cat troubles :(

amber31288

We have a cat that is older, and pretty ornery in general. My DH rescued her from a shoebox that was thrown in a dumpster when she was a kitten, so we've always said there's a reason she's so "sassy". I was very worried about how the cat would be with the baby. When we first brought DD home, Fluffy could've cared less. She was a little annoyed by the crying, but I didn't see any aggression. Now that DD is mobile, her very favorite thing is to find the cat and just scream in her face. She would love to grab the cat, but can never get that close. The cat usually just makes annoyed meows and noises at her and runs away after a minute. I watch carefully for any sign of aggression, and have been happy that the cat has been pretty good. I was seriously worried we would have to get rid of her, and trust me, no one will take this cat.

 Well, today, DD fell off our couch and of course, this made her cry. She is fine, but was obviously frightened and carried on for quite awhile. I picked her up and was comforting her when I felt something jump up on my leg. The cat jumped up and bit my upper leg. She then circled me and was biting my legs and feet and clawing at me. She continued to circle me and was trying to corner me. I was actually scared. We were in our living room, which is a very open room and I seriously felt like I had nowhere to go. I was trying to get to the bathroom and the cat would not let me. I think I kicked her a few times, but she would not let up. Eventually, I made it to our bathroom and LO and I sat in there for like 20 minutes. I checked her out, and she was completely fine. I checked my leg and I have 4 clearly defined teeth marks and I was bleeding. I had a few scratches too.

I called DH who flipped out and left work early. He wanted to get me to the hospital. I convinced him when he got home to wait and see what it looks like later. He called the vet to ask about the cat. They said it could be an isolated incident, but we are bringing her in for a physical. If they think she is a threat, they will suggest we quarantine her there for a few days so they can monitor her behavior. That will not go over well with our cat and she WILL be aggressive in that situation.

I am so upset because i do not want to put this cat down. But, I do not want to fear her either. I think she was trying to be protective of DD, but the baby is going to cry often and I can't be worried I am going to get attacked each time. I have never feared an animal, especially in my own home, and am not comfortable with this. But, like I said, the last thing I want is to put her down. We will have a hard time finding someone to take her. As a last resort, DH's parents will, but his mom is allergic, so I will feel bad about that too.

Am I overreacting about any of this? DH called his mom to tell her about all this and she was not very concerned about anything. I don't think anyone realizes how aggressive she was towards me and how scary it was because they weren't here, and it's hard to picture being that scared of a cat. I'm kind of annoyed now, but maybe I am overreacting. I don't know. I guess this is just a vent. Anyone else here have a cat that is bothered by their LO's cry?

amber31288

Starbuck128:

I don't think you are overreacting at all. You both made the right call about making a vet appointment. Older pets who are sick or in pain often lash out, and their easiest target is children. Pets can't tell us when something is wrong, and sudden aggression is a common symptom of pain. I see it happen all the time, and the pet owners look the other way because they don't want to make the hard decisions. They refuse to acknowledge something is wrong, and their faithful pet spends its last years miserable and aggressive. Good for you for being responsible enough to get your cat the care she needs. I hope you get some good news at the vet's.

Thank you very much for all of this. The vet also said on the phone that she could be lashing out because of some kind of pain that we are unaware of. I don't want her to be in pain, but if that was the problem and we could get her the medication she needs, that would probably be the best solution to this problem. Thank you!

jmccall79

Don't judge me...but I would've drop kicked the cat into next week! I'm not mean towards animals, by any means, and am usually the one who says "oh, don't hurt that...", however, in this situation, kitty would've been a little more than kicked a few times! What if it had been LO instead of you, who was clawed and bitten...would've hurt LO a lot worse than it did you!

