help with cat

we are having a lot of trouble with our cat. He is 8 years old, and
he is 15 pounds, a big cat. Not fat, but big. Now, he has petting
aggression but that is ok, we can deal with that. The problem is, at
random times, he lunges at you and clings on and bites. It's to the
legs mostly. You can tell most of the time when he is going to do it,
his pupils dilate and his eyes turn completely black and he is right
wired. It's gotten to the point that my gf is afraid to be with the
cat by herself, he attacked her 3 times the other morning when she was
getting ready for work. Its just so random and we don't know what to
do. He plays really rough with kitten as well, he'll pin the kitten
down and start biting him on the stomach or where ever he can.

We don't know what to do. I really don't want to have to give him up
because I have come quite attached to him, but I don't see any other
option. If anyone can help us with this so I don't have to get rid
of my companion, I would greatly appreciate it.


Note: he has been doing this before we got the kitten, so we got the
kitten figuring that he was just lonely and ****ed off. He is happy
and plays with the kitten, but he is a little too hyper and aggressive
because of his size, and the size of the kitten. But he is starting to
attack more and more now.

Some questions:

*How often do you play with him? It sounds like he needs several play
sessions per day to remove some energy. Use wands or feather toys, NOT
your hands to play with him.
*Has he been to the vet to rule out possible medical problems? This
might be a behaviorial issue but you never know. Worth getting looked
at to rule it out.
*Do you have a cat tree and plenty of toys?

Carry a small toy or laser pointer in your pocket. If you see him
getting "that look" throw a toy or use a laser pointer to distract his
energy. Please don't use a squirt bottle. This might scare him or make
him more angry.

If he does bite you, say OW very loudly and allow your leg to go limp.
Slowly walk away from him. Do not give him attention of any kind, even
negative, which can be encouraging. Shut yourself in a room for a few
minutes if you have to.

Had a very similar problem with a cat a number of years ago. Brought
her to a vet to get checked out and it turned out she was sick. Can't
recall at this time the exact cause of the problem but she had to get
put down. It was not something that could have been fixed by medication
or surgery. I am not saying to go out and get your cat put down...very
hard thing to have to do (and probably unnecessary in your case)...but
bring her to a vet and tell them about the aggression problems she is
having. Perhaps you will get lucky and find it is treatable but do your
cat a favor and get her checked. Something is causing this problem!




guitarnewf wrote:
we are having a lot of trouble with our cat. He is 8 years old, and
he is 15 pounds, a big cat. Not fat, but big. Now, he has petting
aggression but that is ok, we can deal with that. The problem is, at
random times, he lunges at you and clings on and bites. It's to the
legs mostly. You can tell most of the time when he is going to do it,
his pupils dilate and his eyes turn completely black and he is right
wired. It's gotten to the point that my gf is afraid to be with the
cat by herself, he attacked her 3 times the other morning when she was
getting ready for work. Its just so random and we don't know what to
do. He plays really rough with kitten as well, he'll pin the kitten
down and start biting him on the stomach or where ever he can.

We don't know what to do. I really don't want to have to give him up
because I have come quite attached to him, but I don't see any other
option. If anyone can help us with this so I don't have to get rid
of my companion, I would greatly appreciate it.


Note: he has been doing this before we got the kitten, so we got the
kitten figuring that he was just lonely and ****ed off. He is happy
and plays with the kitten, but he is a little too hyper and aggressive
because of his size, and the size of the kitten. But he is starting to
attack more and more now.

Response from guitarnewf :

we are having a lot of trouble with our cat. He is 8 years old,
and he is 15 pounds, a big cat. Not fat, but big. Now, he has
petting aggression but that is ok, we can deal with that. The
problem is, at random times, he lunges at you and clings on and
bites. It's to the legs mostly. You can tell most of the time
when he is going to do it, his pupils dilate and his eyes turn
completely black and he is right wired. It's gotten to the point
that my gf is afraid to be with the cat by herself, he attacked
her 3 times the other morning when she was getting ready for work.
Its just so random and we don't know what to do. He plays really
rough with kitten as well, he'll pin the kitten down and start
biting him on the stomach or where ever he can.

