done anything to her to cause such
anger. While she has always been my husband's cat, and "tolerated" me
being around - never terribly affectionate. She has NEVER ever
attacked me or shown such hostility.

I have contacted a different vet, but it will be more than a week
before he can see me. Frankly, I have very little hope that anything
can be resolved.

If any of you have had a similar incident happen, or know of one,
could you please give me any advice that might help? I am so angry
myself at the very poor treatment I have received by "so called"
professionals and frankly, I have no place else to turn.

Thank you for your input. It is so appreciated.
Em
Be careful what you wish for....

From: Auntie Em

Needless to say I am heartsick about this. I cannot understand WHY
she hates me so. I have never done anything to her to cause such
anger. While she has always been my husband's cat, and "tolerated" me
being around - never terribly affectionate. She has NEVER ever
attacked me or shown such hostility.

I have contacted a different vet, but it will be more than a week
before he can see me. Frankly, I have very little hope that anything
can be resolved.


Hi Em,
Sorry to hear about what's going on with your cat. Try to think really hard
what was going on right before she attacked you the first time. Was she near a
window where she could have seen an animal outside? It quite possibly could be
what is called "misdirected aggression". I highly doubt it's a physical cause
since she's fine with your husband and only has aggression towards you. I
would highly recommend a cat behaviorist, or perhaps someone else here will
post who has experience with this kind of misdirected aggression and been
successful at resolving it.

Best of luck and please keep us updated,

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecatjournal.com/articles/claws.htm

From: Auntie Em

Needless to say I am heartsick about this. I cannot understand WHY
she hates me so. I have never done anything to her to cause such
anger. While she has always been my husband's cat, and "tolerated" me
being around - never terribly affectionate. She has NEVER ever
attacked me or shown such hostility.

I have contacted a different vet, but it will be more than a week
before he can see me. Frankly, I have very little hope that anything
can be resolved.


Hi Em,
Sorry to hear about what's going on with your cat. Try to think really hard
what was going on right before she attacked you the first time. Was she near a
window where she could have seen an animal outside? It quite possibly could be
what is called "misdirected aggression". I highly doubt it's a physical cause
since she's fine with your husband and only has aggression towards you. I
would highly recommend a cat behaviorist, or perhaps someone else here will
post who has experience with this kind of misdirected aggression and been
successful at resolving it.

Best of luck and please keep us updated,

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecatjournal.com/articles/claws.htm

After a couple of hours had passed, I decided to make an entrance.
Bribed with a bit of cheese, my kitty came out and sniffed my leg once
and then the fur puffed up, the eyes dialated, the ears went back and
the horrific MEWRROOOWWWWWWWWWing and hissing started. Luckily, my
husband snatched her up and threw her back into the bedroom before she
could inflict anymore painful damage to me.

Needless to say I am heartsick about this. I cannot understand WHY
she hates me so. I have never done anything to her to cause such
anger. While she has always been my husband's cat, and "tolerated" me
being around - never terribly affectionate. She has NEVER ever
attacked me or shown such hostility.

I have contacted a different vet, but it will be more than a week
before he can see me. Frankly, I have very little hope that anything
can be resolved.

If any of you have had a similar incident happen, or know of one,
could you please give me any advice that might help? I am so angry
myself at the very poor treatment I have received by "so called"
professionals and frankly, I have no place else to turn.

Thank you for your input. It is so appreciated.
Em

Your vet needs to be smacked, not the cat.
Something is ailing that cat. Something is wrong. If you've had her six years,
and this is the first show of extreme aggression towards you, she is begging
for help.
This is so weird. I wish I had something more helpful to say. Good luck, and
please keep us posted.
Sherry

After a couple of hours had passed, I decided to make an entrance.
Bribed with a bit of cheese, my kitty came out and sniffed my leg once
and then the fur puffed up, the eyes dialated, the ears went back and
the horrific MEWRROOOWWWWWWWWWing and hissing started. Luckily, my
husband snatched her up and threw her back into the bedroom before she
could inflict anymore painful damage to me.

Needless to say I am heartsick about this. I cannot understand WHY
she hates me so. I have never done anything to her to cause such
anger. While she has always been my husband's cat, and "tolerated" me
being around - never terribly affectionate. She has NEVER ever
attacked me or shown such hostility.

I have contacted a different vet, but it will be more than a week
before he can see me. Frankly, I have very little hope that anything
can be resolved.

If any of you have had a similar incident happen, or know of one,
could you please give me any advice that might help? I am so angry
myself at the very poor treatment I have received by "so called"
professionals and frankly, I have no place else to turn.

Thank you for your input. It is so appreciated.
Em

Your vet needs to be smacked, not the cat.
Something is ailing that cat. Something is wrong. If you've had her six years,
and this is the first show of extreme aggression towards you, she is begging
for help.
This is so weird. I wish I had something more helpful to say. Good luck, and
please keep us posted.
Sherry

In article ,
enlightened us with...

snip kitty attack and horrid vet advice

If any of you have had a similar incident happen, or know of one,
could you please give me any advice that might help? I am so angry
myself at the very poor treatment I have received by "so called"
professionals and frankly, I have no place else to turn.

Thank you for your input. It is so appreciated.

The vet should be treated the same way he suggested you treat your cat. I'd
like to give him a few good smacks and shakes. What terrible advice.

Anyway, since she's fine with your hubby and other cat, I'd bet something
triggered this. I don't think she's ill. A check is always a great idea, but
if you do, get another vet.
Did you recently change anything at all about yourself? Perfume? Soap?
Shampoo? Detergent? Diet? Hairspray? You might smell very odd for some
reason. Have YOU had a physical lately? Not to be morbid, but animals can
smell tumors.

