Cat behavior question *Kitten mauled* His decision, more stitches

[86121]

Please read before you comment, a lot of you have not been reading and are getting info wrong. I am sorry but I find that highly irritating...
1. I should have put this, but he introduced the two properly, he kept them separated properly, and he has had this kitten now going on a month in a half. That is my fault for not putting that, I assumed that you all would automatically know that.
2. The kitten ESCAPED from the bathroom she was kept in, and made a run for the water dish as she had filled hers with her cat food again. Kit attacked her in seconds, again, and this time it was more severe.
3. A split second fight is never anyone's fault...They happen, and there is normally nothing anyone can do to stop them if there going to happen, and shame on those of you who jumped to point fingers.
4. He did suffer stitches for putting his hand in the brawl to save his bleeding screaming kitten, he does not fully blame kit for this, however his trust of her has gone down immensely.
I do not blame him totally. I explained to him why she bit, but he is still uneasy.


Im asking this for a friend of mine.
He has a cat, shes about two years old, she was given to him by me when she came in as a stray, with her mother, as a baby kitten. I handled her from a new born and then he got her at 10 weeks.
He is now a cat lover, and wants to have a second cat. He took in Lucky, a 9 week old kitten, after she was found laying on the side of the road, (Conclusion of Lucky: She was tossed from a car window.)
He loves Lucky...However, Kit, his first cat, wants nothing to do with her. She hisses and growls, she claws, attacks, purposefully walks up to the kitten to attack it when its sleeping, she spits, she guards the food, and randomly slashes at the kitten. She has done this for the past few weeks and she is not getting any better.
Kits other problems: She pees on beds and blankets, she hates other animals...in essence he fed her after midnight. But! Is good with him, she LOVES him and people.

Has anyone ever dealt with this problem before?
What should he do...


My opinion of it: He should place the angry cat with issues, as her behavior is nothing new, she has been like this since I gave her to him as a kitten. In all, he will only be able to have her, and nothing else as a pet. He wants to foster, he wants to help, but he cant because of her. And she pee'ed on my bed when I took care of her while he was at boot camp...


Update:::
He has come to the conclusion that he is going to try and place lucky and just give up on fostering. He loves his cat far more then the kitten and is willing to make this sacrifice.
Does anyone have any pointers for him, this is not an easy conclusion for him, and helping out cats is actually something he really wants to do surprisingly. He is a big softy.
So does anyone have any advice for him and his horrid cat???





Update::::
Right after I made a post I got a call from him, the kitten snuck out of her room and made the mistake of going to the water bowl, he said that kit, the older cat, attacked for no reason, again and was ripping her to shreds. He now has 7 stitches in his arm from when he pulled her off of the kitten.
The kitten is now at the vet and im waiting to hear back from him.
Kit is on thin Ice, her fate now rests on the kittens survival.
Apparently she scalped it good.


UPDATE::::::::
Kitten is alive, and ganging in there.
They were able to reattach its skin and they are hoping that the rest of it will grow back normally. Apparently she is not moving, but when you pet her she purs.
Now onto Kit, after the vet examined her the conclusion was that one of two things should happen.
Since he no longer trusts his cat the vet suggested her to be given to a barn and live out her life as a barn cat, the other option is Euthanasia. The behavioralist agrees.
Obviously he is not happy about either, but he does have to do something.
He now is asking me to ask you lot what you think would be best.

Another option that was given, was that he is planning on moving closer to the country. If he does this, he could make her an outdoor cat?

My opinion: I think she would do well as a barn cat, she is friendly with people with that temper of hers towards other animals she would most likely be a good mouser. Euthanasia, is something I know this big guy will bawl over...

So, please be nice and gentle, and give what you think he should do.


For those of you who have your doubts, please read the e-mail he sent. And please dont be offended by being called chicken people:
The way it was described to me was exactly this: (Taken from e-mail)