I'll tell you this story, just so you don't think I'm just being a b!tch. My mom's cat is not one who likes to be pet. She thinks anyone petting her is free game to fight with...it's just how she is. Unless she needs a minute of attention, it's best to leave Maddie alone (I have a scar on my hand from her 'playing' with me). Every since Ian was born, she's been all about him. It's been really weird...she's done it to noone else! If he was ever put in the floor, and once he started playing, etc. she's always gotten right within reach of him. She even lets him pull on her. She'll meow really loud, and holler, stand up and shake it off, and come right back! Ian is the ONLY one she's ever allowed to really "pet" her without trying to fight with them. So, the other day, he had ahold of her, both hands full of fur, laying on her (literally). Well, she'd finally had enough and smacked him in the face with both front paws.  He got 2 little scratches on both sides of his head.  I've been working with him to be "easy" with her because he's not, at all.  So, what did I do to the cat?  Nothing.  It was his fault.  She stood up, shook it off, and came back!  We really worked even more on "easy" after that.  He provoked her and he knows what he's doing because I'll tell him easy, or no no, and he'll look at me, laugh, and dive after her.  So, my theory is if the cat is "truly" provoked in an instance like this, yeah, he kind of needed to be smacked a little to teach him that I mean it when I tell him.  Now, don't anyone jump on my case, had she really done something to him, well that kitty would've been drop kicked too.  And I'm not saying that I put him in the floor in the middle of a cat fight and tell him to figure it out.  However, he needs to be taught how to treat her right...and every since she smacked him a little, he's been a little more gentle with her.

Said all that to say, if this were my cat, she'd have to go bye bye!  Sorry!  SO has a cat that attacks people...he's just mean, like really attacks.  If he'd EVER even thought about looking at Ian cross eyed, he'd have been out the door...and I tell SO that now, when Ian is over there, he better watch that cat!

jmccall79

Let me make another comment...I do agree that getting the cat checked out before making a decision, is in the best interest of you all.  However, I just wouldn't have been so nice to kitty in the moment!  Sorry!

goldenleaves

I hope your vet can figure out what's going on!

Our cat can be a biter but she's only ever bitten me and it's not aggressive at all. She does it if she wants to play or needs food or water. And by "needs food" I mean if her bowl happens to be less than 3/4 full.

Cats can be strange creatures! Ours is just now getting comfortable around our almsot 3 year old. She loves Lauren because she isn't mobile enough to catch her yet.

LoveBeingMama

Regardless of what you do with the cat, please go to the doctor if the teeth broke skin. My mom had a cat that had been abused and bit when he felt threatened. He bit her hand and my mom didn't think too much of it. It got severely infected and she ended up needing surgery on her hand. She also went through the whole mess of figuring out what to do with the cat, and she ended up keeping him but kept him away from anyone he wasn't familiar with. Good luck with your decision, but please get the bite looked at. Cat bites are notoriously dangerous.

Ya Never Know

Maybe the cat needs to be on anti-depressants or something. My parents had a cat that was just like that, and the vet prescribed anti-depressants to mellow her out. They also sell natural remedies for cats designed to mellow them out as well. My mom has one made for cats and dogs, she gives it to the dog when there are thunder-storms, and he is much calmer. They gave it to the cat at night when they first moved as well to get him to stop meowing all night long as he adjusted and it worked. I would talk to the vet about it anyway, sometimes anxiety is the cause of their aggression.

LoveBeingMama

I agree it is a personal decision whether or not to go to the doctor. However based on the fact that she said she was bleeding, my own experiences, and the information found here: https://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-animal-bites/FA00044 and here: https://www.vetmed.lsu.edu/animal_bites.htm I think she needs to pay very close attention to it. I grew up with cats my entire life, and I got many little bites and scratches, but in the case of a bleeding puncture wound, I wouldn't hesitate to see a doctor, even if it was my own healthy cat.

n8swife

I'm late to this but I had a cat that reacted the exact same way when I would cry. He lived with my parents because I was living in an apartment at the time that didn't allow pets. My cousin was over and asked my sister and I to be in her wedding so we all started crying and yelling and jumping around. My cat Hawthorne attacked me. I had bite marks and claw marks everywhere, to the point where I had to get a booster shot. He kept jumping on me and finally someone trapped him under a blanket and locked him in a room. We left him in there for awhile and he was totally normal when we let him out of the room.
Fast forward about 2 years later, my niece was a newborn and over at my parents house. She started crying and my mom went to pick her up and Hawthorne lunged towards her. Thank God my mom was there because he ended up attacking my mom instead of my niece. My mom put him in a box and took him straight to the humane society and I would assume they put him down.
After those two episodes, I did think back to when I lived with him and he did act strange when I cried or anything. He'd jump on me or bite me..not to the point that he did in those two situations, but he'd get weird. I don't know why he acted like that. My only thought is that maybe he was abused by a previous owner. I adopted him from the humane society when he was almost 2 years old.
If I were you, I would not take the chance. I know that pets are like family members, but if your cat has shown this behavior once, I think he'd do it again. I would be devasted if we had to get rid of one of our dogs but if they tried to hurt Asher, I'd be looking for new homes immediately.