I believe they are called *prides.* The rest I don't know about.
Posted on 11/15/2015 1:44:07 PM PST by EBH
My son brought home two cats and the ‘mama” thought she was the boss of everyone. She bit me!
So I spent an hour on the floor stalking her butt and swiping at her without cause - just cause I felt like it. I stared her down. She hid under a bed and I went in after her and knocked her out from under the bed.
Then I got up and walked away. We never had a problem after that. : )
Shelters have barn cat programs. Thank you for mentioning this. It is a very popular program.
I believe they are called *prides.* The rest I don't know about.
She is just showing her affection for you & doesn’t know
how hard she is biting. See; when they nibble on each
other, they’re having to bite through a thick layer of
fur. - She can’t be allowed to bite you hard like that.
You’ll have to smack her on the nose a little bit every
time she does it. - Not real hard!
They love you & want to please you. This does NOT deserve
a death sentence! A smack is better.
"Stalker" also a Siamese (Long hair show shoes) was an abandoned kitten that I heard and discovered sitting on top of the engine in my car. She is now 10 years old and more than happy as are we!!!......fully in charge of her family!
I put my cats face in my mouth to show dominance. I don’t bite down. They sorta go limp.
I’m the only one they do not swipe. They terrorize our large dogs.
So then i’m NOT the craziest person on FR :)
terrorizes the dogs. funny.
cats have a distinct advantage in a fight with the average dog.
Not trained pit bulls or anything, but the average one.
Those claws are made of the hardest protein there is. Kerotine, i think? or is that the tranquilizer :)
My gorgeous show quality Maine Coon is resting calmly beside me as I type this. She is virtually over her nipping episodes, down to gentle "Hey you, I'm waiting for some love here!" reminders. Bijou and my rescue kitty Kefira hope that this kitty learns some manners before it's too late.
‘Six weeks’ was the period of time that the original poster has given his cat to straighten up and fly right, and my point was that six weeks is not enough time to work with the animal. I was just posting to the end of the thread...sorry for the confusion.
Hang a Mozlum instead
A car that full on bites without warning or reason is not suitable as a pet. If there is no farm where it can live out its days semi feril to take it to, it should be put down if it engages and cannot be broken of this behavior.
Any aggressive animal is not safe as a pet regardless of its size.
In short, have her medicated. We used Buspirone... 1/4 tab a day. You can use it twice a day if you need to. We rescued a Sewer Kitty over the Summer. A feral, wild kitten that most of the experts said to put to sleep. She was about 4-5 months old and as wild as they come. SK is an odd cat now but what cat isn’t? Here are some of the things I learned: hand feeding to promote touching. Use number 2 baby food chicken and gravy. Feed her twice a day as a treat and allow her to lick it off of your fingers. This stuff is kitty crack for them.. they adore it. While feeding, stroke her very gently. Secondly, if he/she is not sterilized yet, have it done as soon as possible. SK after her spaying was immediately happy to jump into our laps. Third, a LOUD NO does make a point. They won’t sulk like doggies do with your displeasure BUT they do take notice.
Six weeks is a short time IMHO. Heck, at six weeks.. SK was still growling and hissing when you approached her crate. However, your kitty is showing affection to you and may become frightened or over anxious. It happens when they are a bit wild and had been mistreated. Plus, cats do nip as a sign of affection or fear of noise/anything they deem as strange. SK will still nip on occasion IF she feels trapped and something/someone is coming up the stairs.
Buspirone was recommended by another FR kitty expert. Ask for it by name. Kitty Prozac is good for house urination but this med is SPECIFIC to aggression/anxiety. We are now in the process of weening SK off of hers. Takes a few weeks... however, if needed.. they can be on it for life.
There were days, EBH.. when I thought to myself, “What have we done? Should we have her put down?” However, the process of trust/socialization/boundaries takes time.. more time than 6 weeks.
FWIW: SK (who looks like the size of a six month old kitten.. walked downstairs last night.. right past the Dobie... like she owned the place. Even now, we have success days.. Good luck and PM me if you have any questions... Hugs, Mom (and yes.. SK stands for Sewer Kitty.. the kids named her. I had nothing to do with it.. I wanted the name Sybil for obvious reasons. :)
I’ve had issues with aggression in one of my cats in the past. Half tortie, half siamese, all attitude. What worked well for me was L tryptophan (the amino acid that’s in turkey that causes the post-Thanksgiving food coma). A small dose of that daily kept her more mellow. Many pet stores carry it.
CC
I have one I nip at her ears when she’s bad.
What can I say? it works.
=:^)
CC
We are doing the tryptophan now along with Zylkene.
I may need to bump it up for a while on another medication.
Guess it is time to talk to the vet.
Thanks Momofthree.
Yes, I am leaning towards this option as her last chance.
I have fostered and worked with a lot of cats...I do mean a lot of cats (foster, rehab for a local shelter for several years), but this little one is an odd one.
Yesterday when she came after my hands again(she was on the floor and I was in the chair)really was startling to say the least. After she did it, she ran to eat from her bowl of food. (Hunt, eat, sleep).
Getting a bite is startling, isn’t it? SK bit my hand when I was removing her empty food plate. I did notice that her nip seemed to startle her as well. However, she kept looking at a shadow on the wall and I think that is what was getting her anxiety up. I have also noticed that a lot of play does help. She loves the feathers on a string. At the end of the day.. you know what decision has to be made. I’m not flaming anyone for having to make it. We knew that SK had only us and we took the approach that we would give her all the benefits of time/meds/etc.. so if we HAD to make it.. we would know there wasn’t any other option. Hubby and I were comfortable knowing what was a possible outcome if it didn’t work. She will never be a lap kitty.. however, she does sleep in bed with my one daughter. Plus, I can pick her up briefly if I have to (the one daughter can pick her up all the time). Cats are weird.. and sounds like ours are weirder than most. :)
Experts? (spit)
Did you try hissing at her, as several have suggested? Don’t kill the cat.
In my household, as well as (sometimes) in real world, there are those who THINK they are the dominant one, and those who don’t need to strut (or put on a show) but others quietly defer to, who are the true TOP cat. The former ones are less confident and feel insecure at times, so they need to lash out from time to time.
As for the petting-induced aggression in cats, consistency in the cat owners’ response to said cat is important. Also normally such problem arises when dealing with a new cat (and not able to read the signs), even though the owner may have experience with other cats already. These owners based on their response because of their familiarity with their older pets, but each cat is an individual.
What I saw in others describing their problems is that the owner sometimes show dominant behavior, while at other times the owner send their own subservient status to the cat. Consistency early on in dealing with the cat, usually the cat will turn around and seek affections from their owner on their own (schedule).
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