Is there any hope for our psycho cat?

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A male cat, previously confined for six months, exhibits aggressive behavior towards other cats while being affectionate with people. The owner is trying a pheromone collar to alleviate territorial issues, as previous attempts with a diffuser were unsuccessful. Discussions suggest that finding him a home as the only cat might be the best solution if the collar doesn't work. There are also mentions of potential medication options like Prozac, but the owner is hesitant to pursue that route. Recent signs indicate some improvement in Jack's behavior, raising hopes for a more peaceful coexistence with the other cats.
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We have a male cat that was kept in a room for the first six months of his life. This happened before we got him. By the time we did get him he was already extremely aggressive, but we hoped that with time he would calm down. Well, he's not. He is intent on running off any other cat, which is a problem since we have 3 females. He is far stronger than the rest and pretty much just terrorizes any cat in sight. In fact, the reason I moved Little Tyke down to my office was a real fear that Jack might kill her before she could fend for herself. We were lucky he never seriously injured her.

It is sad because he is extremely affectionate with people. He could be a great pet. But I don't trust him.

From what I have read, his personality suggests that he was damaged by his early confinement. The only option I've seen is the Feliway synthetic hormone, which is available in collar form now. We're going to try it but I don't have a lot of hope. It is going to take a big change in his behavior if we are to have peace in the house.

Any other suggestions? If this doesn't work we're going to have to get rid of him. We've never been forced to consider this option before.
 
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A male and 3 females?
That makes any male crazy!:biggrin:
 
Is he neutered?
 
Lisa! said:
A male and 3 females?
That makes any male crazy!:biggrin:

Actually, you would think he'd have at least one favorite. But all he does is terrorize them with fierce attacks on sight.
 
zoobyshoe said:
Is he neutered?

Oh yes, that's always the first requirement.

I keep wondering if something grew back! But you would think he would tolerate the females better in any case.
 
They're probably hitting on him and he's trying to cover up his condition with the minimal embarrassment possible. Poor fella.

I've only known one cat with, for lack of a better term, emotional instability. 12 years later and he wasn't any better I'm sorry to say
 
I took this shot with the intent of emphasizing the point, but he even looks psycho, doesn't he? Honestly, he has the same look in his eyes as many of those gang members I've mentioned. It's not like he looks and thinks, what's that? It is more like he's always sizing things up and deciding whether to attack or not.

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/318/jacklc.jpg
 
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Perhaps a good kick across the room whenever he gets too rowdy will help. Or a good backhanding.
 
The fact he's affectionate with people is greatly in his favor. I think your best bet is to find him a home where he'll be the one and only cat.
 
  • #10
Ivan Seeking said:
We have a male cat that was kept in a room for the first six months of his life.

I, and my then partner, once tried to take care of a cat who was either psycho or maltreated. If the beast is anything like that, you'll never find out where the problem arose, and it's probably too late anyway.

We ended up giving the beast away to a horse-riding school. Lots of space to dwell by itself, other cats, and nobody to harm. It'll have a shorter life span, probably, but I suggest you do the same.

Btw.

Drakkith said:
Perhaps a good kick across the room whenever he gets too rowdy will help. Or a good backhanding.

Guess it was a joke, but in my experience cats are not dogs. They respond poorly to punishment except for marking the borders of territory. When I had cats I preferred to pet them or toss them around. They usually land on their feet and walk off offended, it seemed to work.
 
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  • #11
maybe put him in a carrier so that the other cats can approach safely, give them a chance to familiarize themselves without harm.
 
  • #12
Is your house big enough for all the cats? They should all have access to a separate room to reside in. A friend of mine also had a cat with similar issues, when she moved to a bigger house the cats started to get along a lot better.

My parents once owned a psycho cat that would attack anyone who would dare to tell her what to do. If she was in the kitchen and I would tell her to go to the hallway she would enter full-attack mode and I had to jump on the furniture for safety. It was likely due to a brain tumor that was causing the impulsiveness, unfortunately.

I don't think your cat has the same, it's likely a territorial issue.
 
