Serious Cat behavior problem, need some help!

[peepsnbunnies]

Hello my BYC family!
I am having a serious behavioral problem with my cat and am looking for folks who 'understand cat brains and behavior' to maybe give me some insight and or suggestions.

A little background - Shadow is a neutered male cat, 12 years old. He is I believe a Manx, as he has a short tail, maybe 2 or so inches long. He came from a pet store "Free to a good home" cage, as a very tiny baby. He was the last one in the cage and my tender hearted son just 'had to have him'. Well, he never really liked my son or anyone else and picked me as his person. The problem is - he bites people. As a kitten, he would bite my son and I thought my son had teased him and made him mad. But then as he got older he would ambush and bite us on the leg. I broke him of that bad behavior and I believe he sees me as his Alpha because he rarely crosses me cause he knows I will spank him. He and I are very bonded. He is very affectionate to me, follows me, waits for me by the door when I am outside, sleeps with me, sits on me, kneeds on my tummy... sometimes I call him 'velcro cat'. Over the years, when we went on vacation, he bit whoever came over to feed him. I chalked that up to him being territorial. When we have company over, I usually put him in my bedroom so we don't have any problems, especially with kids. Kids that run around, trigger him to chase and bite, but he will bite adults too. He will come rub on their legs asking them to pet him and when they do, he will nail them.

My husband has been beyond tolerant with this cat, because he knows I love him. Several years ago Shadow started jumping up in his chair with him while he was watching TV and sleeping on his lap. Then one day, he jumped up on him and bit him on the arm leaving 4 punctures. This was unprovoked. He did it another time because DH was laughing loudly and he does not like loud noises. That was the end of DH letting him come up in his lap.

Last Friday night, while I was picking up my sister from work at 11:00PM. DH said Shadow started Yowling - a loud, gutteral noise. He was near the sliding glass doors, like he wanted to go outside, but he is 99 percent an inside cat. Occasionally I will take him outside for a short time, but never at night and always with me there. DH told him 'No, Shadow'! He said Shadow came towards him yowling and ran up and bit him on the leg, then ran away. He said a few minutes later as he was getting in bed, Shadow started yowling at him again and jumped up on the bed and tried to attack him again. He hit him with a pillow and the cat ran away. When I got home, DH was HOT! Understandably so! He is so mad, that he told me if the cat attacks him again, Shadow will have to go.

I have no idea what is going on with Shadow, He shows no signs of being ill, eats fine, pees/poops fine. No changes in food or cat litter. No changes at all. No new stressors in his life that I can think of. I worry about going out of the house if DH is home alone with him. DH has done nothing to him. He is not an animal teaser or abuser. So I can not figure out why Shadow is doing this. I told DH if Shadow acts like he is going to attack or starts yowling again, to get the flyswatter or something to fend him off and swat him with. DH says he is afraid he is going to hurt him, so he does not want to do that. I am afraid that if it happens again, I will have to have him put to sleep. I can't rehome him where he can possibly hurt a child and no one will knowingly adopt a cat that bites and attacks people for no reason.

So, I am looking for insight and to understandand why he such a biter, and for suggestions to get us through this and curb this bad behavior.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

either put him to sleep, or tell Dh to tuffen up and spank him. Spank him as much as you need to until HE STOPS THIS.

Thats all the advice I have

 

[Imp]

At 12 years old, a vet needs to see him. Attacking your husband, after all these years is a change in behavior. He might have a medical issue that needs to be addressed. Or just getting kitty dementia. There are drugs that will help.

Some cats are just more likely to bite.
Right now one of the neighbors cats comes over at mealtime and attacks mine, screams, howls and watches me shower. So of course I have to pet, pick up and give him reason to sink his teeth in me. I'm kind of glad he's moving away in a month. Lol. He's perfectly sweet with his owners little kids. I dunno.
Here is my peeping tom:

 

[AliQuail]

If he misbehaves, don’t spank him. Try to use a water spray or loud noise instead to stop him if he’s mid attack. Hitting him will just wind him up and encourage his bad behaviour. Hitting an animal is not the way to get it to respect and trust you.

Aggression can be a problem with cats that are separated from their siblings at an early age or that have had a stressful start. A kittens siblings and mother will teach it how to ‘play nice’ by hissing if the play gets too rough. He may have missed out on this and so he doesn’t understand the boundary or how much teeth and claws to use. He may not even realise that there is a line between playing and being destructive.

If he bites again, try to give a sharp loud hiss and see if he starts to understand what this means.

As Imp said, I also think that a trip to the vets for a health check would be a good idea to rule out medical issues.
If the reasons are not medical, then he sounds like he’s a very frustrated cat and feels the need to vent. This can be caused by boredom. Do you play with him or give him something to play with to use up some of his energy? If he’s an indoor cat and you prefer him not to free range, is there any way that you could give him a secure outside area to spend some time in?

It sounds like when he goes for your husband, he gets such an exciting reaction that when he’s bored, he does it again.

Could you ask your husband to feed him and give him treats? If he sees your husband as something positive in his life then he may be less likely to see him as fair game. You could also ask your husband to spend time playing with him, using a piece of string for Shadow to chase for example. If shadow goes for your husband instead of the string, ask your husband to hiss at him and walk away. He’ll soon realise that going for your husband means the end of the fun.

Don’t give up on him yet and although it’s hard try not to get angry with him. From what you’ve said he has the ability to be an affectionate cat, so there’s definitely hope for him.

 

[jak2002003]

Has anything changed in his surroundings or routine recently?

Has he always been an indoor cat?

I would recommend taking him to a vet as aggression and behavioural problems might be due to an illness such as a brain tumor.

There are also a few more reasons he might be acting like that:

1. He is bored and does not have enough stimulation. He is 'playing' a game by biting. Humans have much more sensitive skin than cats, and cats often don't realise they are hurting us. They will bite each other in play.

2. There may by a new tom cat that is coming into you garden or he can see though the window. He may be frustrated he can not go and fight with it and he is taking it out on people.

3. He might be stressed from something like noise from machinery or animals.

I have noticed that most cats that show this behaviour of biting and running off are cats that have been hand raised from a tiny kitten. They tend to get imprinted of people and see humans as other cats so will use cat behaviours to communicate with people, such as biting.

 

[Gryphon]

The idea that there was a strange cat outside has some merit. My cat woke me up once with this horrible screaming yowl, I thought he was getting ripped apart but it turns out there was a cat outside the window he was looking out. While he didn't attack me, I have heard of cats turning on humans or other pets out of frustration.

 

[peepsnbunnies]

Thanks for everyones responses and ideas. He has been behaving normally as if nothing has happened. He's being my sweet velcro cat. The idea of another cat outside, is a definite possibility. I had not thought of that. There are several neighbor cats that roam the neighborhood at night and I have seen them many times in my yard. I was not at home when this happened, so there may have been a cat outside the glass door, DH does not know either. DH has agreed to try to interact with him more. Shadow does get play time, he has toys that I throw for him to fetch and ribbons on a stick to chase. He has a track ball, scratching post, crinkle balls, I also toss treats for him to chase down the hallway, so I don't think he is bored. Vet visit is a good idea too. His shots are due in October or November, I will have to check. But if we have no problems before then, I will wait and talk to the vet when we are there. I have my fingers crossed that the trigger may have been the neighbor cat and not medical or meaness.