(OT) What to do with an insane cat?

[Darrin Drader]

Re: ROOAAARRRAAWWLLLLL....

I would bet the owner never admonished the cat for anything it did wrong, and in comfortable surroundings it wanted lots o' affection & attention.

No offense, but my experience is that admonishing a cat accomplishes more or less as much as spitting on a fish. The only major difference being that a fish doesn't try to take your hand off at the wrist and them come back and rub against you five minutes later.

 

[Larry Fitz]

Clearly you don't have Siamese piranhas in your fish tank, cute as a button, and thrice as deadly.


Larry Fitz
"My friends call me lefty"

 

[Tewligan]

Otherwise, contact your local animal shelter/dumb friends league for some advice on how to handle the anxiety.

I have nothing useful to add to this thread. I just wanted to say that the phrase "dumb friends league" makes me laugh, and I shall now make it a point to refer to my group of friends as such whenever possible.

 

[Remathilis]

Right now, there is a psychotic cat hiding in a chair in my den. I'll explain:
A family friend has to move, and she could not take her cat with her, so she was going to have it put to sleep. Naturally, we didn't like this, so we offered to take the cat in and she agreed. The problem is that this cat is completely insane. He has been hiding under this chair for quite some time, refusing to come out to eat, drink, use the litter box, or anything else. If we get within five feet of the chair, it starts growling, hissing, and spitting at us. If we get within reach, it tries to kill us. I have no idea what to do in a situation like this, and I just hoped that one of you might have some ideas. Thanks!

You could always try to convince him to take up a life pillaging on the high sea, then becoming a moderator on the ENWorld Board? Hey, it worked once...

 

[Mark Chance]

Re: Re: ROOAAARRRAAWWLLLLL....

No offense, but my experience is that admonishing a cat accomplishes more or less as much as spitting on a fish. The only major difference being that a fish doesn't try to take your hand off at the wrist and them come back and rub against you five minutes later.

Depends on how it's done. My cat once had an apparently overwhelming desire to dash outside whenever the door was opened. I completely broke Puddy of this desire with a combination of a 64 oz. cup of water and a comfortable lap, sheltering arms, and reassuring scratches.

To this day, I'm certain she's never figured out that the person who soaked her and the person who protected her from the soaker are one in the same.

God help me if she ever reads this message.



IOW, cats are trainable, but it requires both aversion and positive reinforcement. If a cat doesn't become socialized and "imprinted" on its primary owner, the cat will most likely cause problems.

 

[whatisitgoodfor]

Warning:

Not all cats are effected by Catnip. I have two tom cats and I've given them catnip on two seperate occassions. On both occassions, they sniffed it, played with it, and then went about their business with no changes in behavior. And before anyone makes any claims otherwise, it was real catnip. It was from the same box that a friend of mine uses to get her cat stoned out of its mind for travel.

However, on a related note, you can go to just about any Vet's Office and pick up kitty Valium. It's theoretically prescription only, but they will give out the stuff at the drop of a hat for dealing with psycho cats.

It's usually prescribed for months at a time to help a cat get over seperation anxiety, neurosis, or any of a bunch of stress related problems. (I had to give it to my sisters cat when it started to lick itself bald [on a related note, have you ever seen a cat with a mohawk?] when she had to go to Europe for a summer.)

It also has the added benefit of making the cat really really like you. After the second time I had given the stuff to the cat, it would greet me at the door and beg when I shook the bottle.

Oh, and the reccomendations of leaving the cat alone for periods of time, and occassionally just sitting in the same room being quiet and ignoring the cat are good ones. Nothing on earth (except possibly kitty Valium) will make a cat want to bother you more than ignoring it.

 

[Umbran]

However, on a related note, you can go to just about any Vet's Office and pick up kitty Valium. It's theoretically prescription only, but they will give out the stuff at the drop of a hat for dealing with psycho cats.

Warning:

If you find a veterinarian who will prescribe more than a dose or two of such medication (or any prescription medication) without seeing the cat, do not go to that vet.

It's okay if they prescribe you enough so that you can get kitty to relax so that you can manage to bring it to their office for an exam. But more than that is unethical, illegal, and very bad medical practice.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Warning:

Not all cats are effected by Catnip. I have two tom cats and I've given them catnip on two seperate occassions. On both occassions, they sniffed it, played with it, and then went about their business with no changes in behavior. And before anyone makes any claims otherwise, it was real catnip. It was from the same box that a friend of mine uses to get her cat stoned out of its mind for travel.

However, on a related note, you can go to just about any Vet's Office and pick up kitty Valium. It's theoretically prescription only, but they will give out the stuff at the drop of a hat for dealing with psycho cats.

Notes on catnip and kitty valium. One, different cats are effected by catnip differently. My cat responds to it - by going more psycho than usual and attacking imaginary mice! Do not assume it will make a given cat calm.

Two, Kitty valium again has different effects. While most become calmer ~2% will actually react by getting more hyper (like stimulants making people with ADHD calm). Furthermore, I've known psycho cats who go into this "I still hate you but I don't have the energy to come over there and do anything about it" phase, and others who seem to recognize that NOT ONLY is something awful happening but that they have been drugged and become more stressed out but slightly less quick on reactions.

BTW, I don't want a big "pseudoscience/soulless skeptics" flamewar, but I will state that in my job I've heard several people report positive results with the Rescue Remedy tincture, and have had some success with flower essences on dogs. They can't hurt unless your cat had hayfever...

Kahuna Burger

 

[Angcuru]

Have you tried coaxing the cat out with a lazer pointer?

And I also agree with what most people have said about an adjustment period. I myself have 2 cats, and both of them took at least 2 weeks before letting us get anywhere near them. Several months later, my first cat is the most mellow and calm bll of fuzz you've ever seen, and the younger/newer cat/kitten runs circles around him and dash off like lighting. 'tis funny.

 

[Ferret]

My advice (and what I'd do), something I strongly advise against doing, is picking the cat up. This is because through all the bites my cat has given me, I have had no infections, and I have found my thin shirt to stop them coming through. However I am not you. I do realise the advice above is supremely better and sensible. And I know what you mean by moving shock. My cat likes the chimney.