  • #13
Aww, he's a pretty cat. Have you consulted a "cat whisperer"? They've got skunk whisperers.

I hope the hormones work, you and tsu really go above and beyond caring for your anilmals.

The answer may be to try to place him with a family where he will be the lone cat.
 
  • #14
Cat territories are as weird as cats. A friend of mine has a big house and garden, and a couple of cats. They get along fine together everywhere except in the kitchen, which is divided into goodness knows how many bits individual cat territory with invisible boundary lines between them, defended with teeth and claws. They even eat out of the same food bowl ... anywhere in the house except in the kitchen. Go figure.
 
  • #15
Monique said:
Is your house big enough for all the cats? They should all have access to a separate room to reside in. A friend of mine also had a cat with similar issues, when she moved to a bigger house the cats started to get along a lot better.

Two of the four, Little Tyke and Bun, now live in my office, which is a separate building. I had to intevene to prevent him [Jack] from taking over my office as well. But I seem to have won that battle. At the moment it is only poor Zoobie [our cat, not her namesake, Zooby] who lives in terror, though Zooby may live terror as well, but that's another issue.

So yes, they have plenty of room.

it's likely a territorial issue.

Yes, it seems to be.

Evo said:
Aww, he's a pretty cat. Have you consulted a "cat whisperer"? They've got skunk whisperers.

The vet. They recommended using the Feliway collar. You may remember that we tried the Feliway diffuser with Isaac to stop him from spraying, and it worked. He would lie by the diffuser and was as happy as could be. But I don't have a lot of hope for Jack because he didn't seem to be affected by the diffuser.

I hope the hormones work, you and tsu really go above and beyond caring for your anilmals.

:biggrin: At least now that we're down from 13 to 4, things are easier to manage. When we had the dogs, goats, sheep, horse, cows, rabbit... what else?... it was a lot of work and tremendously expensive.

We call him Big Bad Jack. I should post a photo of his scratching post. Unlike anything I've ever seen in over 40 years of cat ownership, that post was virtually destroyed in no time. This is one seriously strong and tough cat. On the up side, we haven't seen another stray around here in three years. :biggrin: THAT is actually a good thing!

Edit: You know, we've had a bear on the property lately... Jack might be able to take care of that.
 
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  • #16
Ivan Seeking said:
You know, we've had a bear on the property lately... Jack might be able to take care of that.

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/funny-pictures-gif-cat-bear-viasp.gif
 
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  • #17
KingNothing said:
http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/funny-pictures-gif-cat-bear-viasp.gif
Can you feel the love, boo boo kitty !

Rhody... :devil: :biggrin:
 
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  • #18
Ivan Seeking said:
If this doesn't work we're going to have to get rid of him.
That's too bad. Hopefully the hormone collar will work, but if not there's the hope of finding a caring family or person with no other cats.

Can Jack freely roam outside and inside? Just curious. I don't know if that freedom would help in your situation, but we've had cats before and allowed them that freedom and never had any problems of the sort you're describing (just that they would get killed in traffic or whatever periodically).
 
  • #19
Ivan Seeking said:
At the moment it is only poor Zoobie [our cat, not her namesake, Zooby] who lives in terror, though Zooby may live terror as well, but that's another issue.
I do, but not from cats. At any rate you shouldn't let one pet terrorize another, and Jack needs to hit the road. Advertise him honestly as very affectionate to people but not to other cats, and he should be adopted soon. Alternately, you could build him his own 3 bedroom house and let him live alone.
 
  • #20
zoobyshoe said:
I do, but not from cats. At any rate you shouldn't let one pet terrorize another, and Jack needs to hit the road. Advertise him honestly as very affectionate to people but not to other cats, and he should be adopted soon. Alternately, you could build him his own 3 bedroom house and let him live alone.
Ooh! A cat-house! That could be a popular attraction!
 
  • #21
AlephZero said:
Cat territories are as weird as cats. A friend of mine has a big house and garden, and a couple of cats. They get along fine together everywhere except in the kitchen, which is divided into goodness knows how many bits individual cat territory with invisible boundary lines between them, defended with teeth and claws. They even eat out of the same food bowl ... anywhere in the house except in the kitchen. Go figure.

