My Cats Gone Evil :( Help

[GShorty1981]

I have got 3 cats,Tilly whos around 19 months and her 2 kids Buster and Bobby who are both around 5 months old.

Tilly was always a very shy timid cat,we had her from 8 weeks and i think i could probably count on one hand the amount of times she has sat on my lap despite giving her all the attention in the world,treats,play time etc...

she will always sit near by,she hates being stroked but she appreciates a tickle behind the ear and will purr...so shows she happy.

Anyway in the last few weeks i have noticed her go from being a pet to almost ferrel,she rarely comes in,she sleeps under the bush outside,her fur used to be perfect and clean (shes mainly white) and now its always filthy and ragged looking,she attacks her 2 kittens the first chance she gets...hissing,growling,claws out biting etc.

Up until maybe 2 weeks ago she would cuddle up with them,wash them,they would wash her they were like a proper little family,now they hate each other!

I keep noticing cuts and scratchs on the kittens (who are great with eachother) and always giver her a stern 'NO!' if i see her attacking them ..

And as of last week shes now going for humans,she hasent gone for any of my kids yet tho i have warned them all to keep away from her.

If we stroke her for more than 30 seconds she we growl her eyes will go fat and she will hiss and bite and scratch.

I have a new baby due in 3 weeks and im really worried abhout how Tilly is going to be if shes attacking humans,we are very attatched to her and giving her away is not a option.

She has been spaded,she goes to the vets regualry,shes eating normally as long as the kittens are not there..they sort of bully HER away from her food when they all eat together so we feed her sepratly.

Why in the last few weeks has my cat gone from a peaceful timid little cat into a monster?

Can she still go into heat even if she has been spaded?

Is this a delayed thingb with her kittens? something she should of done months ago?

Whats the deal? the vet hasent got a clue either.

Im thinking she could be injured in someway.

 

[gaz gun man]

its possible, cats purr when they're in pain too, sit near her in the garden and listen.

You could trying ringing the RSPCA, they must come across alot of distressed cats, they might be able to help

 

[GShorty1981]

Im worried its something drastic and they would have to put her to sleep.

She only purrs when being stroked or being fed,but its all on her terms,she'll go for me if it aint lol!

Shes just bit my male kitten,she hates them now.

 

[CrystallinEntity]

I would get her to the vet. As you said, she could be sick or injured. Sometimes it can be something like a dental problem. Our older cat had become very cranky, and it turned out that she had bad teeth. Once we got it taken care of (she needed several teeth pulled), she went back to being her old self. But in our case, it had taken a few years for this to happen; it wasn't sudden like what you described.

Hmm... You said you have a baby on the way? I wonder if she is somehow reacting to that. One of my coworkers recently had a baby, and his cats had some behavior changes, although they weren't this extreme. (They went through a phase of not using the litter box, but they weren't aggressive.)

Have you changed anything in your house? Maybe there is something new she doesn't like the smell of? What about a change in your routine?

I have read that with a spayed female, if there is some leftover tissue from the procedure, they can still go into heat. But I don't know if that's true or an urban legend kind of thing.

 

[GShorty1981]

Nothings changed in the house

I would take her to the vets but i already have to fork out £140 for my two kittens to be spaded/neutered in the next 2 weeks as they are now near sexual maturity,i did contact a few different vets and teh cheapest to give Tilly a check up was £96 so its gonna have to wait.

I think you mean by the baby thing cats geting jealous,but i have 3 other kids and they dont seem change there behavior,they do muscle in for attention tho

Im trying to discipline her now,i have been home from work for a hour and i have seen her bite and scratch teh other 2 4 times...anytime she goes near them they get it! unless its feeding time and she dont care. I shout 'NO' at her everytime she does it and it scares her enough for her to stop...dunno what good its doing tho.

 

[GShorty1981]

She seems to be getting worse day by day shes tagged me 4 times today drawing blood each time just for being near her,shes cut the female kittens ear open and bit the male over ten times.

