Saturday, December 4, 2010

Could use some advice

OK fellow cat lovers, I have a serious issue with Eddie (the one whose picture is at the top of this blog). Over Thanksgiving he started trying to attack our Cat Nanny although he did simmer down after the first day. This morning I got another bad report. She wrote:
Bad news re. Eddie. I got viciously attacked almost the entire time I was at your place today. Neither Wally or Chloe would come out at all. Eddie kept attacking my feet and ankle area...baring teeth, hissing and screaming like a banshee. It's really bad. Luckily I wore heavy corduroy trousers and boots so he couldn't harm me, but that didn't stop him from continually trying. His ears go down and he just shrieks. If he acted like that at the ARL he'd be put down no questions asked. I cannot figure it out. He was so sweet to me when we met and even though he took to hissing it was always benign. He's acting like a feral cat or a cat that's been abused. I can't fathom how to deal with him. I always speak softly and gently and coo his name but that has no effect. I show him that he can't really get me through the boot but he doesn't back off. I don't dare expose my hands. He only quieted down to eat but it was sad that the 2 other cats were probably afraid to come out. I can handle it and am not afraid...the boots are my armor, but were it July and I was wearing flip flops...well I'd have shredded ankles. Any advice or ideas what's going on with him? I deal with alpha cats a lot but Eddie is just plain vicious. His behavior is the worst I've encountered.
Any advice or strategies on how to solve this? I’m gone for the next two weeks so this is especially frustrating for me. And that it’s Eddie, who is the biggest lover cat I’ve ever had, is especially baffling.

5 comments:

Jeanne said...

We had a cat once who behaved something like that--Rossi, the one who was 18 pounds and died stretched to his fullest length. I'm really sorry to say that I have no solutions. We used to say Ross could only have three friends, and everyone else was an ENEMY.

edj3 said...

I am really afraid of that. If we can stagger our travel schedule it's not a big deal but the rest of December will be wretched and I'm at a loss for what to do. I cannot imagine losing Eddie, this is the cat who crawls under the covers with me to spoon.

Judith said...

A sad situation for you. My suggestion would be to talk with a vet you trust. I know you have good insight into possible causes for Eddie's behavior but the big question for me would be, will or can he be ok again? Or will he be unpredictable from now on? And what effect is he having on your other cats? Wish I were a cat psychologist!

FreshHell said...

I second the vet suggestion. Is this cat sitter a friend or a professional (meaning: someone you pay whose job it is to sit for pets)? If the latter, does he/she smell like other animals when she comes to the house? Could that other animal smell like something Eddie's reacting so strongly to? I've never had an animal act like this but there must be a rational reason for it. It's just a matter of discovering the cause. I wish you luck.

edj3 said...

She does this for a living and came very highly recommended. In fact we had to pass her standards. She does have a male cat and I know our boy kitties don't care to smell other males even neutered ones. So they've always hissed at her a bit but then warmed up.

The screaming and attacking are new. He was just at the vet's three weeks ago for his check up with no problems detected.

He never does this with us.