We don't know what to do. I really don't want to have to give him
up because I have come quite attached to him, but I don't see any
other option. If anyone can help us with this so I don't have to
get rid of my companion, I would greatly appreciate it.


Note: he has been doing this before we got the kitten, so we got
the kitten figuring that he was just lonely and ****ed off. He is
happy and plays with the kitten, but he is a little too hyper and
aggressive because of his size, and the size of the kitten. But he
is starting to attack more and more now.

I just wanted to recap what I have read the others before me say and
what works for me:

1. Matthew, "take a coffee can full of marbles next time he lunges
shake the can for all your worth"

Definitely. I use a medicine bottle about half full of pills and
that seems to startle kitty enough she forgets what she was doing.

2a. Rene S., Focus his energies elsewhere.

MOST definitely! He needs toys and since he is an older cat he may
respond well to catnip. I have had recommended the spray extract,
but my kitty is too young to respond to it yet so I cannot verify.

As it is now, the kitten and your girlfriend are easy toys... well,
targets.

Everyone in the household takes there turn at getting beat up by the
kitty and we also have toys. That equals 6 play sessions and
whatever kitty does on her own. Doing this has cut down kitty's
aggression (and energy) by at least half. But being a kitten she has
more energy than most of us.

2b. Rene S., "If he does bite you, say OW very loudly and allow your
leg to go limp. Slowly walk away from him. Do not give him attention
of any kind, even negative, which can be encouraging. Shut yourself
in a room for a few minutes if you have to."

My kitty does NOT fall for this in the least bit. She clings on just
as much and bites and bites and bites. I do agree with the no
attention part. Simply ignore it, as in, I would not even say "ow."
That gives the cat a starting point. "If I leap on owner's
girlfriend she screams. Oooo, I love screams (or other sounds)."

Also, I REFUSE to hide in a room to correct an animal's behavior. If
anything, I would lock HIM in a room. When kitty is going 260 MPH
and we can only do 220, it is time for kitty to hit her kennel.
Which we have kept her in since the moment we got her, so normally if
she is wound up she will mew a couple times loudly in an attempt to
call us back and let her out and then she settles in and passes slick
out.

When she mews again after waking from her nap, we have a much more
relaxed and hungry kitten.

3. Rick, Disease or sickness.

I cannot remember specifically what a friend of mine at the animal
hospital said, but cats specifically can suffer from some type of
aggravated dementia when they have something wrong with them. This
can lead to hyperactivity, aggression, and something else. I simply
cannot recall what she said about what some of the factors were.
(Sorry, frontal lobe disability makes my memory poo.)

Hope this is a bit helpful to you. Good luck!

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 07:55:01 -0700, guitarnewf
wrote:

we are having a lot of trouble with our cat. He is 8 years old, and
he is 15 pounds, a big cat. Not fat, but big. Now, he has petting
aggression but that is ok, we can deal with that. The problem is, at
random times, he lunges at you and clings on and bites. It's to the
legs mostly. You can tell most of the time when he is going to do it,
his pupils dilate and his eyes turn completely black and he is right
wired. It's gotten to the point that my gf is afraid to be with the
cat by herself, he attacked her 3 times the other morning when she was
getting ready for work. Its just so random and we don't know what to
do. He plays really rough with kitten as well, he'll pin the kitten
down and start biting him on the stomach or where ever he can.


This sounds like a medical problem to me. Cats try to hard their pain
as that would be a bad thing to show in the wild. But they do get
upset if they don't feel good.

My cat is getting over a cold right now, and he was downright mopey
and clingy for 2 days. We commented that he didn't seem right. I came
home from work the 3rd day, and he had a runny nose and sneezed a few
times. The next morning, he was better, though he still seems a bit
clingier than normal.


When my sister's cat got really bad arthritis, you could see the pain
in his face. He was grumpy.

There was alos a story on the news a few years ago of a normal cat
that suddenly went crazy and attacked everybody in the house. They had
to call animal control and euthanize the cat. They did a necropsy
though and found a brain tumor.

I would seriously consider a vet trip with bloodwork. If that doesn't
find anything, ask about further testing. Something has changed since
it is relatively new and not all his life.