Hello,
My cat Toby is almost 3 years old, he's always been a little terror, biting and scratching, but has his loving moments, on his terms. He hates my wife. When we got him I was working from home at the time so he become attached to me and whenever my wife would get home from work, he saw this as taking me away from him, so he would attack her. There's plenty of stories I could tell you, documenting his horrific acts but I won't bore you.

Does anyone have any tips that can help calm down a very violent cat? I have tried many things (too many to mention) but won't mind if the same ones are thrown up here.

He scares my wife with his attacks, we have a 9 month old girl, who loves him to bits, he doesn't share this love though. He has never hurt her, or even tried to hurt her yet, but I would like to get some ideas on how to cool him down, in case he does go for my daughter one day.

Thanks in advance.

Neil

Firstly, is he neutered? Secondly, you need to show him you completely disapprove of his behaviour (squirt him with water, make a loud noise, remove him from the roomand isolate him until he calms). Possibly the females in your house need to make more of an effort to be with him, let your wife feed him, play with him, discipline him etc. He to know that he is less than they are, that in the power pyramid he is the lowest of the lowand your wife and child are way higher than him. He needs re-educating. I expect you have tried most of this - but be constistant andpatient and it should work.

__________________
please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins

Hi,

I too am dealing with an increasingly violent cat and have been reading up about it. I don't have all the answers, but here are some things that I've learned:

The Feliway room diffuser has had success in calming cats in a general way. it diffuses pheronomes that ease cats' fear and apparently can curb some aggression.

Ask your Vet about medication (mainly anti-anxiety and anti-depressants) that appear to have good results with aggressive cats. The three that come up regularly are: fluoxetine, clomipramine and buspirone. The buspirone is good with fear-induced agression.

It looks like indoor-only cats are more prone to aggression, and, interestingly, cats that were either abandoned or separated from their moms and hand-raised by humans. So this indicates that there are some socialization issues, i.e. something they missed out on in their initial formative weeks.

And lastly, of all the cat breeds, toroiseshells tend to be the most tempermental.

I suggest you read the following article: Aggression

Also, there's a phone-in consultation service (for a fee) at http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/camuti.html

In my case, I have a tortie that's normally very loving but has always been senstitive and 'difficult,' i.e. growling if you pat her too long or snapping at strangers if they try to touch her. But since I've gotten a dog I've had about five all-out vicious attacks on the dog, where I've literally had to hold her in the air to protect her. The attacks have always been 'triggered' by something, but it could be as innocuous as my yelling at my dog for running too fast in the house.

So, I've now gotten the Feliway and we'll see how that works, to start.

Good luck!

Roma