After trawling the net for several months and being unable to find any information that works...im really hoping that someone on here may be able to help.

We have a 2 year old medium haired Tabby Tortoiseshell which can only be described as horrible. My youngest son is autistic and my wife and myself often think we have the feline equivalent of him. From the offset she has always being very skittish...the slightest noise makes her run for cover, if she is sat at the bottom of the stairs and you walk towards her she will shoot up the stairs at 100mph. Everything is on her terms, she will only sit on your lap if she is cold or hangs around you if she is hungry. If she is sat upstairs in the bedroom window and you happen to walk past she will think nothing of swiping at you and hissing.

Sometimes if she is feeling in the mood to be stroked she will catch you off guard and sink her teeth in to you when you arent looking....which again is normally followed by a hiss. She is also fond of swiping at the backs of your legs and ankles when walking past.

She has been like this since she was 8 weeks old when we got her. She has been neutered but was the same before and after...she has always been horrible!! We really dont want to get rid of her but shes not putting up a very good case for herself.

I really appreciate any advise on what we could try or with any ideas to why she may be like the way she is. Thanks in advance PS...she gets on really well with our 7yr old Westie!!

[QUOTE=Kat1972;2154848]

From the offset she has always being very skittish...the slightest noise makes her run for cover, if she is sat at the bottom of the stairs and you walk towards her she will shoot up the stairs at 100mph.

you got her at 8weeks which is 5weeks too early, im guessing that she wasnt socialised so is very nervy shes sound very fearful, you could try being very slow around her and try a feliway plug in, one upstairs and one downstairs, you can buy them online.

Everything is on her terms, she will only sit on your lap if she is cold or hangs around you if she is hungry.

sounds normal! everything is always on the cats terms!

If she is sat upstairs in the bedroom window and you happen to walk past she will think nothing of swiping at you and hissing Sometimes if she is feeling in the mood to be stroked she will catch you off guard and sink her teeth in to you when you arent looking....which again is normally followed by a hiss. She is also fond of swiping at the backs of your legs and ankles when walking past.

She has been like this since she was 8 weeks old when we got her. She has been neutered but was the same before and after...she has always been horrible!! We really dont want to get rid of her but shes not putting up a very good case for herself.

shes isnt horrible, she sounds highly stressed, when you stroke her is that when she bites?

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I don't mean any offence but do you think it's possible she is worried by your son? sometimes animals pick up on things like that and it worries them if their sensitive.
The fact you call your cat horrible suggests you may not be a very experienced cat owner and perhaps you would be happier with a more laid back cat and she would be happier in a different environment? you may just not suit each other, it happens unfortunately.

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my aunt has a horrible cat and she's about 14 now. When she was a kitten she clawed her way up peoples legs and across feet and even now she gives you death stares. Sometimes she just jumps at you and she tolerates strokes for about 2 mins before going for you.

We still love her though. She doesnt seem distressed she seems to like being horrible.

It sounds a bit like crying for attention. If your son takes up a lot of your time, maybe the cat is trying to compete...

There is NO such thing as a horrible cat. It's called character

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I have a horrible cat too , well, she's not so horrible now but she was for many years! She's calmed down since she turned about 7, she's actually verging on nice, we can stroke her now anyway. I think time and patience is a miracle worker, at let her come round in her own time.

She was abandoned at 2 weeks, and her mother died along with her littermates but one, when she was 3 weeks, so she never received the socialisation kittens need. I'm sure its something to do with kittens being away from their mother too young.

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I wouldnt say horrible either just Grumpy

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She sounds a lot like my Biscuit. I joke to people that she has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from her bad start living in a parking area with a group of wild cats. She's very jumpy too and isn't good with people, but I find little things help her feel more secure. She doesn't go outside, she's a fully indoor cat, and she has a lot of little hidey holes around the house to run to. She sleeps on my bed and she understands that when my alarm goes off in the mornings, it's time for me to feed her. For some reason, she likes sitting with me in the shower. I dunno how helpful this info is, but it could be just a matter of finding out what she likes and encouraging it.

Thank you everyone for your speedy replies.

I bought her from what i thought was an experienced breeder, we were told 8 weeks is about the norm and found several people stating the same things. We have always been very gentle around her and tried to make our movements as slow as possible towards her. She doesnt always bite when we stroke her, sometimes she is fine but more usually than not she will bite scratch and hiss. We did wonder if our youngest was upsetting her however he has always been very sweet to her and gentle...so if it is him i would be very suprised.

Ive had cats for 20 yrs..i know most of their ways , what they like/dont like so it wasnt as if we jumped in to buying the first cat and treated her incorrectly....she is just a very odd cat

She is now sat next to the wife like butter wouldnt melt, but i know if i was to go over and attempt to stroke her/ move her so i could sit down she would turn in to bengal tiger.

I will get try the products as suggested... i will try anything within reason...like i said i really dont want to get rid of her but at the moment she doesnt have many endearing features