agressive male cat problems
 

A year ago, we adopted a male and female, 4ish months old, both fixed,
brother and sister, and have raised them as indoor only pets. The female
has always been playful, cuddly, and when she gets "stuff" stuck in the fur
around "that" area, she doesn't put up much of a fuss when we clean her up.
Clipping claws and bathing her isn't a big deal... she's cooperative. Well,
as cooperative as a cat in water will ever be :)

The male, runt of the litter, on the other hand, is just overly weird, very
agressive (always seems to have the females fur in his mouth) and is
seemingly 100% muscle and claws. It's always a fight to clip his claws, and
God forbid we have to wipe his rear or bathe him... he howls (making the
neighbors think we're torturing him) bites claws and usually draws blood. It
takes the two of us and even then, it's a helluva fight. He'll also attack
arms and legs, clawing and biting, when we're alseep and awake. (Yesterday,
we had a guest over. He jumped up on the guest, claws and all).

We've always been kind and loving. There's always food (Wellness) and water
out, the litter is always clean (thanks to our litterbox from space, the
Litter Robot). And they have us and cat toys galore.

I'm hoping someone has had a similar experience and knows what to do. We
simply will not release him in to the wild or foist him on anyone else...
all I can think of is to keep him on some sort of feline prozac (if there's
such a thing) or take him for one last trip to the vet...

Help!

Thank you
Dave

Henry Cabot Henhouse III wrote:

A year ago, we adopted a male and female, 4ish months old, both fixed,
brother and sister, and have raised them as indoor only pets. The female
has always been playful, cuddly, and when she gets "stuff" stuck in the fur
around "that" area, she doesn't put up much of a fuss when we clean her up.
Clipping claws and bathing her isn't a big deal... she's cooperative. Well,
as cooperative as a cat in water will ever be :)

The male, runt of the litter, on the other hand, is just overly weird, very
agressive (always seems to have the females fur in his mouth) and is
seemingly 100% muscle and claws. It's always a fight to clip his claws, and
God forbid we have to wipe his rear or bathe him... he howls (making the
neighbors think we're torturing him) bites claws and usually draws blood. It
takes the two of us and even then, it's a helluva fight. He'll also attack
arms and legs, clawing and biting, when we're alseep and awake. (Yesterday,
we had a guest over. He jumped up on the guest, claws and all).

We've always been kind and loving. There's always food (Wellness) and water
out, the litter is always clean (thanks to our litterbox from space, the
Litter Robot). And they have us and cat toys galore.

I'm hoping someone has had a similar experience and knows what to do. We
simply will not release him in to the wild or foist him on anyone else...
all I can think of is to keep him on some sort of feline prozac (if there's
such a thing) or take him for one last trip to the vet...

Help!

Thank you
Dave

Declawing comes to mind...
I'd sure do that before euthanasia, and I am NOT a fan of declawing.
We had to do this to Booger for similar reasons.

K.


--
^,,^ Cats-haven Hobby Farm ^,,^ ^,,^

Breast Implants are the Stupidest idea ever. If I wanted to fondle
$10,000.oo worth of Silicon, I'd buy a new computer! --Anon.

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...s&userid=katra

Henry Cabot Henhouse III wrote:

A year ago, we adopted a male and female, 4ish months old, both fixed,
brother and sister, and have raised them as indoor only pets. The female
has always been playful, cuddly, and when she gets "stuff" stuck in the fur
around "that" area, she doesn't put up much of a fuss when we clean her up.
Clipping claws and bathing her isn't a big deal... she's cooperative. Well,
as cooperative as a cat in water will ever be :)

The male, runt of the litter, on the other hand, is just overly weird, very
agressive (always seems to have the females fur in his mouth) and is
seemingly 100% muscle and claws. It's always a fight to clip his claws, and
God forbid we have to wipe his rear or bathe him... he howls (making the
neighbors think we're torturing him) bites claws and usually draws blood. It
takes the two of us and even then, it's a helluva fight. He'll also attack
arms and legs, clawing and biting, when we're alseep and awake. (Yesterday,
we had a guest over. He jumped up on the guest, claws and all).

