My cat's gone mad!

the_insider

I hope some of you experienced pet owners can help.
I have an 8 1/2 month old female kitten who is unspayed. She is a housecat and we took her for her first vaccines yesterday morning.
All day yesterday and today she was fine, maybe a little sleepy but seemed fine in herself and the vet said that she might be a bit drowsy so I wasn't worried, but at about 8.30 this evening she has completely changed.
My partner and I were watching TV and she was sitting on the other side of the room as she often does, when all of a sudden she leapt across the room and attacked me. She went for my hands and was all puffed up with her ears flat.
The other half managed to get her upstairs (suffering a lot of scratches and bites in the process) and we left her for about 20 minutes, assuming something had just scared her.
We let her down again and she seemed OK, still a little nervous but let him stroke her. We thought that everything was OK but when I got up off the sofa she went for me again! We got her back upstairs and tried again about 40 minutes later but as soon as he opened the door she flew at him.

We're both bleeding and a little frightened, to say the least. Does anyone have any ideas what might have caused this? Do we need to just leave her for the night?

rita-rabbit

She needs spaying or mating - simple. Unspayed female housecats can maul owners.

the_insider

Thanks for the reply. How long will she stay in season for? I have been looking online and some sites say 2-3 days and some say up to 10. We'll have to move out if it's the latter!!
And do you know if we can have her spayed whilst she's in season? The vet said she probably wouldn't come into season until the spring with the weather being so cold. Could the trauma of taking her to the vet yesterday have triggered it?

charlie-chan

As soon as she has been in season, she can be spayed. I had my cat spayed quite early on but prior to that there were two occasions where she went for my face and I got my arm up in time to deflect her.

I can only recommend getting her spayed and avoiding long eye contact without staring as she may see it as a challenge.

I'm sorry to hear that she has been attacking you and your partner .

spike7451

I'd get her spayed as that will lower the hormone levels & reduce the aggresive & other bad habits.You might like to have a look at this thread on Purrs;

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,35298.0.html

the_insider

Thanks for all your posts everyone, it's nice to know it's not something we've done!
We've got her booked in to get spayed on Tuesday but it feels like a long time away. I've had to leave her shut upstairs and she's crying, but whenever I open the door she goes for me again. It's breaking my heart.
Does anyone know of any food suppliments or sprays or anything that might make her feel better? She's really distressed by the whole thing.

Hopefully everything will be OK after Tuesday and I can have my cuddly Jinx back!

spike7451

the_insider wrote: »

Thanks for all your posts everyone, it's nice to know it's not something we've done!
We've got her booked in to get spayed on Tuesday but it feels like a long time away. I've had to leave her shut upstairs and she's crying, but whenever I open the door she goes for me again. It's breaking my heart.
Does anyone know of any food suppliments or sprays or anything that might make her feel better? She's really distressed by the whole thing.

Hopefully everything will be OK after Tuesday and I can have my cuddly Jinx back!

These are meant to be very very good;

http://www.vet-medic.com/pd_Feliway+Diffuser+48ml_FELI2.htm?gclid=CPnYq4-n36UCFYUe4QodqzHm0Q

KiKi

Hi there, the more concerned and stressed you are around her, and if you try and help (as we naturally do!), it won't be helpful. She probably needs to be ignored. If you can let her out, but walk away from her, don't talk to her, ignore her, let her be, then that would lessen her distress. Obviously if she actually attacks you when you are *completely* ignoring her, then you may have no choice but to leave her in the room.

Also, it may not just be the spaying; she may be traumatised from the injections. My littlest cat plummets after her boosters, won't move, gets a temperature and is very ratty and horrid to be around. I try and talk to her but she just wants to be left alone; my interference makes her more stressed. When cats are unhappy or ill, they either attack or hide. (And as yours is a housecat, that big world may have been really scary for her for a while and she blames you. As a cat owner you'll have to learn to take the blame for a lot of things that your cat doesn't like. )

Feliway is very good (spray or plug in) if you can get it. But try opening the door then ignoring her completely. Don't talk to her, look at her, or try and make things nicer for her. She probably won't appreciate it.

KiKi

the_insider

I guess you're right Kiki, she'll be picking up on me worrying about it.
When I booked her in for next week I asked the vet and he reckons that getting her in the box and taking her in the car and everything could have caused her to come into season earlier than she would have done.
We tried ignoring her this morning and she seemed OK but then out of nowhere she puffed up again and started howling! I guess we'll just have to leave her too it and I'll have to go to my mum's or something when the other half goes to work so I'm not tempted to let her downstairs. I wouldn't have been able to cope if he hadn't been home last night!

picklepick

i second feliway, it really does work. if you cant get hold of that, a couple of drops of rescue remedy in her water bowl will help too!

Emmylou_2

Is it primarily you she's attacking? What *ahem* TOTM is it? My girl kitteh was spayed very early (went into heat at about 4 1/2 months and our boy kitteh - same age - knew exactly what to do with his bits) but even now she can be a bit "off" with me and best mate (also female) when we're on. She doesn't attack us but she definitely keeps her distance. She's normally snuggled up with one or other of us for a nap, but when we're bleeding she stays away, preferring either a non-menstruating female or a bloke. And as soon as we're not on, she's back for hugs and strokes and fusses as if nothing had happened.