agressive cat - wwyd

[Anonymous]

cbd--or pot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our cat has been on prozac for about a year. It's about 1/4 of the lowest human dose, we get it from a normal pharmacy and cut it into pieces. It is not fun to give it to her, but it absolutely takes the edge off and has helped to address her aggressive behavior (to other cats and people). Maybe worth a try?

Same issue. I use cat pill pockets. He eats them up.

Yep. I hid mine in a spoonful of stinky canned food though.

OP here. Our cat is already on 1ml of prozac and has been for 1+ year now. Any less and she's 100% unmanageable.

Is it possible to up the dose?

[Anonymous]

When you say fear based. What kind of thing specifically trigger her?
Why would she be put in fear inducing situation at home?
What and who would cause it?

You said you have two cats and a kid.. in what specific situation she reacts? Give us more specs.


With cat that has sudden and unpredictable behaviors in your situation without knowing details I would guess:

- if you ever let the cat out or other cat out, she might react to the smells that the other cat or you or kids bring from outside.
Sometimes a cat smells other cats or dogs or anything on you or other cat and will react to you.. or that cat as it is a total stranger
as you lost your own smell and aquired new smells so now you are a target.

Cats do not trust their sense of sight as much as sense of smell, when sh e knows who you are, she still needs to verify you are you
by smelling you.

- you might be using some perfumes or stuff that makes her agressive. Lots of perfumes or champoos can have tuff that cats hate.
male colognes sometimes contain some junk from some animal tails.. musk or soemthing.. and if so to the cat this is like red cloth to the bull.

- she might have some tooth or inside body issues that come and go and if there is a pain, and you touch her and she feels the pain, she may react to you and swat or scratch.

- also if she does not like te other cat and you handle that cat or yours, then you handle her, she extend the not liking form that cat to you.

Lastly.. if you have a cat like this, don't handle her. Just feed her and don't ineract with her on regular basis.

ONly approach when she is deep asleep, then come and sit next to her and pet gently with some pressure added to your hand and
glide your hand along the top of her body from the head to the back. If you see reaction, pay attention at which point she reacts
if it is her body there might be pain in that spot.

Also, stay away form the belly!!!! most cats will scratch you if you touch belly, unless theya re well realxed and know y ou and trust you relally really well then you can do anything.. but otherwise touchy cat will scratch you if you go anywhere near their belly area.


Do tell us more we might collectively solve this.

BTW.. did you or do you give catnip? Catnip is known to cause high in some cats, and agression in others, also they get hooked on it
and then get agressive if they don't get it.

There are all kinds of calming herbs but stay away form anything that is drug like.. especially weed stuff because this is
really bad for cats short and long term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our cat has been on prozac for about a year. It's about 1/4 of the lowest human dose, we get it from a normal pharmacy and cut it into pieces. It is not fun to give it to her, but it absolutely takes the edge off and has helped to address her aggressive behavior (to other cats and people). Maybe worth a try?

Same issue. I use cat pill pockets. He eats them up.

Yep. I hid mine in a spoonful of stinky canned food though.

OP here. Our cat is already on 1ml of prozac and has been for 1+ year now. Any less and she's 100% unmanageable.

Is it possible to up the dose?

Prozac is NEVER an answer for a cat. It is short term solution and you could cause long term problems. I don't know if you can uhook a cat from prozac now. It is insane. There was NO NEED for prozac whoever prescrived it is .... I have no words.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our cat has been on prozac for about a year. It's about 1/4 of the lowest human dose, we get it from a normal pharmacy and cut it into pieces. It is not fun to give it to her, but it absolutely takes the edge off and has helped to address her aggressive behavior (to other cats and people). Maybe worth a try?

Same issue. I use cat pill pockets. He eats them up.

Yep. I hid mine in a spoonful of stinky canned food though.

OP here. Our cat is already on 1ml of prozac and has been for 1+ year now. Any less and she's 100% unmanageable.

Is it possible to up the dose?

