Aggressive Cat Behavior

[teacherforhi]

I'm going to call my vet first thing in the morning, but I'm hoping someone can help me get through the night.

I came home about an hour ago to find my house in an uproar. I have four cats. Euri is 8, Annie is 7, Callie is 3, and Ama is almost a year. When I got home, Annie and Ama were hiding. Ama has blood on her. Callie and Euri were fighting and have knocked things over all through the house. Callie is definitely the aggressor here. When I separated them (both will let me pick them up), as soon as I put Callie down, she would hunt down Euri to attack again.

I'm covered in scratches right now. I was holding Euri and Callie jumped up on my lap to attack her. I finally have Callie in the bathroom, but from the sound of things, she's knocked everything off the counter and is attacking the door to get out. Annie and Ama are terrified and are refusing to come out from under the bed.

Right now, I don't know what to do. What in the world would cause Callie to go insane like this? At this rate, she's going to have to spend the night in a cat carrier in the laundry room just so Annie and Ama will come out.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Gigi22]

Gosh, I've lived in a multicat household for years, and I have never encountered anything like this. Do you have a guest bathroom you could shut your aggressive cat in overnight? I'm thinking you could leave water and litter box in a bathroom and make sure there were no opportunities for any more "interaction" over night. Have you been able to observe if the cat is acting normally otherwise? I think you will have to call your vet and try for an appointment tomorrow.
Do let us know how this goes. It is so difficult when one of our furry friends has something wrong with them.

 

[Imzadi]

WOW! How horrible for the other kitties.

Is there another stray cat hanging around outside? Sometimes, one hangs out, and it drives the cats indoors crazy as they all feel the need to re-establish dominance.

But, I'd say Callie must be hurt in some way and the pain is making her feel the need to lash out, fearing the other cats may get her, if she shows any weakness.

Don't wait on calling the vet. we lost 3 cats here on the DIS last week. When they get sick, (and you finally see the symptoms, because they usually hide it for a long while,) they can go down really quickly, like in about 2 days.

 

[teacherforhi]

Gosh, I've lived in a multicat household for years, and I have never encountered anything like this. Do you have a guest bathroom you could shut your aggressive cat in overnight? I'm thinking you could leave water and litter box in a bathroom and make sure there were no opportunities for any more "interaction" over night. Have you been able to observe if the cat is acting normally otherwise? I think you will have to call your vet and try for an appointment tomorrow.
Do let us know how this goes. It is so difficult when one of our furry friends has something wrong with them.

Unfortunately just the one bathroom.

She doesn't act normally. If I let her lose, she immediately hunts down Euri to attack. When she's shut up, she hisses and scratches at the door trying to get out.

I really wish I knew how long this had been going on today. She was definitely fine this morning, but now Ama and Annie won't let me touch them, they're so spooked.

 

[Gigi22]

Darn. Well, in that case, I would call the vet clinic for an appointment, either tomorrow or at an emergency clinic tonight (I hate to suggest this--it is so expensive). Something's not right, and your aggressive kitty is most likely sick. If she is acting that strange and aggressive, I wonder if she is having some sort of fit.

 

[teacherforhi]

Darn. Well, in that case, I would call the vet clinic for an appointment, either tomorrow or at an emergency clinic tonight (I hate to suggest this--it is so expensive). Something's not right, and your aggressive kitty is most likely sick. If she is acting that strange and aggressive, I wonder if she is having some sort of fit.

I thought about the emergency clinic, but you're right--they're expensive. Unless her head starts spinning round (which I'm expecting any minute), I'm going to hold off till morning.

At least one good thing, with Callie in the laundry room, Ama has decided it's safe to come out from under the bed. I hate to leave Callie in there, but at this point, I have to think about the safety and sanity of both myself and my cats. I have at least 10 deep scratches from where she jumped Euri on my lap and it looks like Ama has a decent sized scratch down her nose.

 

[Gigi22]

I'm so sorry! I hate the 24/7 vet clinics too, they're just so discouraging, and you have to deal with a strange vet too-- Hang in there, I'm rooting for you.
The only thing I could think of is perhaps playing some classical music if you have any around? It might calm down the cat a bit. (I'm thinking about all those reports that playing Mozart is beneficial to animals).

 

[Imzadi]

Maybe she ate something bad around the house and she's having some sort of reaction?

When I said don't wait on calling the vet, I was going on how you said you'd call in the morning. I meant don't wait beyond that. Unless she shows major changes again tonight, I think tomorrow morning will be fine.

 

[teacherforhi]

It's five till midnight and Callie seems to have calmed down. Since she stopped screeching and rolling the carrier over, I let her out and held her while Ama and Annie adjusted to her being out. They were fearful (naturally), but when she didn't go berserk, they seem okay. Euri isn't as forgiving (she rules the roost around here). Right now, she's staying in the spare bedroom and has made it clear that Callie isn't welcome. However, since Callie isn't attacking Euri, maybe the worst is past, for now at least.

I'm going to try and get some sleep. I'll definitely still call the vet in the morning, if for no other reason than I want to get our they're regular vet's opinion before the weekend starts. If this happens again during the weekend, I don't know that I'll have any other choice but to go the emergency clinic.

