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

[Frosty]

Quote:
Actually, it doesn't sound like this type of behavior (at least the pee-on-bed) is something new. The following was in the very first post:

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...

And if you read the original message, the OP did NOT hand raise the cat, she just handled it a lot as a kitten. The kitten was raised by it's mother. I will agree that the OP does not appear to like the cat, but she did say that it had issues before she even gave it to him.

I have no experience with dealing with a single female cat, we have always had at least two cats. But we did have a female cat many years ago who was just nasty. We adopted her as a tiny kitten. She was in a 'shelter' that didn't seem to care much about the cats and dogs they had there. This kitten was really tiny, just a bag of bones covered with fur and fleas. As she got older, it became apparent that she had mental issues. The final straw was when she decided that she hated my daughter at about the time my daughter was just starting to crawl. She would go into the living room and actually lay on the floor with her front claws extended at the time I normally brought my daughter out. She was showing signs that she hated ALL children and was getting worse with us, too (she would jump up to sit with us and want us to pet her. When she decided petting time was over, she would attack and run). She got pregnant before we decided what to do with her, so we waited until the kittens could be weaned and took her for one last vet trip. We kept two of the kittens, and they were wonderful until we lost both at 16 years old. I often wondered if the starvation at such a young age messed her up. She was about 1 1/2 years old when we took her in for the last vet trip.

When I bring a kitten in to the house (often a barn kitten that needs treatment, or before I got the barn queens spayed I have had to bring late litters in for the winter), the resident females hiss if the kittens get too close and slap them down if the kittens persist in coming closer. They don't try to attack them or kill them. But again, I don't have just a single female here. If that is what they are like, I'm glad that I don't. Half of the females in my house are far more likely to kidnap kittens and act like those are 'their' kittens. I have had to search under furniture to return kittens to their mother more than once.​

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
maybe so. however our feline hyperesthesia KrazyKat was very affectionate when she was not whacking out. when having an attack, she'd try to kill our other cats if she encountered them, and would sometimes hunt them.

anyway, I'd look for twitching skin and the blown open pupils. those are things that might go unnoticed if you weren't looking for them. there's no point trying to treat the cat's bad attitude if it's really an underlying and unnoticed biological problem.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
with our cat, it was an associated symptom. it's a stress behavior, and we'd see more peeing on the laundry after an attack, she rarely peed out of the proper place if she hadn't had an attack in the last 4 or 5 hours.

anyway, don't know that it is or isn't this cat's problem, just seeing a posibility worth investigating, and no contraindications that don't fit with our personal experience with it.
not that it provides an alternative path for fixing this situation, as there's no fix for it, but maybe it helps with decision making.

 

[86121]

Quote:
Yep, again, it is up to the owner to decide. Inputting because it was asked for. I am really surprised at the amount of surprise over the attack though, and hope those who read will understand that this kind of attack can happen from mentally balanced cats.

Had my boss glance over my shoulder earlier. He has owned pretty much anything under the sun (including a rather scary cobalt tarantula, but the whole species is in a foul mood). He said:
"let me guess, chickens?"
Me: yup
Boss: What's happening in the land of chickens today
Me: ...You're pretty familiar with cats, right?
Him: *gives me a look that tells me I have just asked the stupidest question known to man*
Me: Well, let me ask you this. Adult female cat, used to living alone, has a kitten move in. Kept separate, but the kitten gets out. What would you expect the interaction to be?
Him: That kitten would get the holy @$%#%# kicked out of it.

I've seen it way too many times to be shocked with adult females bonded to owners, used to living alone, etc. Most recently, it was a relative's Oriental. Did all the same things, including *intently* waiting by the door to tear into the new young female. Not hiss at. Tear into. My own cat is a lovely and intelligent little thing, super affectionate, smart as a whip, does tricks on command, lovingly grooms our dog and rabbits...but an adult female and used to living alone. We actually consciously made a decision not to get a kitten because of the risk and higher stress for us all involved, and because we have seen heightened aggression from her in regards to kittens before. We went with the easiest type of cat to introduce to a cat like her. Adult male, slightly larger, mellow, about the same age. Took five months of itty bitty baby steps, but they will now play and occasionally lay near each other without aggression from our female. More importantly, she has just begun to allow him access to us and our attention/affection. Big step for her. She has never displayed any behavior to indicate she has a mental illness/imbalance/health issue, and has never been aggressive with a human (though we bought thick gloves when we adopted the male just in case he got out and a fight broke out, because she definitely could do damage if caught in a high-stress moment like that).

