random savage aggression

Question
Dear Shanti,

My cat Dexter is 5 1/2 years old, a purebred silver shorthaired tabby who has been neutered. I adopted him when he was 4 from another family who said he had become territorial.  I am an experienced cat owner and was confident I could handle it.  He had always been an indoor cat as he got lost easily.  He is the happiest, friendliest, most outgoing cat I've ever met, always coming to say hello when I have friends over, snuggling up and sitting on laps, very affectionate and loving.  But after a few months he started exhibiting 'stalking' behaviour - he'd hide and jump out as I walked past, nipping my ankles, or occasionally jumping up and taking a swipe.  This was annoying but nothing too bad.  However over time, it was happening 3-4 times a day, and sometimes the force with which he 'attacked' was brutal.  He'd latch on to my hand, arm or leg and bite and scratch really really hard, so hard that it would bruise for days and draw blood.  Occasionally he would fling himself at me, unprovoked, and it was pretty terrifying!  We started putting him in another room everytime he started behaving aggressively, but it didn't really help to eliminate the behaviour.  I tried playing with him more but that didn't help much.  I'm sure boredom and wanting to play are triggers for this behaviour, but keeping him interested and played with didn't seem to help very much.

I've taken him to the vet and he has started having hormone injections as the vet believes its testosterone related, and since he's had them the stalking/flinging/attacking behaviour has completely stopped (save 3 isolated incidents over the past 3 months - such an improvement on 3 times a day!)  We can finally relax having him around, which is lovely.  No more worrying about having our legs shredded when we walk to the loo in our pyjamas!

We have since moved to a bigger flat where he can get outside but nowhere he can get lost.  He is very happy and docile as usual.  The other night I screamed and laughed loudly at something on the TV and he got riled up and tried to attack me, but I soothed him and stroked him until the testosterone surge subsided.  We know from the past that when we laugh loudly etc it triggers him to come and 'join in' the fun by attacking!

Anyway, we had to go away and so Dex came to stay with my Dad for a week, which he has done before with no problem.  On the 2nd day, Dex got out to a place he'd never been before, and was clearly exploring.  My dad didn't want him to get lost, and picked him up from behind, and was savagely attacked - the way he was when he'd fling himself at me like a crazed animal.  He had to go to A&E, and is on antibiotics for an infected scratch and his hand has been painfully swollen for over a week.  Dexter's behaviour ever since has been totally friendly and docile.  Clearly the hormone injections are working with the unprovoked attacks, but he still has this streak of highly charged testosterone in him that can come out, and it seems to be at times of stress, discomfort or shock.  Its so confusing as he is by no means a hostile cat, he's so friendly and loving, but he has this wild streak in him which is a sort of 'aim to kill' behaviour.  I've never seen it in any other cats before, this kind of savage feral aggression (albeit very occasional, its still there).

My boyfriend is at home during the day while I'm at work, and I think this is helping because before we lived together Dexter would be on his own for long periods of time, adding to the boredom element of the problem, which now seems immaterial.  But my boyfriend is a concert pianist, and an attack to his hand like the one my dad suffered would be detrimental to his career.  I feel like I've tried everything, and I would be devastated to lose him.  I need to know this will never happen to my boyfriend, or I don't see a way we can keep Dexter.  On top of this, it would be hard for him to be rehomed which would break my heart.  I'm desperate for a solution - I really hope you can help me.

Thank you for reading this and I really look forward to reading your thoughts.

Many thanks,

Hattie

Answer
Hi Hattie!!

Good for you and lucky for him that he has such a committed person! I do not think re-homing is good unless it is a holistic feline behaviorist and even "no kill shelters" would deem him "unadoptable" and put him to sleep.
I admire your determination! In order to correctly help with this i would really need to do a home visit, complete history exam to get the proper treatment plan together. However, you are in the UK and I am in the US so that wont happen. Now, for thorough work, you can communicate with me via my website at:
www.thenatureofthebeast.org via the contact submission form
or my blog:
http://www.agentprovacateursdoggeddetermination.blogspot.com/
I can commit to working with you to find out all the subtleties as there are numerous factors that make up aggression and it is impossible to tell from an email. There would be a fee involved.

My approach is ENTIRE assessment, every minutia of history and diet and environment must be taken into account before a proper treatment plan is assigned.
There are so many variables that could make up aggression and I will mention a few very briefly as it would take several pages worth of space to speak of the many situations that could possibly incite this..

Now the thing i dont understand is what the vet is calling "testosterone surges?"
He is neutered, isnt he?
What is his history there? was it done at a shelter? Is it possible he had cryptoorchidism? as this is a more complicated surgery.  I can see him getting testosterone surges as one testicle didn't descend and they only eliminated one instead of two? There is also a small amount of testosterone excreted from adrenal glands. Has his adrenal functions been checked?

I also must know his history as an infant, was he a bottle feeder? Sometimes this "learning disability type behavior" that causes them to get lost as well as "unprovoked aggression" in cats is traced back to not having the queen showing them the proper psychological and emotional behaviors. I am not sure a kitty with that type of history has tremendous success learning so barring homeopathy and other alternatives it will be a struggle.
I think it sinful to separate them from their mothers before weening period yet some do.

Also, I would ask has he had any type of MRI on his brain? Although I imagine astronomical to afford he could have a brain tumor as well. Any other sign? Singular slightly dilated pupil?

Another issue I am concerned with is his getting lost? How do you know this?

Another possibility for the aggression:
He could be a very frustrated cat redirecting all of his pent up energies and one potential solution to that is lots of open space to run and chase things in fields.

Also a HUGE question I have and have many, many times seen- in humans and pets - food allergy related aggression. Common pet foods have tremendous amounts of chemical additives and some more sensitive animals or people than others can exhibit wild mood swings and aggression, a temper tantrum of sorts due to brain tissue swelling from brain irritants.
You need to understand I do not have much if any faith in traditional veterinary medicine. Vets these days that are coining the term "holistic" also dont have enough training in holistic medicine.
In order for me to go into length or depth of analyzing his diet you would need to contact me privately. But there are some giants in the field that far exceed any knowledge a doctor would have. Dr Pitcairn is one.
You must let me know what diet you are feeding him is well. There is also the possibility of other types or irritants effecting him that are not in his food. And until i had a thorough picture, the possibilities could be endless.
There are many different homeopathics and again an indepth analysis would need to be taken to prescribe the correct one.
People have had some success with belladonna.

I really admire you for your spirit, determination and caring! The city shelters are flooded with animals from people who give up too easily. Many times it is human provoked aggression that I see in the cats as it is a learned behavior from harassment and someone overexciting the cat and clueless and disrespectful of the many signs a cat gives before it attacks.
There is another situation of a cat flipping and this is a sort of vulnerability aggression when they are very loving and then immediately strike due to prey vulnerability/protection fear encoded in synapses from certain genetic lines.
So as you see the possibilities are very complicated with aggression. I hope your case is easy to diagnose and change.
I ask as well, what did you do when you see him in stalking mode in the beginning? Did you attempt to "redirect the attack immediately?" For ex, throwing a crumpled piece of paper or toy you have that will direct his attention to attacking the paper or toy instead? This teaches them, but you must work with exact timing.
There are many subtleties in aggression equation.

I hope i have helped you!
Best of luck to you,
Shanti