We've always been kind and loving. There's always food (Wellness) and water
out, the litter is always clean (thanks to our litterbox from space, the
Litter Robot). And they have us and cat toys galore.

I'm hoping someone has had a similar experience and knows what to do. We
simply will not release him in to the wild or foist him on anyone else...
all I can think of is to keep him on some sort of feline prozac (if there's
such a thing) or take him for one last trip to the vet...

Help!

Thank you
Dave

Declawing comes to mind...
I'd sure do that before euthanasia, and I am NOT a fan of declawing.
We had to do this to Booger for similar reasons.

K.


--
^,,^ Cats-haven Hobby Farm ^,,^ ^,,^

Breast Implants are the Stupidest idea ever. If I wanted to fondle
$10,000.oo worth of Silicon, I'd buy a new computer! --Anon.

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...s&userid=katra

"Katra" wrote in message
...

Declawing comes to mind...
I'd sure do that before euthanasia, and I am NOT a fan of declawing.
We had to do this to Booger for similar reasons.

Before you resort to that, read this first, and see if there is any helpful
advice:

http://www.allaboutpets.org.uk/catintro.html Cat 16 Aggressive cats


There is also a product called Feliway that is a synthetic cat pheremone
that is supposed to often help in calming down cats either in times of
stress or just in agressiveness as in this case. I know it's a stressful
situation for you, but I would certainly exhaust your options before
resorting to amputation or euthanasia. There are a lot of resources on the
'Net, and I'm sure your vet or local shelter or humane society would also be
more than happy to offer advice, as they don't want to see a cat put down
unnecessarily.

Best of luck in transforming your troubled lad into a happy cat!

Warmest Regards,
Ann

--

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak

"Katra" wrote in message
...

Declawing comes to mind...
I'd sure do that before euthanasia, and I am NOT a fan of declawing.
We had to do this to Booger for similar reasons.

Before you resort to that, read this first, and see if there is any helpful
advice:

http://www.allaboutpets.org.uk/catintro.html Cat 16 Aggressive cats


There is also a product called Feliway that is a synthetic cat pheremone
that is supposed to often help in calming down cats either in times of
stress or just in agressiveness as in this case. I know it's a stressful
situation for you, but I would certainly exhaust your options before
resorting to amputation or euthanasia. There are a lot of resources on the
'Net, and I'm sure your vet or local shelter or humane society would also be
more than happy to offer advice, as they don't want to see a cat put down
unnecessarily.

Best of luck in transforming your troubled lad into a happy cat!

Warmest Regards,
Ann

--

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak

"bewtifulfreak" wrote in message
...

"Katra" wrote in message
...

Declawing comes to mind...
I'd sure do that before euthanasia, and I am NOT a fan of declawing.
We had to do this to Booger for similar reasons.

Before you resort to that, read this first, and see if there is any
helpful
advice:

I just want to mention that the reason I wouldn't recommend declawing, aside
from the fact that I think it's cruel, is that it would only be treating the
symptom of the problem, and not the root cause. And the cat might just get
*more* agressive, as declawed cats often do, and start biting instead of
scratching. Any alternative you could explore to get a handle on his
behavior would not only be better for him, but would really be better for
you in the long run, as you might actually end up with a happier cat.

Again, best of luck.

Ann

--

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak

"bewtifulfreak" wrote in message
...

"Katra" wrote in message
...

Declawing comes to mind...
I'd sure do that before euthanasia, and I am NOT a fan of declawing.
We had to do this to Booger for similar reasons.

