Having an animal in your house where you have had to lock your child in a closet for their safety from the animal is not normal or teneble. I might put a modest effort into finding a home for the cat with a single male, as a last ditch effort. Otherwise, I think euthanasia is your best option, unfortunately. This isn't a good quality of life for the cat or your family.
Having an animal in your house where you have had to lock your child in a closet for their safety from the animal is not normal or teneble. I might put a modest effort into finding a home for the cat with a single male, as a last ditch effort. Otherwise, I think euthanasia is your best option, unfortunately. This isn't a good quality of life for the cat or your family.
This is where we are at. I’m heartbroken. When she is tame is amazingly lovable with the kids and H.
I was in the “she’s a cat” camp at the beginning, but you lost me when you got to there being a safety issue with your kids. I’d contact a shelter to see if they’ll take her but if not, yes, I’d probably have her put down.
I would totally understand if you guys choose the euthanasia route, some behavioral issues cannot be fixed, and imagine how much anxiety (fear? Anger? Confusion?) the cat is experiencing in these moments too. It would be very hard for me to make that call though. I would possibly look into trying another vet who's willing to try medication to help (if you guys haven't done that yet and are willing). I'm not sure where you live, but we have semi-rural areas near us and sometimes there are farms that want barn cats. So maybe that would be option.
I missed the original thread but don’t forget there are shelters. I am surprised to see all the euthanasia talk when she might do well in a home without kids or whatever the issue is.
Post by Patsy Baloney on May 5, 2024 14:34:10 GMT -5
I missed the OP, but we have been utilizing a behaviorist with success for our aggressive cat. Ours is a biter/pouncer, and did go after the kids, which is why we engaged a behaviorist.
Happy to talk with you about our experience if you haven’t looked into something like that!
I think I tried contacting a reputable shelter, a cat rescue and asking them what they think. They might be willing to take her and put her in like a single adult home or something.
Post by purplepenguin7 on May 5, 2024 16:12:29 GMT -5
I missed the OP, but for everyone recommending a shelter it’s not as easy at it seems. I have a problem cat who we tried to rehome when she was 4-5 years old and not a single shelter would take her. Shelters are over -stuffed and it’s very hard to adopt out an older cat when kittens are coming by the day (especially right now in kitten season). Of course no one wants to euthanize an otherwise healthy cat but rehoming isn’t easy either.
Post by polarbearfans on May 5, 2024 17:07:19 GMT -5
Missed the original post, but medication may help. One of our cats has been have issues where she is fine one moment then in a very aggressive attack mode the next. Medication as help. So has tiring her out with play sessions before meals.
Missed the original post, but medication may help. One of our cats has been have issues where she is fine one moment then in a very aggressive attack mode the next. Medication as help. So has tiring her out with play sessions before meals.
What do you have your cat on? I’m willing to try anything.
To those suggesting rehoming the cat. She has to be an only animal and most likely with a male. She does not get along with women and often finds them to be threats. I promise we aren’t going to kill her for the hell of it. We have been to multiple vets
I missed the OP, but we have been utilizing a behaviorist with success for our aggressive cat. Ours is a biter/pouncer, and did go after the kids, which is why we engaged a behaviorist.
Happy to talk with you about our experience if you haven’t looked into something like that!
I am willing to try anything. How did you go about finding a behaviorist
I missed the OP, but for everyone recommending a shelter it’s not as easy at it seems. I have a problem cat who we tried to rehome when she was 4-5 years old and not a single shelter would take her. Shelters are over -stuffed and it’s very hard to adopt out an older cat when kittens are coming by the day (especially right now in kitten season). Of course no one wants to euthanize an otherwise healthy cat but rehoming isn’t easy either.
It's not that rehoming is easier than euthanasia or not. It's that if this is a family's pet then presumably they made a committment to care for it for the duration of it's life. Again, missed the OP before it was deleted so I have no idea what exactly the situaiton is.
Post by MixedBerryJam on May 6, 2024 7:23:22 GMT -5
I missed the op but as a crazy cat lady I hope you find a solution you’re all comfortable with. I took in a stray years ago that completely failed — I have a ton of experience introducing new cats and this new (well, she was new to me in 2016 I think) and lil spitfire spit literal fire and terrorized the other cats, to the point I asked my bro to take her temporarily and reintroduce once she’s been on Prozac for a month. One cat lived in the ceiling joists in the cellar, another licked herself bald from stress, and the third never left our bedroom except to use the litter box. He fell in love and had his first pet at 65 and I’m never getting Ruby back Shoutout to FormerlyRR if I’m remembering screen names correctly.
I missed the OP, but we have been utilizing a behaviorist with success for our aggressive cat. Ours is a biter/pouncer, and did go after the kids, which is why we engaged a behaviorist.
Happy to talk with you about our experience if you haven’t looked into something like that!
I am willing to try anything. How did you go about finding a behaviorist
There were no cat behaviorists in our area. We found one who does online consultations and training sessions. I would recommend her in a heartbeat - Emily Blythe. However, if you have one in your area who can come to your home, I bet that would be even better.
Basically, how it worked for us was the behaviorist sent us an in-depth questionnaire about our cat, our home, the people living in it, and problem behavior(s). From that, we had a Zoom consultation where she “met” our cat (yes, I held the laptop up to the cat, lol), she asked us questions about our home/we took her on a tour, she got a baseline for everything that was going on, and made management and training recommendations from there. It was a great experience. I never once felt judged or that she was thinking we hadn’t tried hard enough. She was invested in helping us on whatever path we felt was best for our family, because we were/are dealing with a lot of aggression and our number 1 priority is keeping our kids and ourselves safe.
We are in the management phase - seeing if medication is right for our cat and changing behaviors/exercise/enrichment to better match our cat’s needs. We’re getting bit a lot less. Our behaviorist has also recommended when we’re ready to do some training with our cat to help her establish the ability to use “flight” instead of always “fight” when triggered.
It has been a good experience for us so far and we have noticed some immediate behavior changes that are making all of us much happier. Now we’re dealing with a lot more “that dumb cat!” shenanigans than “oh my god, the cat attacked me” episodes.
Missed the original post, but medication may help. One of our cats has been have issues where she is fine one moment then in a very aggressive attack mode the next. Medication as help. So has tiring her out with play sessions before meals.
What do you have your cat on? I’m willing to try anything.
To those suggesting rehoming the cat. She has to be an only animal and most likely with a male. She does not get along with women and often finds them to be threats. I promise we aren’t going to kill her for the hell of it. We have been to multiple vets
Currently she is being cute and playful. 🙄
Fluoxetine. It takes like a month to really see the effect, and they always start with the lowest dose, so after a month can see if adjustments can be made. The cat that is just very scared is on Gabapentin and that is more immediate. There are a bunch of different anxiety meds, but I have had two aggressive cats that have done well on fluoxetine.