"no No NO!!! I dont care what the chicken people say, this was for no reason, I have been around cats long enough and Dr. *Removed name* and *removed name* said this was an unjustified attack and agreed with me! *removed name* even called two other behavioralists and they agreed! i know your and ACO and all Sara but seriously, this was just a vicious out for blood attack. I wish you could have seen it, there was just no reason for it! Here is what happened, She was sitting outside the door again, so I called her away with her cat nip ball and she ran off to the other side of the apartment. I opened the door and Lucky bolted out towards the water dish, she filled hers up with cat food again. Should be soaking her food for her?
I turned around to grab her because I know how much kit seems to hate her, I had just grabbed her when kit flew out of nowhere grabbed my arm with Lucky in it and bit me so hard I dropped her. She tore a huge chunk out of my arm, I never thought in my life she would ever do that to me. Kit then just bear hugged her, grabbed hold of her head and started kicking the living *word removed* out of her. Lucky started screaming, blood was everywhere and I grabbed kit, but she wouldn't let go of Lucky, she just started pealing her like banana!!!
She has this wild crazed look in her eyes, and she sounded like she was rabid or something.
I had to get a wooden spoon in between her teeth just to get a hunk of Lucky's skin out from in-between them.
Lucky stopped moving, and that was the worst part, when I started wrapping her and my arm up to go to the vet, kit came over and started purring.
Kit was a serial killer in her last life..."


UPDATE:::::
Lucky is doing better, but by the strong request of the vet he has changed her name to Lilly, apparently anything named Lucky ends up being anything but...
She is moving a little but is still obviously in intensive care.
Nothing has been decided on Kit yet, obviously this is very hard and traumatic for him.
He has consulted three other behavioralists both in and out of our state. He brought with him a print out of everything you all said and suggested, and they all sadly agreed with me, that territorial or not, this behavior was not stress related, one of the guys made it very clear that sometimes cats will just rub wrong with each other for what ever reason, and then have it out for the other. Just like two dogs that rub wrong and then hold a "grudge" if thats what you want to call it.
Kit might just hate kittens.
One of these people even came and met with kit and had him walk the guy threw what happened, how they were introduced, and what exactly went on.
They all agreed on two things: 1. His getting bit was no ones fault.
and 2. That being a slave to cat you do not trust is not healthy.

So sadly...we are at a waiting game. I will update you when he gets back to me again on how the kitten is doing.
He says thank you everyone, and..."Ignore Whitewinterwolf, shes a good friend but has her own opinion of things, dont take it to heart, shes just like that"
Ok now get your snickers out...
The butt head would not stop pestering until I wrote that in for him...



----> Latest UPDATE::::::
First off I am absolutely bothered by those of you who chose not to read and just jump to conclusions.
This is a horrible misfortune, and a horrible, hard, and traumatic decision that he has to make, calling him a bad person because of what happened, is not helping, not giving him help, and is just making everything worse! Please read before you comment!
1. He was not replacing his cat for the kitten, it was the opposite, he was placing the kitten for his cat. The attack happened before he could find her a home.
READ BEFORE YOU JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS PLEASE
2. He is not jumping for joy, in fact he has been bawling his eyes out and looking for any other way other then the one that happened. He loved his cat.
3. A split second fight can not be stopped if it is going to happen.
4. He is not "getting rid of Kit to keep his kitten" he is doing what is right as 1. he no longer trusts her after getting stitches, and 2. he is being told by everyone, going on 8 people now, that he has gone to, and they all say a barn or Euthanasia is the right thing to do.

Now, please read carefully..

He is giving up his kitten, as he can not keep up the vet bills, the vet that is taking care of her said not to worry and that she would be taking care of the kitten from this point on.
As for kit, he has 4 more stitches. Kit attacked him again last night while he was sleeping.
The vet euthanized her and did an autopsy this morning, and found nothing wrong with her as of yet. Though they will be getting a second opinion, she has shown signs of being very affectionate, and also signs of not wanting to be disturbed. They think she might have something wrong with her brain, like kitty schizophrenia or something, and so are looking into that as well...
Now he has zero cats, stitches, and is giving up on having an animal, because of some of your comments.
He now feels that she should never own an animal again, he feels that it is all his fault, and that he should never so much as touch an animal again.
Come on you guys, those comments were horrible, opinion or not, where they really necessary?? He was asking for help not a lecture on what he should have done, but on what he could do to make things better.
Again, he was placing his kitten to appease his cat, not the other way around, so to those who did not read carefully, please do so for next time...

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

If the cat is litter trained, bed peeing is either a defiance thing or a sign of a health issue. He should first have her checked for UTI or kidney issues. If it is defiance, then just lock her out of that room.

Some cats are meant to be only cats. My original cat would have LOVED to stay an only cat. Unfortunately for him, I have brought three more into the house. The first two boys that joined him lived in a seperate room for months until they got used to each other. Then they were allowed to mix under supervision. Max tolerates them now, but still doesn't like them. Every now and then we have knock down drag out kitty fits. To help keep the peace, Max sleeps in the back with me at night and the other boys sleep in the front of the house.
(The third intruder was a little tiny female kitten. Max would play with her and allowed her to sleep in "his" bed with me at night. I don't know if it was because she was tiny or female, but he seemed okay with her.)