So basically, I would just personally encourage your friend to euthanize for reasons regarding improper urination (again, if the health of the cat has been checked, if the box is cleaned often) such as health issues, unsanitary living conditions, unlikely to be rehomed or increased chance of abuse if rehomed. Those will be solid, unchanging reasons, where as a seemingly hurried decision made because of a deeply disturbing incident for a person to watch may change more with time. If it was just this case of aggression, it would be possible to either manage the aggression easily (one cat household since no other or unpredictable aggression was described), or to rehome to a home that no kidding knew she should be an only cat. If euthanizing, I personally would go with reasons I knew wouldn't change once the initial shock and anger wore off. Best of luck to your friend in dealing with this stressful situation.

Yup, agree to disagree.
Its also a situation that you have to know the cat to understand her, you keep saying stressed, and this is not her. She is calm as a cucumber, there is no stress.
If I was not in the position I am in, and did not know what I know in regards to behavior, it would be a lot easier for me to just say, well she was defending her territory and so fourth. Shes not stressed, maybe just a bad choice of words, but shes not by any means stressed.
I see no possible way to ever condone such behavior, or allow it to happen ever again, or be willing to allow someone to ever live with it. To many good well behaved loving cats die everyday that would love to be in a good home...
So, we can agree to disagree...
But again, I will have him read your post, thank you for your input, im sure he will feel a little bit better after reading everyone's posts. This is not easy for him.

 

[Orchid]

How is the kitten doing?

 

[86121]

Quote:
I just posted an update, but she seems to be doing well.
Shes a bit high on pain meds and her wounds are scabbing up nicely I guess.
I was told that she is still in intensive care and being monitored, im just waiting now to hear back from him.

 

[biddybird]

Wow!! just read this thread---not easy at all! Hope the kitten is doing better.

I am a huge animal lover (any kind), can't stand the thought of putting an animal down really unless it was intended for food in the first place. We have always had cats (house and barn) and they are on their own little planet. They are actually one of the most difficult animals to read as far as I'm concerned. I'm not a big fan of not being able to trust an animal I am providing for, nor do I want to be a prisoner in my own home....I bring way too many animals in to our lives.

Whitewinterwolf, my thoughts are your friend should follow the heart and not worry about what anyone else thinks. Ultimately your friend is the one that has to live with the outcome.

Take care and hope all turns out for the best

 

[86121]

Quote:
Well thank you, I am sure he will appreciate your reply as much as he has appreciated the others.

 

[Kaitie09]

If your friend is moving close to the country, I think that the cat would be great outdoors. She would probably be a good mouser, and even better keeping strays off his property. If he is not moving soon and if he has a yard, he could possibly get an outdoor kennel or build something to keep her outside for now. Just look up outdoor cat enclosures. People make them out of bird netting and have cats that live out there 24/7. I found a yr old 10x10' dog kennel on CL for 75 dollars too, so that might be an option. It would also help her get used to living outside too. That might be an option if he does not feel he could euthanize her or give up the kitten.

In the end though, it is his decision and he knows his cat.

 

[EmAbTo48]

"this is why people should never jsut go out and bring in another pet on a whim and now this poor cat is going to be tossed out side or killed becuase its being a cat and doing what nature tells it to do"

I TOTALLY AGREE! Your friend needs to remember he committed to his first cat when he said yes to taking her from you! If this means he can't have another cat SO BE IT! The kitten I am sure is going to find a great home.. it’s a kitten! But putting a healthy cat down because it had a nasty cat fight and reaction to a new cat in its home is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!!!!!

There is NOTHING wrong with this cat. This is not an abnormal behavior for a cat that has lived its life alone! The back kicking is very very very normal for a cat fight. It’s terrible that it had to happen to a kitten that’s half the size of this adult cat. But YES cats fight all the time, they act just like this cat did!

All cats have their little quirks to them they all have their own personalities. So obviously this cat needs to be without any other animals. For the peeing on the bed, tell your friend to make sure to make his bed, and keep all clothing off the floor. Our one stray cat always pees on clothing if it’s ruffled in a pile we also keep our room closed off to the cat so she’s unable to do this. We have tried everything to break her of this, but we wouldn’t ever euthanize her over this.

Again we can agree to disagree, just hope your friend really thinks about this before just jumping to killing this cat or putting it outside or getting rid of it.
Really this shouldn't be a hard decision at all! He should pick the adult cat over any other animal period.