Need Advice About Cats (Help)

13 October,2002 | Myself

[M.K. Borders]

I just returned from the Local Emergency Room with my 14 year old daughter. She was savagely attacked in her sleep by the family cat! She sustained several deep puncture and slash wounds. When we got to her she was covered in blood, as was her bed.

The beast has had it's rabbies shots, it has been "fixed", it is never allowed outside, all the proper things. This is all apparently the result of a cat fight that was occuring outside the house, somewhere in the nieghborhood. Our cat frenzied in response to that fight.

What I would like is too hear from others and get their thoughts on the matter. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing?

My preferred method of dealing with a problem such as this is 22 Stinger. However, I am wondering if I should wait. What says the forum?

[Cagey]

You're on.

[HairOfTheDog]

The accommodations in Vegas are never the biggest expense, as you probably know! ;~D

[AngrySpud]

Unfortunate, but I think the cat is unstable. I'd put it to sleep so it doesn't happen again. Explaining this to your daughter is probably gonna be tough.

[badfreeper]

Yeah, that's why I pay for my rooms there now. I used to get comped rooms quite often, but when I cut my play way back and started spending more time in the nightclubs, lounges, and out by the pool, the free room offers dried right up. I still play a little bit when I'm there, but I spend less money overall and have more fun when the gambling is limited.

[HairOfTheDog]

I hope our friend doesn't shoot the cat. I just don't believe in that with a pet, even a bad pet. If he took it to the pound, maybe it will find a new life as a barn cat, if not, it would at least be put down humanely.

[Cagey]

Don't worry. I pinged Sungirl and she'll probably take in the cat. She only has 73 right now and like jello, there's always room.

[M.K. Borders]

Your probably correct. For certain the cat can no longer stay here. My problem was/is, should I be waiting to see if the animal displays further unstable actions, something of a medical nature, or should I write this off as a bad personality? Are there virus or other infections caught by other animals that can effect a cat in such a way? There are various "wasting illnesses" that are going around my area, can these cause such symptoms?

I would not feel secure giving this animal to someone else, even in an out door setting. I'm afraid she'll have to die, what ever the method.

[BikeRider]

This happened with my cats. They freaked out when they heard a bad cat fight outside. They did something similar, except they couldn't get to me in bed so they attacked the furniture. I've had them for years and they never did anything else before or since. I guess it's like people cowering when they hear gunfire outside. I would suggest patience in that my cats were loving before and have been great since the incident.

[M.K. Borders]

I was hoping a post like yours would show up. Such a strange reaction for any animal to exhibit.

[badfreeper]

Oh, right! The topic this thread is actually about! I agree totally. If the cat isn't suited to being in a family with kids, there are always other options.

[HairOfTheDog]

I don't know if there are illnesses that can make it act this way without other symptoms, but if it is an indoor cat and you have had it awhile without contact with other cats, I would doubt it is a virus...

There are people that can evaluate all of those things at the animal shelter. Tell them what happened. They will watch and interact with the cat, and see. If your animal shelter is overburdened, they may just put the cat down, but they may be able to place it too. It depends on their current load. Let them decide what can be done. You aren't objective and, and they should be knowledgable on these things. At any rate, people adopt cats that are totally wild that have never been handled. People who know how to deal with them, or people who need mousers in their barns or warehouses and don't care if it is a good pet.

There was an upsetting circumstance, it didn't just attack out of the blue. For whatever reason, the cat fight sent it into a major panic. People aren't rational when they are panicked, and neither are cats.

The animal shelter deals with cats of all types... some are more sociable than others. They will be able to tell.

Since this kind of stuff always happens on Sundays, what are you going to do until Monday or Tues? (there is a holiday) Where is the cat now?

[M.K. Borders]

Currently the cat is locked in our basement, (with food/water/liter/etc,)until I can determine what I am dealing with here. What ever is determined, with kids in the house, her days with us are over.

Oh and thanks to all for your responses. I'm calming down now. I certainly had the mood of murder a few hours ago.

[HairOfTheDog]

I could see that you had a mood of murder! ;~D

You got me out of bed pretty early, but I am happy to help calm the situation! I think your cat just panicked. As I said above, cats have much more basic instincts than dogs, and react not a lot differently than a wild animal would. They are only socialized by us, never really tamed.

Mine have attacked me, if I tried to hang on to them when they are scared... They just react. I imagine the cat was on edge when it heard the cat fight, and was surprised suddenly from that state by your daughter. It really may be that the situation would never repeat, and if you and your daughter forgive, it could still be a fine pet. Knowing of course, not to try to handle it if it is frightened.

At any rate, it is not like you have a bad pit bull that could kill a kid if you kept it or let it be adopted. Let it go to a shelter if you and your daughter really can't love or trust it anymore.

