Very aggressive cat

kleapatra

Hi

I have a coming up 5 year old boy cat, I've had him since he was a tiny kitten and he's a house cat (always has been). Until 3 weeks ago, he had always lived with me and my partner but my partner up and left so now its just me and cat.

Now the cat, although extremely affectionate had always been a bit aggressive towards me, usually after being all affectionate he suddenly turns and gets angry, he has never behaved like this with my partner though. Since my OH left however he is so much more aggressive, he has his sweet moments and is pleased when I get home from work and snuggles up on my lap etc but he is constantly attacking me, he keeps sinking his teeth into my arms and I literally have to prise his jaws open to make him let go.
These are not 'little nips' these are full on aggressive attacks and I am covered in scratches, puncture marks and bruises (my arms look like I have a drug habit at the moment!)
What I should add is that my cat isn't your average sized cat, he's a moggy who was tiny as a kitten but has grown into a monster sized cat. The vet always comments on how he's one of the bigger cats she's seen, he weighs well over a stone and he isn't in the slightest bit fat, he's just huge.

Basically I don't know what to do about him. Do I take him to the vets? Is there anything she can do? Does anyone have any better ideas?

I'm already in pieces with my OH leaving me out of the blue but this is just making everything even worse, if thats possible.

I would really appreciate any help

Thanks

pawsies

cats don't cope well with stress and changes to the environment.

do you have anything of your oh's with his smell on it? may reassure him slightly or try a cat diffuser e.g. feliway that should help him cope.

paddypaws101

feliway might help, or a Pet Remedies diffuser. Zylkene is a natural substance that calms a cat or Royal Canin do a Calm dry food with the same ingredient.

Scrapaholic

Does he attack when he's sitting on your lap and you're stroking him ? A friend had a cat like that . He'd be fine then just turn and bite whoever he was sitting on . He used to flick his tail then they knew he was going to attack . I think as they came to know the signs they'd put him on the floor before he bit . Hope he settles soon as it mustn't be very nice for you at present .

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Did your ex do rough and tumble play with him? Because he might be missing it if he did. If that's the case, invest in some strong gloves and he'll start to learn to temper it.

(I had a mad cat who would shred everyone else, but knew exactly what they could and couldn't get away with where I was concerned - but rough play was how they learned this - so much so, if they got a bit lairy with somebody else, all I had to was make a low noise and they'd stop - sometimes just dropping to the floor as though I had just shot them. Much to everybody else's amusement.)

meritaten

my boy cat would roll over and let you tickle his tummy - then claw your arms and bite you! I think its excess something or other! a sensory overload perhaps.
I learned just how long he would go before attacking, and stop the petting before the painful bit! he would try to make me carry on with the tummy tickling - but I wouldn't.
He also didn't like being picked up - little bu99er would sink his claws in each side of your face and bite your nose!

bagpussbear

This may sound strange, but do you find the cat turns on you after stroking/touching him in a particular place?

The reason I ask is that as my cat got older and a bit arthritic, he HATED being touched around his hips, and would whip round to give me a little whack to tell me no!

Just a thought ..

atrixblue.-MFR-.

if the cat has been like it since kitten then he isnt going to change, the changed atmosphere has stressed him out i agree, but there are cats that prefured to male humans than female humans and other cats that prefure female humans than male humans and that will always stick with them no matter how much you try and win their trust.

some cats have sensory overloads, and get overly affectionate to the person they adore, they dont mean to bite, scram or claw and warning signs pop up before they get into that mode to attack the thing that gives them too much pleasure, twitching tail, ears pinned back, low tone growling is when they start to go into attack mode.

i would express that dont expect much of a change here, but you could aid his stress by first going for feliway hand gel and before picking him up petting him and letting him sit on you lap spray feliway on your hands and arms, you could also place a jumper of your ex on your lap to comfort him, after time, slowly remove the jumper so he is less dependant on his scent and gets to know your scent more, learn his pre attack signs and put him down or stop touching him, thats not to say ignore him either i would talk to him when he goes to enter this mode when his is on the floor from you.

it may take a while for the attacks to calm down, he may staill do it for the rest of his life but they may only be half harted love bites instead of full on attacks.

heartbreak_star

Is he neutered? Might be worth looking into if not.

Another vote for Feliway here too. Good luck!

HBS x

atrixblue.-MFR-.

it is important to point out that a defuser here will probably be a waste of money, the hand gel is cheaper and for a single cat home with agression and stress towards a certain person the hand gel is more favoured, this is why breeders in the show scene us handgel to calm the cat down when handled, same scenario here essentially deffuser would be overkill handgel would be apt.