I saw a documentary a long time ago about domestic cats. When they are densely populated, their territories take the shape of areas; when there's space to roam, their territories are lines. I can't find a reference for that, but it seems to fit feline behavior I've observed.
 
  • #22
KingNothing said:
http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/funny-pictures-gif-cat-bear-viasp.gif

Haha, look at that bottle-brush tail!

Turns out Feliway doesn't make the collar for cats. It is another brand but the same thing. And I said hormone, but I should have said pheromone - the facial pheromone.

I put it on and don't notice a difference. Maybe I should try putting it on the cat?
 
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  • #23
Ivan Seeking said:
I put it on and don't notice a difference. Maybe I should try putting it on the cat?
:smile:
 
  • #24
zoobyshoe said:
The fact he's affectionate with people is greatly in his favor. I think your best bet is to find him a home where he'll be the one and only cat.

seconded
 
  • #25
He is definitely acting differently. He's never worn a collar before so that could be part of it. But he is purring a lot! And he is lying in new places. So that's encouraging. I haven't seen any cat-cat interactions yet but there are hopeful signs.

I got one for Zoobie as well. My thinking is that if they smell the same [or whatever the pheromone sense is called], it may help. Also, Zoobie has her own issues and the collar may be helpful for her. [We take in almost all strays, so they're usually a bit messed up]

When I stopped by the vet's office to get the collars, I got the rest of the story. I guess there are a few regular drugs that can be tried, including Prozac. I don't know if I care to go down that road but the drugs are mostly inexpensive. I guess that would be a better option than handing him off to a bad home.
 
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  • #26
Ivan Seeking said:
I guess that would be a better option than handing him off to a bad home.
Actually, you could hand him off to a good home.
 
  • #27
zoobyshoe said:
Actually, you could hand him off to a good home.

Sometimes easier said than done. A lot of people around are constantly trying to get rid of cats. And many people see them more as farm animals, than pets.

There is a woman at the vet's that tries to give me a cat every time I go in. We've been going in there for over twenty years and they know we're total suckers. When I turned the tables on her yesterday, she laughed at me!
 
  • #28
So far things are extremely encouraging. Tonight Little Tyke decided she wanted to come up to the house. At one point I was lying on the couch and had cat bookends - Tyke on one end of the couch and Jack on the other. That has never happened with Jack and any other cat. He not only tolerated Tyke, he actually turned his back to her and went to sleep.

Tsu got home tonight after being gone for two weeks. She commented immediately that Jack's not acting like himself. He seems like an entirely different cat.

This is the Nature brand pheromone calming collar.
 
  • #29
Ivan Seeking said:
So far things are extremely encouraging. Tonight Little Tyke decided she wanted to come up to the house. At one point I was lying on the couch and had cat bookends - Tyke on one end of the couch and Jack on the other. That has never happened with Jack and any other cat. He not only tolerated Tyke, he actually turned his back to her and went to sleep.

Tsu got home tonight after being gone for two weeks. She commented immediately that Jack's not acting like himself. He seems like an entirely different cat.

This is the Nature brand pheromone calming collar.
Glad to hear it's working so far.
 
  • #30
zoobyshoe said:
Glad to hear it's working so far.

Yes, this is quite a surprise. The diffuser didn't seem to affect him at all. The collar may be a much more effective delivery method, which isn't surprising I guess. And I didn't like the idea of filling the house with cat facial pheromones, indefinitely.
 
  • #31
Ivan Seeking said:
Yes, this is quite a surprise. The diffuser didn't seem to affect him at all. The collar may be a much more effective delivery method, which isn't surprising I guess. And I didn't like the idea of filling the house with cat facial pheromones, indefinitely.
I wonder if you rubbed one of these vigorously on someone's shoes they would be followed down the street by every cat in the vicinity.
 