Prozac is NEVER an answer for a cat. It is short term solution and you could cause long term problems. I don't know if you can uhook a cat from prozac now. It is insane. There was NO NEED for prozac whoever prescrived it is .... I have no words.

“NEVER”? So, what are you suggesting instead that might be helpful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our cat has been on prozac for about a year. It's about 1/4 of the lowest human dose, we get it from a normal pharmacy and cut it into pieces. It is not fun to give it to her, but it absolutely takes the edge off and has helped to address her aggressive behavior (to other cats and people). Maybe worth a try?

Same issue. I use cat pill pockets. He eats them up.

Yep. I hid mine in a spoonful of stinky canned food though.

OP here. Our cat is already on 1ml of prozac and has been for 1+ year now. Any less and she's 100% unmanageable.

Is it possible to up the dose?

Prozac is NEVER an answer for a cat. It is short term solution and you could cause long term problems. I don't know if you can uhook a cat from prozac now. It is insane. There was NO NEED for prozac whoever prescrived it is .... I have no words.

So what would you recommend for an aggressive cat? Are you a veterinarian?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feliway + watch some Jackson Galaxy videos. He has excellent tips that a behavioral specialist would charge you for.

Are there specific circumstances where the aggression is happening? Our cat gets bitey/scratchy only when she's in a playful mood but it can be aggressive and we have to redirect to toys. It can happen pretty suddenly and we had to get better at spotting the signs that she was 'in the zone'.

I'll check out his videos, thank you! Feliway keeps her from scratching furniture, but doesn't seen to help her temperamental nature.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for all of this! Answered inline:

Anonymous wrote:When you say fear based. What kind of thing specifically trigger her?
Why would she be put in fear inducing situation at home?
What and who would cause it?
She was hospitalized a year ago, in & out a few times, in pain, at two different emergency vets. This is when it started; she'd been displaying some signs of aggression toward our other cat but not toward people. The vet tech actually called me and said "we are afraid of your cat and can't treat her" ....no idea why or how this happened; I've had animals my whole life and never encountered this. Since then, our current vet said she exhibits fear-based aggression -- she can tell through body language, etc.

No reason to be afraid at home. Sometimes she just gets this weird, wild, unfocused look in her eyes but not the typical "agressive" cat body language that is mentioned in every article I've read. I even asked our vet if cats can be mentally unstable; it is that noticeable when she makes the switch from chill to not. She's the aggressor with the other cat and people have never been rough with her. She likes our dogs and loves to play-wrestle and snuggle with her non-enemy cat.

You said you have two cats and a kid.. in what specific situation she reacts? Give us more specs.
A couple examples: (1) My son is at our dining table doing homework. She jumps up, lays on his books, and hisses/bites/scratches if anyone attempts to move her. (2) She seems 'hangry' and will come at me in the kitchen - will bite, scratch, etc. I try leaving the room and she follows, so the whole "leave an angry cat alone; the worst thing for them is lack of attention" thing doesn't really work with her. This is even when she has food, but wants a treat or just different food.


With cat that has sudden and unpredictable behaviors in your situation without knowing details I would guess:

- if you ever let the cat out or other cat out, she might react to the smells that the other cat or you or kids bring from outside.
Sometimes a cat smells other cats or dogs or anything on you or other cat and will react to you.. or that cat as it is a total stranger
as you lost your own smell and aquired new smells so now you are a target.
I probably do smell like our other cat. She's a lap cat and sleeps with me. I can't really change that. This cat and the other are each out about 50/50 during the day & night. If the aggressive one is really ramping up, I lure her to her room and close the door for a few hours. It is a very comfy room and she likes it in there, so it is not a "punishment" per se and is never done abruptly. I crate trained both of my dogs as young puppies and basically use that same approach like it is super fun, "hey! let's go in here for a bit ... have a tasty snack and then chill"

Cats do not trust their sense of sight as much as sense of smell, when sh e knows who you are, she still needs to verify you are you
by smelling you.