Thanks for the advice and the hand holding. I'll post tomorrow to let you know what the vet said.

 

[Lauralee]

If your vet tomorrow doesn't find anything wrong with Callie, you might want to ask him/her about a calming aid for cats. I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard good things about Feliway. It comes in a spray can or as a diffuser you plug into the wall and it releases kitty facial pheromone. Hope it was a one-time thing that spooked Callie.

 

[disneymarie]

I am glad you were not bit. I had this happen when I had to take in my dd cats. My tigger tormented and chases Sammy, but I lifted my dear buddy, buth lashed with two deep bites.

I was dripping blood, I had to get a tetnis shot, and the infection from the bite siliva or germs was so bad I cried and could not move my hand. I had to take a medication they used for MERSA.

Tigger was upset, when he saw andheard my reaction. I think he was stunned. I did have Sammy with a bite on his but the first year, I thought it was from dd older cat, who never fought, but read Sammy';s personality as timid and fearful. Took advantage of that.

THe momma cat of hers is not happy with kids in the household, she will sleep with me, but dd she will hiss at.

I wonder if the one cat may just have been in his space, a territorial thing

Or he may besick or the other cat may be sick and cat sense is telling him that??? If only they could talk.

We lost our older cat two weeks ago, he was old, but it hurt. His kidneys failed very fast. He was 18. I miss my buddy soooooo much.
Hugs to you all.
keep toys and cat nip around...

 

[jwhtewolfd]

.

 

[Sparx]

If your vet tomorrow doesn't find anything wrong with Callie, you might want to ask him/her about a calming aid for cats. I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard good things about Feliway. It comes in a spray can or as a diffuser you plug into the wall and it releases kitty facial pheromone. Hope it was a one-time thing that spooked Callie.

My mom recently put a calming collar on her aggressive cat. Not as aggressive as the OP described, though. The Aggressive cat became calm, but the other cats took the opportunity and ran with it. They relentlessly tormented the former aggressive cat. Once the collar was gone, everything was back to normal, though. I'm not sure if this is an anomaly but it might be something to consider. If the cat is normally aggressive, calming it may cause the other cats to become aggressive towards it.

 

[teacherforhi]

She started attacking again in the night, so I had to put her in the cat carrier until I could get her to the vet this morning. She spend the whole time screaming (for lack of a better word) until I got her in the car. She was fine until we went in the vet's office. Once she heard or smelled other animals, she basically went insane again. They tried to put her in a cage but she threw herself against the bars to try and get at the other animals.

The vet couldn't examine her because she was just that violent. In the end, I made the decision to have her put to sleep. An autopsy will be done to try and see what was wrong and to make sure that it wasn't communicable to the other cats.

Thanks for the support and the kind words.

 

[Robinrs]

Oh, I'm so sorry. Couldn't they have given her a sedative? Something's wrong with the baby!

 

[RainbowBrite]

I'm kind of surprised at the outcome and I agree with the previous poster - couldn't she have been sedated to be examined? It sounds like there was something really wrong. I'd hate to think she could have been "fixed" but because she wasn't examined...

 

[FergieTCat]

I am so sorry to hear that!

I can't imagine what was wrong. Fergie can be obnoxious, but she is never that aggressive, even when Diana was alive.

I wonder if your cat was exposed to rabies.

Let us know what the vet finds out.

 

[Sparx]

She started attacking again in the night, so I had to put her in the cat carrier until I could get her to the vet this morning. She spend the whole time screaming (for lack of a better word) until I got her in the car. She was fine until we went in the vet's office. Once she heard or smelled other animals, she basically went insane again. They tried to put her in a cage but she threw herself against the bars to try and get at the other animals.

The vet couldn't examine her because she was just that violent. In the end, I made the decision to have her put to sleep. An autopsy will be done to try and see what was wrong and to make sure that it wasn't communicable to the other cats.

Thanks for the support and the kind words.

I would never visit that vet again. Cats can be sedated, there was no reason to put that poor cat to sleep before it was examined.

 

[ols386]

I am so sorry to hear that!

I can't imagine what was wrong. Fergie can be obnoxious, but she is never that aggressive, even when Diana was alive.

I wonder if your cat was exposed to rabies.
Let us know what the vet finds out.

That's what I was wondering. And if that's the case, have the other cats been exposed to it now? And if the cat scratched the owner badly enough, should she seek medical treatment. I know that sounds kinda of far-fetched, but did cross my mind.

So sorry to the OP.

 

[jackemail]

Sorry...I think you did the right thing. I had a 3-year old cat, normally very placid, who became very aggressive suddenly. He attacked my older cat, who was severely injured and almost died. The cat then went after everyone in the house. The vet was able to check him out, but he was so wild that she didn't really want to---she only did it because I have been going to her for years. There was nothing physically wrong with the cat, no explanation for sudden aggressive behavior. We tried him at home again, with sedatives--he attacked my older cat again. Unfortunately, he had to be put to sleep for the safety of the other cat, and everyone else in the house. I had people actually jumping on chairs when this cat tried to attack!