Before you resort to that, read this first, and see if there is any
helpful
advice:

I just want to mention that the reason I wouldn't recommend declawing, aside
from the fact that I think it's cruel, is that it would only be treating the
symptom of the problem, and not the root cause. And the cat might just get
*more* agressive, as declawed cats often do, and start biting instead of
scratching. Any alternative you could explore to get a handle on his
behavior would not only be better for him, but would really be better for
you in the long run, as you might actually end up with a happier cat.

Again, best of luck.

Ann

--

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak

Arjun Ray wrote:

In , Katra
wrote:

| Declawing comes to mind...

You must be proud to be living in the US, one of the few places in the
world where you can mutilate an animal and then self-righteously feel
good about having "solved a problem".

| I'd sure do that before euthanasia, and I am NOT a fan of declawing.

Please stop with the politically correct disclaimers. Declawing "came
to mind" for you. You actually considered it, instead of finding the
very idea viscerally repulsive - which is what it takes not to be a fan.
You are a sympathizer, a fellow traveler.

Would you rather kill the cat? Have it put to sleep? Have it take that
"final trip to the vet" as the poster mentioned???


| We had to do this to Booger for similar reasons.

That's what they all say. Try something original.

If you bother to google my past posts to usenet, you will find me among
the rabid anti-declawing people actually, until this:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bleys/Dyson1yScrtch.jpg

I had this sudden insight that my nephew's eyes were more important than
a surgery that did not matter to a cat that would be kept indoors for
life, and had been far too eager to use his claws in the past! This was
one bitchy episode too many. Sorry, but this cat DESERVED to be declawed
and so did the one I posted about!

I admit, it is a LAST RESORT to declaw any cat, but sometimes it's for
the best.

K.
--
^,,^ Cats-haven Hobby Farm ^,,^ ^,,^

Breast Implants are the Stupidest idea ever. If I wanted to fondle
$10,000.oo worth of Silicon, I'd buy a new computer! --Anon.

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...s&userid=katra

Arjun Ray wrote:

In , Katra
wrote:

| Declawing comes to mind...

You must be proud to be living in the US, one of the few places in the
world where you can mutilate an animal and then self-righteously feel
good about having "solved a problem".

| I'd sure do that before euthanasia, and I am NOT a fan of declawing.

Please stop with the politically correct disclaimers. Declawing "came
to mind" for you. You actually considered it, instead of finding the
very idea viscerally repulsive - which is what it takes not to be a fan.
You are a sympathizer, a fellow traveler.

Would you rather kill the cat? Have it put to sleep? Have it take that
"final trip to the vet" as the poster mentioned???


| We had to do this to Booger for similar reasons.

That's what they all say. Try something original.

If you bother to google my past posts to usenet, you will find me among
the rabid anti-declawing people actually, until this:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bleys/Dyson1yScrtch.jpg

I had this sudden insight that my nephew's eyes were more important than
a surgery that did not matter to a cat that would be kept indoors for
life, and had been far too eager to use his claws in the past! This was
one bitchy episode too many. Sorry, but this cat DESERVED to be declawed
and so did the one I posted about!

I admit, it is a LAST RESORT to declaw any cat, but sometimes it's for
the best.

K.
--
^,,^ Cats-haven Hobby Farm ^,,^ ^,,^

Breast Implants are the Stupidest idea ever. If I wanted to fondle
$10,000.oo worth of Silicon, I'd buy a new computer! --Anon.

Custom handcrafts, Sterling silver beaded jewelry
http://cgi3.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...s&userid=katra

No One But Me wrote:

feliway does not work. period. so sayeth my 11 cats.

I had four cats and one had major problems with soiling everywhere until he
was on his own with just one other, and then used the box faithfully.
Sometimes when there are too many cats, nothing puts them at ease; sometimes
a lot of cats work, it just depends on the cats and the space. And the fact
that something didn't work for your cats in their situation doesn't mean it
doesn't work; others have gotten great benefit from it. So I still feel
it's worth a try in any given situation.

Ann

--

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/bewtifulfreak