Ultra-Agressive 16-week Male: Lost Cause?

Question
Hi Ali -

We are having issues with our 16-week old male kitten named Oliver (currently not neutered). He was part of a colony of stray cats and was separated from his siblings and mom at approximately 5 weeks of age. In hindsight, this was probably way too young.

Oliver has exhibited rather intense aggressive behavior since he was a wee kitten. He'll put his ears back and launch himself at our ankles, arms and legs. Oliver bites HARD, and this is only getting worse as he gets bigger. If we try to trim his claws or clean off his behind when he has fecal material on his fur (he's long-haired), he'll make very wild sounding noises and bite us. Our vet is concerned about his behavior as well. When the vet scruffs him to give shots, he makes noises and behaves like no cat I have ever seen - he is truly wild in those moments. That being said, we plan to change vets because we feel this vet is not the best one for Oliver. He behaves normally (letting the vet techs pet him and hold him) until the vet enters the room. She immediately scruffs him and he goes nuts. I think the problem here is part-vet, part-cat.

However, all is not bad. He can be very sweet, greets us at the door, sleeps on our bed all night without waking us, and seems to like human company. When he is not "wound up," we can pet him and hold him. In those moments, he's probably one of the sweetest cats I've owned (and I've had many).

We have two other adult female cats. One cat simply ignores him, while the other gets in scuffles with him all the time. There is a lot of batting back and forth and loud protests from our female alpha cat. My husband and I are not home during the day, so unfortunately Oliver is rather rambunctious on weekday nights. When we were home over Christmas and when we're home on weekends, his behavior tends to improve.

So, after that long explanation... to my questions. Does this sound like play-aggression or straight out aggression? I had a very mean cat growing up and she never "grew" out of it. Could this behavior improve by neutering him? What can we do to try and improve his behavior? We say "NO" loudly and it usually works, but we get ambushed from time and time and usually end up swatting him away or flinging him off our feet. I know this is not the best reaction, but his bites are starting to hurt and draw some blood. We scruff him when things get very bad and his reaction is extreme displeasure. We haven't tried the water bottle yet.

Is it possible we just don't have a good pet cat on our hands? Might he be better outside?

Sorry for the multi-part question, but we're really at our wit's end with this cat. Our vet keeps giving us warnings that she thinks we have an overly aggressive animal, and we should put him outside or return him to his colony. Maybe she's right... any opinions?

Answer
Alissa,

It doesn't sound like your kitten is all bad. My youngest cat also gets nasty when scruffed as she is a dominant cat to begin with. Dominant cats don't like to be challenged. I think that with some consistant discipline for the real nastiness (like ambushing and biting humans) he should come around. Make sure that when searching for a new vet you tell them that he was a feral rescue from 5 weeks. Mention that he doesn't like being scruffed and has had issues with your previous vet. Neutering him will do wonders for the aggressive part of his personality so the sooner it can be done the better. Water bottles and shaker cans are the best way to deal with a cat who hates scruffing. You can make a shaker can by using a clean old pop can, putting something that will make a loud noise in it (pennies, nuts and bolts). Use the shaker can to make sure that he understands that bad behavior will result in a loud noise. Cats in general don't like being startled so that should help him to realise that ankle attacks are forbidden. With time, neutering, discipline and patience you should have a good house cat, I would advise against keeping him if he always had to be handled with welding gloves, but it sounds like his aggressive episodes are transient. Don't hesitate to contact me again for any advice that you may need over the next while. I will be happy to provide you with the best answers for you and your little kitty.