- you might be using some perfumes or stuff that makes her agressive. Lots of perfumes or champoos can have tuff that cats hate.
male colognes sometimes contain some junk from some animal tails.. musk or soemthing.. and if so to the cat this is like red cloth to the bull.
I am allergic to fragrance; everything in our house is unscented - none of use fragranced products. The house of the failed rehoming? Oh my goodness. Chock-full of fragrance. I'm guessing that did not help. The bed, toys, etc. that were returned to us absolutely reeked like fabric softener.

- she might have some tooth or inside body issues that come and go and if there is a pain, and you touch her and she feels the pain, she may react to you and swat or scratch.
I can see that as a contributing factor. Her surgery was on her abdomen and she's very prone to constipation. She is very picky about food so hard to get in what will help her digestion running smoothly. The vet can't really treat her due to the aggression. It is really just so hard to pin this down.

- also if she does not like te other cat and you handle that cat or yours, then you handle her, she extend the not liking form that cat to you.
I think she loves me most of all our family and follows me almost all day, waits outside bathroom, etc. But maybe the fact that I smell like the other cat triggers jealousy? It is like a weird love/hate thing?

Lastly.. if you have a cat like this, don't handle her. Just feed her and don't ineract with her on regular basis.
It is so hard, but we do aim for this.

ONly approach when she is deep asleep, then come and sit next to her and pet gently with some pressure added to your hand and
glide your hand along the top of her body from the head to the back. If you see reaction, pay attention at which point she reacts
if it is her body there might be pain in that spot.
Nooooo. I would be bloody. She cannot tolerate being approached when resting or asleep. Truly loses her marbles.

Also, stay away form the belly!!!! most cats will scratch you if you touch belly, unless theya re well realxed and know y ou and trust you relally really well then you can do anything.. but otherwise touchy cat will scratch you if you go anywhere near their belly area.
Yes, this I know! She shows her belly often in way of greeting and will lick my finger and touch it gently with a paw if I put it near her face. She likes that for some reason. My other 2 cats love belly rubs, but I know to stay away from this cat's stomach


Do tell us more we might collectively solve this.

BTW.. did you or do you give catnip? Catnip is known to cause high in some cats, and agression in others, also they get hooked on it
and then get agressive if they don't get it.
Catnip mellows her out. I give her catnip treats and she zones out. That is really interesting about getting hooked on it. I truly didn't know that! That may be why she begs for treats and gets nasty when I give her normal food instead. So maybe I need to find another tasty, non-catnip treat to wean her off it.

There are all kinds of calming herbs but stay away form anything that is drug like.. especially weed stuff because this is
really bad for cats short and long term.
The ones I've tried all seem short-acting and she gets a weird bounce-back from them. Not catnip, but "calming" treats and tinctures. She'll be chill for a couple hours and then come back full force. It's really weird. And scary. CBD, and other OTC remedies have all been attempted.

[Anonymous]

put her down

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:put her down

+ 1, sorry, OP. You gave her a good life but there are plenty of nice cats who need a home.

[Anonymous]

I am not a vet. But I had a horse who was exactly like this: fine, until she wasn't.

I co-owned her with a friend, who bought me out & then leased her to a very experienced horseman. She attacked him without warning & savaged his face.

They put her down, autopsied, & found that she had a brain tumor.

I hope I'm wrong, but your cat's problems don't sound behavioral to me, but either pain-related or neurological.

I hope you can find a vet who is willing to work with her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:put her down

+ 1, sorry, OP. You gave her a good life but there are plenty of nice cats who need a home.

+1. At this point I would euthanize her.

[Anonymous]

+1 to putting the cat down.

Please do not ever release cats outside. They just kill and terrorize wildlife.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:put her down

+ 1, sorry, OP. You gave her a good life but there are plenty of nice cats who need a home.

+1. At this point I would euthanize her.

+2 Sorry, OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:put her down

+ 1, sorry, OP. You gave her a good life but there are plenty of nice cats who need a home.

+1. At this point I would euthanize her.

+2 Sorry, OP

+3. Sorry, but it sounds like it is time.