Im starting to think its territorial problems,anyway to discipline them into accepting eachother again? the kittens want to cuddle up with her,she just wants to kill them.

 

[bordercollie05]

It sounds like as your kittens are becoming adults, Momma is starting to treat them as adults. Cats need a large "territory" and can become aggressive toward each other if they feel their space is being intruded upon. My advice would be to keep the kittens or Momma in a separate part of the house (basement, bedroom, etc) until you can get her to a vet and confirm that it's not medical. At that point, if it really isn't a medical problem, slowly reintroduce them. Use gates or screen doors at first, and the only let them be together under supervision for awhile until you are confident athat they are okay. It may be that they will never be okay in which case you may have to rehome one or continue the separate part of the house thing forever. Cats are a bit fussy and sometimes they are just the way they are. That doesn't mean there isn't anything you can do though.

Also, there are behavioral consultants available in most places now. If you're still having trouble after you try several things, I'd suggest trying one out. I really have no idea about cost though.

Also, I'm fairly certain that if the Momma is spayed, there's no way she can come in heat. The spay procedure involves the removal of the ovaries...I think it would be hard to miss "some tissue". If you don't mind the gory details, this site: http/www.lbah.com/feline/cat_spay.html#sx
Has some great pictures of the process along with an explanation.

Another important point is that even if she was being territorial towards her kittens, that doesn't explain her behavior towards you. I'm guessing there is a medical problem, possibly in addition to a territorial issue.

One last thing, I'm not sure what you are doing to discipline her, but be careful what you do. Animals only understand punishment or reward if they are caught in the act of the behavior. A great punisher for cats is a spray bottle because they don't associate it with you as easily. Now that I think about it, punishing the cat COULD cause aggression from her towards you, but it really depends what you're doing.

Good luck, I hope it turns out that you can solve your problem and keep all your cats! Feel free to PM me with any more Q's, I'm an animal science student and enjoy helping people with their pet's behavioral issues.

Laura

 

[GShorty1981]

Just shouting at her,i did tap her butt when she tagged me earlier tho....felt kinda bad after.

Shes at a point now where she will let you stroke her,she will purr then she will grab you with both claws and sink her teeth in...i let her do it a few times to see her boundarys because im worried about her with my kids and cat scratches aint that bad lol (aslong as its on my hands)

I googled it and apparantly its extremley common.

Sadly i'd rather put up with scratches than get rid of any of them as they are as a important part of a family as my kids! we love them.

The sad thing in England is Vets will charge you £100 (nearly half a weeks wages) just to look at her and tell you shes fine...complete stitch ups,obviously with baby due anytime and having to get the other two neutered and spayed that extra £100 is going to be a nightmare.

 

[tucan]

The sad thing in England is Vets will charge you £100 (nearly half a weeks wages) just to look at her and tell you shes fine...complete stitch ups,obviously with baby due anytime and having to get the other two neutered and spayed that extra £100 is going to be a nightmare.

i know the feeling. just had my two for yearly check with booster jabs plus gettiing a few frontline and worming tablets and a bum shave, costed me over £160 today. and found out that one of them has got a decaying tooth, so his is booked to have a dental later in the week, that will cost another £150-250. which the money was going towards MY dental check. now i have to wait till next month. but i guess the love i'm getting back from them is as they say - priceless. ( just wish the vet bill is cheaper).

good luck with the baby and i hope you found out what is going on soon.

 

[bordercollie05]

Wow, those are some expensive vet bills!

That does sound like frisky "in heat" behavior....I'd maybe give a squirt bottle a try first....Keep us posted on how she's doing.

Laura

 

[Erised]

If you haven't already, I can highly recommend pet insurance. I know there will still be an excess to pay, but overall you won't have to throw in big lump sums of money anymore.

While I am not a fan of the RSPCA, it might be worth emailing them (or calling them) and explain the situation. I know that they can offer help with medical costs in some situations, or maybe one of their vets can check over your cat for you. At the least they can give you some advice.