[Sungirl]

Sounds like the cat was really spooked. If you don't want it...take it to the Humane Society. Don't shoot it because of this...I know it's the cheapest and easiest route for most people...but have a heart...it was scared out of it's mind for some reason.

[Sungirl]

My daughter says she was awaken by a cat fight outside the house. She reports that our cat freaked at that and then turned on her

Obviously, the cat remembered being in a cat fight like that before and was horrified. If you daughter tried to touch the cat at this time...it is going to assume it's in that cat fight situation again and fight for it's life. Did you daughter try to touch the cat when it was spooked.

[Sungirl]

THe worse thing you should do is kill the cat and never get another one..your daughter will grow up afraid of them the rest of her life...and that's not fair to cats or her.

[JameRetief]

There are any number of reasons why your cat reacted the way it did.

The behavior you described is actually a natural behaviour for cats (and to a lesser degree dogs too), called Redirected Aggression. Your cat was in a heightened state of aggression because of the cat fight ocurring nearby, but your cat was unable to deal with the source of the stimulation. Unfortunately, when a cat is in this state any sudden stimuli from another source (in this case, your daughter) can cause the anxiety to be transferred to the new source. All that pent-up aggression is suddenly released in what may seem to you like an unprovoked attack. Generally, cats do not redirect aggression unless they are touched or closely approached by another animal or person. Keep in mind that it is the cat's predatory nature that enables it to concentrate so single-mindedly on a particular object (or animal) of interest.

Basically, your daughter inadvertantly did something that startled the cat. When your daughter was awakened, she may have sat up quickly or made some other movement that surprised the cat, or your daughter might have tried to interact with the cat to soothe it but instead startled it (calling it's name, reaching out to comfort it, etc.).

One of my cats gave me some pretty severe cuts on my arms in just such an episode, but he is definetely not an aggressive cat and has never acted that way since.

If you would still like to keep the cat but are afraid of a reoccurance, just lock your cat in it's own room at night while everyone sleeps. Otherwise, if you are awake you should be able to tell if the cat is becoming anxious or not and know to leave it alone for a while until it's mood changes. Cat's in such an aroused state can remain so for up to 2 hours, so be patient.

However, if your cat has a sudden behaviour change that doesn't go away, your first step should always be to contact your veterinarian for a thorough health examination. Cats often hide symptoms of illness until they are seriously ill, and any change in behavior may be an early indication of a medical problem. Mild seizures, muscle cramps, or stomach or intestinal pains are known to cause panic attacks in cats. Your veterinarian can investigate with a physical exam, blood test, and urinalysis to see if your cat has a physical ailment.

Also, if you haven't done so, you should have your cat spayed. Spayed/neutered cats are much less aggressive than intact ones.

I wish your daughter well, and I hope everything works out well for your family and your cat.

[LibWhacker]

Is it a Siamese? In my experience, they can be quite aggressive.

In any case, Siamese or no, I wouldn't put the cat down for this. Take him to the vet. Have him checked out. If he comes back with a clean bill of health, isolate him at night (in other words, keep him out of your daughter's room, or anyone else's room) in case there are any more fights outside. Otherwise, you can break up any daytime fights nearby that might cause him to become agitated.

But then, I'm a cat lover and would bend over backwards to save any of my cats that were misbehaving. Indeed, I've owned so-called "bad cats" before that no one else could handle and have ALWAYS been able to find a way accomodate them. Where there's a will, there's a way.

[WFTR]

In the early 90's, I lived in an apartment complex where a stray had a litter of kittens. I was standing outside one day and had fallen into a conversation with a lady who was standing on her balcony. We saw one of the kittens, and she mentioned wanting to catch them and take them for shots. She hadn't been able to get close enough to grab them.

I saw the kitten go behind an air conditioning unit. I walked over and saw the kitten looking directly out from between the brick wall and metal case. It was a simple matter to reach down, grab the kitten, and pick it up. It hissed and spat for about three minutes. During that time, the lady on the balcony said that her cat was having a response similar to that of your cat. However, her cat didn't attack. She eventually let it into the apartment.

Strangely enough, the kitten soon stopped hissing and started shaking. It shook like a leaf in the wind for another two or three minutes. Then it started purring and fell asleep. The lady didn't want to take it at that moment because her cat might still be upset. I woke the kitten and put it back in the bushes. I saw it occasionally afterwards. I'd call to it, and it would start to come. However, it never quite decided to trust me.

Getting back to your situation, I think you could keep the cat if you kept it in the basement at night. If cat fights are a regular occurrence around your neighborhood, I don't see any point in getting another cat and letting it sleep in your daughter's room. From what everyone is saying, this could have happened with any cat. No matter what, I think the rest of your family cats need to spend the night in the basement as long as kids are around.

WFTR
Bill

[pubmom]

Have any good advice?