Your friends cat might not ever acclimate to having more cats around. Cats are by nature territorial. He might try keeping them apart for a while and see if it helps.

 

[86121]

Quote:
No shes litter trained, shes just spiteful.
And as for keeping them apart, he has to for the kittens safety, Kit *the older cat* attacked her so badly at one point that the kittens eye was sealed shut. No damage to the eye ball thankfully.
Kit just sits by the door the kitten is behind and waits...
She is really just a very unpleasant cat.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Some cats are just flat out nasty...she might be one.

We had some behavior issues with one of our cats. We boarded her for one vacation, and left the other two at home. It reset the dynamic between the cats, and she stopped bullying the other. something like that might help some of the issues, but she might just be an only type cat.

Nasty cat anecdotes:

When my brother got married, his very jealous cat started peeing on my SIL's side of the bed....my brother was her's and she wasn't going to share with no human woman...

In college, a friend had a nasty cat. At parties the cat would seek out the most allergic, phobic or cat hating person at the party. It would sit in that person's lap, and growl every time the person moved, if the person tried to remove the cat, it would attack. It would also immediately return if it's owner got it off the victim's lap, but did not confine the cat.

 

[watchdogps]

It sounds like the bed peeing was when she was at your house, not her home, right? If so, thats the problem.
I dont think placing the adult is responsible, nor will it be easy. Yeah, people are lining up for adult cats with attitude problems. Cute healthy kittens are hard enough to find homes for right now.
You didnt say how long he has had the second cat. Is it still fairly new?

 

[86121]

Quote:
Nope, she pees on his bed too.
He has had the new kitten for a month now, but I can tell you she wont get better. When I had her, I had her for half a year while he was off at boot camp and then a drill deployment? What ever it was, this cat did the same thing to my cats as well, peed on my bed, and we had to lock her in the bathroom because my head cat was out for blood after she went after her.
The problem is he does not have a house, he is in a small apartment with only one room, shes good with people but hates other animals, and because of her he cant do anything with the animals he wants to help. She is miserable, the kitten is miserable, and he is miserable.
I have tried to help him correct the behavior, but she is just a horrid cat...Wonderful with people, but a horrid and miserable cat...

 

[watchdogps]

I went back and read your original post, and saw that you raised her from a week old. That's probably her problem. Nothing against you, but hand raised kittens tend to either be super sweet or really messed up. It doesnt seem to have anything to do with how they are raised, I know plenty that were raised wonderfully, but humans just cannot do the job of a mother cat.
So, he may have to choose to either have one cat, and find other ways to help besides taking animals in, or getting rid of or euthing her.
I realize euth may seem drastic, but given the options - life at a shelter where there are other cats that she hates stressing her out all the time, and a likelyhood of being euth'd anyway, that may be the kindest thing if he doesnt keep her.

 

[86121]

Quote:
Oh no, sorry I must have mistyped, she was born at my house, and her mother raised her, I handled her since she was a week old before I gave her to him.

So you dont think there is anyway to help "fix" her behavior?

 

[watchdogps]

Quote:
Oh, I see. Then that's different. First of all, I would confine the kitten but not behind a closed door. Look up midwest cat playpen. Its a big three level cage. He can live there while she pouts for a while. She can see him, but he cant bug her.
Next look up Feliway. It really does work, but you have to remmeber to use it. Its a feline pheremone that calms them and reduces the urge to mark.
Make sure a litterbox is added. The small apartment excuse is not going to hold water with miss priss kitty, so your friend needs to find a way to add one.
Also, if he can add more places for them, more levels, like beds on shelves, or cat trees to create spaces they can call their own and get away from each other it may help.
She may never enjoy the kitten, but she may learn to tolerate him.
My oldest cat has no use for the younger boys. They hiss at each other if they get too close, and once in a while they get into a shrieking wrestling match but dont do any real damage. The boys have their moments too. I dont think a fourth cat would be accepted.

 

[aoxa]

Keep the cat out of the bedroom.. Most cats hate new animal intruders. They will get over it.. or learn to ignore.. my 2 year old cat still ignores my 7 month old kitten

The kitten will get big enough to defend itself. The bed peeing should be controlled by a clean litter box and a healthy cat. Although, keeping the bedroom doors closed is advisable.

- Owner of 3 cats (all don't really get along)
- 2 dogs who put up with the cats