For now, I'd try and keep your cat and kittens apart. Giving her the main run of the house, and the kittens just a room. I know it might feel harsh, but she was there first and it's her territory. Hope things will work out for you =)

 

[chrisandmarie]

i know when my old cat had kittens she started doing that but she was quite worse than that she nearly had my mums finger off i took her to the vets and for some reason she got brain damage they said it was couse of the pregnancy a build up of something it was horrible take her to the vets

 

[GShorty1981]

I cant cut the kittens off from the cat because i have no doors down stairs,its open plan and the mrs dont allow them in the bedrooms.

From what google has taught me,this happens everytime in this situation and the reason why Tilly is attacking us is redirected agression as she dont do it when the kittens are out of sight.

Weird thing is she was playing with them earlier! and also earlier on she picked a fight my 6 month old Male kitten 'Buster' who is close to her size,just not as fat and he got the better of her pretty quickly.

I'm hoping 'Buster' and 'Bobbie' will learn to take care of themselves and they can just fight back...if they do that there will be less confrontations in my opinion.

The vet even said youll either pay £96 for nothing or it will be a problem that will cost me anything from £100-£500....i say they can go jump,shes behaving normally other than agression which is blatantly territorial IMO.

I had pet insurance with a previous cat years ago with Tesco and they were a nightmare to pay out so im not gonna waste my money on that.

 

[Aussie_Dog]

It could be stress, as animals are sensitive creatures and they can pick up on your emotions. If you're stressed about the baby and what's going on with the cat, she's picking up on it and is reacting to it. Relax.

One of my girls sounds like yours, she's what we call "antisocial", yet is territorial to the point of drawing blood from strangers who dare touch her (she used to corner people and stalk them first when they came in the house, but now she leaves them alone until they try to touch her). I did an experiment once, where I left her alone for a full month, not once picking her up to carry her. She responded to that by becoming more affectionate and loving, but once that month went by, I eagerly starting paying attention to her again, and she went back to her old "Eh, I don't care about you. Leave me alone." attitude. When life in this house was chaotic, Willow would respond to it and be a royal terror, but when the house is calm, she'd be calm too. Another thing about Willow is that she's skittish, very skittish, and that triggers her attitude too. Most things in life scare her, and her defensive side comes out.

How do the kittens treat her? Are they always ragging on her to play with them? If so, you can give her a little help by giving her a place to run away and hide, like a tall cat tree. She's doing her part to tell them that she doesn't have the patience to play anymore, and they aren't responding if they're getting so badly beat up (bear in mind, this doesn't apply if she's flat out mauling them. I'm talking about swats and hisses, and maybe 3-second maul if warnings were ignored).

I thought you mentioned the kittens were already fixed, but instead they're going to be done in a couple of weeks. Another thought is that one or both is coming into heat or sexual maturity and that's triggering mom's crazy attitude.

But I think it's a safe bet that her attitude stems from stress or pain. I would advise a vet first to rule out pain, and if tests come up clear, then I would suggest just ignoring her and calming yourself down. Make the house peaceful and enjoyable, and don't even scold her when she attacks the kittens. Trust me, she'll start to associate the kittens with negativity, as each time they come around, she gets scolded (she doesn't figure it's because of her fighting them, as probably in her mind, she's defending herself or the kittens deserved it). I ran into this problem with another one of my cats, Buffy, when we brought another cat into the home. Every time Buffy saw Molly, she'd growl or swat, and she'd be scolded. We only did it a few times, but the damage was done and even now, Buffy can't see Molly without growling, or hitting when Molly dares come too close. They never fight, though, because Molly concedes that Buffy is higher up on the totem pole and she draws back and allows Buffy to rule. If Buffy wants Molly's food, she can have her food. If Buffy wants the high perch on the cat tree, she can have it. Molly, in return, rules over Willow, who rules over nothing.

 

[GShorty1981]

The last 2 nights i have been taking her up to bed with me and leaving the kittens downstairs and shes very very loving and i ddont get the feeling she will scratch me atall,infact shes laying on me now in bed!

It's definitley territorial/attention.