  • #32
KingNothing said:
http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/funny-pictures-gif-cat-bear-viasp.gif

http://gifs.gifbin.com/012010/1264682426_cat-attacks-dog.gif
 
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  • #33
zoobyshoe said:
I wonder if you rubbed one of these vigorously on someone's shoes they would be followed down the street by every cat in the vicinity.
Ok Ivan,

You have an experiment challenge, how about giving it a go and report back, who would have guessed that a certain pheromone could totally relax a cat's behavior, pretty cool.

Rhody...
 
  • #34
ThomasT said:
Can Jack freely roam outside and inside? Just curious. I don't know if that freedom would help in your situation, but we've had cats before and allowed them that freedom and never had any problems of the sort you're describing (just that they would get killed in traffic or whatever periodically).

Sorry, I had missed this. Yes, they are all come-and-go-as-you-please, indoor-outdoor. And they have five acres with their own forest and pasture. They really couldn't have it much better!
 
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  • #35
I heard one little skirmish with Zoobie, but so far so good. He is even noticeably less aggressive with his scratching post. Now he just stretches instead of attacking it with a fury.

I guess the real test will be whether the effects last long enough to establish a new pattern of behavior. We are trying to be smart about using a lot of positive reinforcement to aid in the process.
 
  • #36
rhody said:
, how about giving it a go and report back, who would have guessed that a certain pheromone could totally relax a cat's behavior, pretty cool.

Rhody...

There are signs that Little Tyke was affected in one way or another. When she was lying by Jack, she looked unusually relaxed; esp considering that she normally runs and hides from Jack. He has terrorized her mercilessly. I don't know if she was responding to his demeanor, the collar, or both, but her behavior was also unusual for the situation.
 
  • #37
Ivan, my friends have several cats, and were obliged to bring in one more. (The new one had lived with large dogs before) It was extremely aggressive toward any cat within a 20 foot radius.

It was however, quite affectionate with humans.

Now, after a couple of months, everybody gets along just fine. You'd never have known it was the same cat.

May or may not help, knowing that at least some cats who start very aggressively can learn to get along once they feel they're not threatened.
 
  • #38
DaveC426913 said:
Ivan, my friends have several cats, and were obliged to bring in one more. (The new one had lived with large dogs before) It was extremely aggressive toward any cat within a 20 foot radius.

It was however, quite affectionate with humans.

Now, after a couple of months, everybody gets along just fine. You'd never have known it was the same cat.

May or may not help, knowing that at least some cats who start very aggressively can learn to get along once they feel they're not threatened.

That has always been our experience as well. Unfortunately, it has been three years now and his behavior was getting worse. We assumed that like most cats, he would calm down with age, not get worse.

For a time, until things improved with age, we had one male that would rape the other male... at least he was doing his best. We could hear the cries for help in the dark of the night but we chose to ignore them.
 
  • #39
Three years. Wow. That's a cat that needs your help.
 
  • #40
My dog has a gay admirer down the road that always wants to engage in foreplay, and then try to mount him. Duke is a good boy, but he will only tolerate so much, and needs to assert himself. At first, I would try to intervene so as to avoid them getting into conflicts, but eventually I figured out that he needed to take care of his own preferences. Max got the message pretty quickly. Duke wouldn't knowingly hurt Max, but when he gets fed up, the "jaws of death" and that linebacker body turn the tide pretty quickly.
 
  • #41
Ivan Seeking said:
Haha, look at that bottle-brush tail!

Turns out Feliway doesn't make the collar for cats. It is another brand but the same thing. And I said hormone, but I should have said pheromone - the facial pheromone.

I put it on and don't notice a difference. Maybe I should try putting it on the cat?
Ivan,

I have a friend a work who has a similar problem with one of his cats, exactly what collar did you buy, and where, a link would be nice. I want to let him know about it.

Rhody...
 
  • #42
Here you go, Rhody. We got ours from the Vet but they are widely available. They are available for dogs as well but I have no idea how well they are supposed to work.

http://www.google.com/products/cata...X&ei=QoPzTp72DYGPigK-wOm7Dg&ved=0CJYBEPICMAQ#

Keep in mind that our success with Jack is only preliminary. The effects may not last.

The Feliway brand diffuser definitely had a big effect on another stray male that we took in about three years ago. The problem with the diffuser was that Isaac still wanted to spray in rooms without the diffuser.
 