Did anything precipitate the attack? She may now be associating you with
something that scared her, redirected the aggression to you, now she just
sees you and gets scared all over again. Eyes dilated, fluffed fur, and ears
back is intense fear. Your vet would have you scare her even more. Good for
you for realizing how bad that advice is.

Without knowing what happened, my advice is to try again with separating her.
Do let the other cat and hubby visit her - she needs interaction. Just
isolate her when you are home. Then instead of having her come out and all,
you just crack the door, get her attention, throw her the food, and close the
door and leave. Do this a few times a day. The next day, walk in a step or
two, throw the treat, and leave. Two more days later, walk in 3-4 steps. If
she comes to you, put down the treat and leave. Use a praise voice if you
talk to her. Don't pet her or lean over her. You get the picture.
The second she puts her ears back, you get out of the room and go back to the
last step she allowed.

If you're willing to take the time (it can take weeks, easy), you can re-
adjust her to you.
If it is a simple trigger, such as I mentioned above (smells), removing it
might put her back to normal right away.

Considering the suddenness and ferocity of the attack, my opinion is that
suddenly you smell funny or there was a definite redirected aggression thing
that would have been obvious to you. If you can't think of an obvious trigger
for redirected aggression (loud noise, strange animal in yard, etc), take a
good stock of what you might be doing to smell very odd to her.

Good luck.

--
--
~kaeli~
Cthulhu saves our souls and redeems them for valuable
coupons later.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

In article ,
enlightened us with...

snip kitty attack and horrid vet advice

If any of you have had a similar incident happen, or know of one,
could you please give me any advice that might help? I am so angry
myself at the very poor treatment I have received by "so called"
professionals and frankly, I have no place else to turn.

Thank you for your input. It is so appreciated.

The vet should be treated the same way he suggested you treat your cat. I'd
like to give him a few good smacks and shakes. What terrible advice.

Anyway, since she's fine with your hubby and other cat, I'd bet something
triggered this. I don't think she's ill. A check is always a great idea, but
if you do, get another vet.
Did you recently change anything at all about yourself? Perfume? Soap?
Shampoo? Detergent? Diet? Hairspray? You might smell very odd for some
reason. Have YOU had a physical lately? Not to be morbid, but animals can
smell tumors.

Did anything precipitate the attack? She may now be associating you with
something that scared her, redirected the aggression to you, now she just
sees you and gets scared all over again. Eyes dilated, fluffed fur, and ears
back is intense fear. Your vet would have you scare her even more. Good for
you for realizing how bad that advice is.

Without knowing what happened, my advice is to try again with separating her.
Do let the other cat and hubby visit her - she needs interaction. Just
isolate her when you are home. Then instead of having her come out and all,
you just crack the door, get her attention, throw her the food, and close the
door and leave. Do this a few times a day. The next day, walk in a step or
two, throw the treat, and leave. Two more days later, walk in 3-4 steps. If
she comes to you, put down the treat and leave. Use a praise voice if you
talk to her. Don't pet her or lean over her. You get the picture.
The second she puts her ears back, you get out of the room and go back to the
last step she allowed.

If you're willing to take the time (it can take weeks, easy), you can re-
adjust her to you.
If it is a simple trigger, such as I mentioned above (smells), removing it
might put her back to normal right away.

Considering the suddenness and ferocity of the attack, my opinion is that
suddenly you smell funny or there was a definite redirected aggression thing
that would have been obvious to you. If you can't think of an obvious trigger
for redirected aggression (loud noise, strange animal in yard, etc), take a
good stock of what you might be doing to smell very odd to her.

Good luck.

--
--
~kaeli~
Cthulhu saves our souls and redeems them for valuable
coupons later.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

Hi Em,
Sorry to hear about what's going on with your cat. Try to think really hard
what was going on right before she attacked you the first time. Was she near a
window where she could have seen an animal outside? It quite possibly could be
what is called "misdirected aggression".

The official "neighborhood" cat, Stinky, was out back, but he is
ALWAYS out back and Moggy has never shown any aggressive behavior
toward other cats, even when our next door neighbor's cat came inside
one day, accidentally, there was no hissing or aggression involved.

We also had company staying with us for the week preceeding, which I
think contributed to the stress level of both indoor cats somewhat,
although neither exhibited any type of unusual behavior.

It is so out of character for her. I am flummoxed.

Em
Be careful what you wish for....

Hi Em,
Sorry to hear about what's going on with your cat. Try to think really hard
what was going on right before she attacked you the first time. Was she near a
window where she could have seen an animal outside? It quite possibly could be
what is called "misdirected aggression".

The official "neighborhood" cat, Stinky, was out back, but he is
ALWAYS out back and Moggy has never shown any aggressive behavior
toward other cats, even when our next door neighbor's cat came inside
one day, accidentally, there was no hissing or aggression involved.

We also had company staying with us for the week preceeding, which I
think contributed to the stress level of both indoor cats somewhat,
although neither exhibited any type of unusual behavior.

It is so out of character for her. I am flummoxed.

Em
Be careful what you wish for....

If you can't think of an obvious trigger
for redirected aggression (loud noise, strange animal in yard, etc), take a
good stock of what you might be doing to smell very odd to her.

Good luck.
--
~kaeli~



Em - any chance that you are pregnant?


Janet Boss
http://bestfriendsdogobedience.com/
http://photos.yahoo.com/bestfriendsobedience