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  • #43
Thanks, I passed on the info, if he decides to try one and has success or failure I will report back.

Rhody...
 
  • #44
We haven't had a chance to evaluate the situation with Zoobie yet, but last night Little Tyke got a little fiesty, just playful, and Jack ran away! Apparently he didn't want to deal with her energy level. WOW! That qualifies as "shocking".
 
  • #45
Ivan Seeking said:
We haven't had a chance to evaluate the situation with Zoobie yet, but last night Little Tyke got a little fiesty, just playful, and Jack ran away! Apparently he didn't want to deal with her energy level. WOW! That qualifies as "shocking".
That's a nice development.
 
  • #46
Ivan Seeking said:
We haven't had a chance to evaluate the situation with Zoobie yet, but last night Little Tyke got a little fiesty, just playful, and Jack ran away! Apparently he didn't want to deal with her energy level. WOW! That qualifies as "shocking".
Hmmmm. You've turned your cat into a clockwork orange.
 
  • #47
Glad the collar is working! Otherwise, I'd have agreed with Zooby, and probably Zoobie too, that seeking a new home where he'd be an only cat might be the best option. One of our office staff just adopted a sweet kitty who was kept in a cage his first 5 months. If she has similar problems, I'll let her know about your success with the collar. I'm not sure if she has other cats or not. I'll ask and caution her about possible problems with multiple cats. Then again, maybe Jack was always a bit psycho and that's why his previous owners kept him confined out of lack of understanding how to handle him...never know.
 
  • #48
Moonbear said:
Glad the collar is working! Otherwise, I'd have agreed with Zooby, and probably Zoobie too, that seeking a new home where he'd be an only cat might be the best option. One of our office staff just adopted a sweet kitty who was kept in a cage his first 5 months. If she has similar problems, I'll let her know about your success with the collar. I'm not sure if she has other cats or not. I'll ask and caution her about possible problems with multiple cats. Then again, maybe Jack was always a bit psycho and that's why his previous owners kept him confined out of lack of understanding how to handle him...never know.

Indeed. Tsu caught Zoobie and Jack relaxing in mutual territory today. So day by day things seem to be improviing.

We know that he was kept in a room because of a large aggressive dog [something about a daughter moving back home with her parents, I think...] but apparently Jack was pretty aggressive from the start. Of course, thats' not unusual for a very young male, so yes, hard to say. By the time we got him he was a holy terror! But only with time did it become obvoius that he was a real problem. As I said earlier, his behavior has gotten worse with age. Now we have established patterns of behavior, with increasing aggressiveness, that are simply unacceptable. That is, up until now! I am really blown away by this so far. I may get one for all of our cats and get a pheromone suit for Jack.
 
  • #49
Ivan Seeking said:
I am really blown away by this so far. I may get one for all of our cats and get a pheromone suit for Jack.
Oh God, check this out: Pheromones – The Secret Weapon of Attraction
In a similar study twin brothers were used in the testing. Only one of the twins was sprayed with the actual pheromones. Women found one twin brother who had the actual pheromone on more sexually attractive than the other. Now, remember these were twin brothers both looking exactly the same, but the twin wearing the pheromones was found more attractive. This experiment was conducted on the national TV show ABC 20/20.

Men apply it to themselves in business to gain additional trust & respect thereby appearing more dominent or intimidating and sales people have found it highly advantages in their dealings with customers. Furniture companies have been known to use it in their showrooms to attract attention to a difficult-to-sell couch or chair. Think about that the next time your shopping...
I will never look at furniture in a furniture showroom the same way after reading this... :redface: :blushing:

Rhody...
 
  • #50
rhody said:
Oh God, check this out: Pheromones – The Secret Weapon of Attraction

I will never look at furniture in a furniture showroom the same way after reading this... :redface: :blushing:

Rhody...

That last that I read, there is some anecdotal evidence that pheromones can affect humans, but so far nothing scientific. And there is no known pheromone receptor in humans.

Some years ago there was rumor that scientists had found a receptor but I don't think that ever panned out.
 
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