Cat is violent and getting dangerous

Question
Hi,

I have an 11 year old cat named Jerry.  He lives in a house with a 10 year old cat named Sally.  For the most part they get along fine with each other.  However sometimes out of nowhere jerry gets violent, scratches me or usually my wife and sometiems bites.


we have just moved to a new house we are renting while our house is being built.  There are many outside cats that come aroudn the house, especially one orange cat that looks to have been abandoned which we've begun feeding.

Jerry scratches at the windows at the orange cat, but otherwise leaves her alone.  He got out once and tried to kill her, but she ran away and he calmed down and came inside.

That said whenever any of the other cats come near the window jerry launches himself at the window trying to break through.  It wakes us up and scares us that he might hurt us.  If you approach him he turns his aggression on you and he's a big cat, over 15 pounds and not overweight.

This is compounded by the fact that my wife is six months pregnant and i am travelling.  Last night he kept her up all night, when she went to console him he went for her face, she backed up and scratched up her thigh instead.

I love jerry as a child but i don't know what to do about him.  I'm scared he's going to hurt my wife and especially my child when he's born if he can't handle the stimuili.

Please please help me, this is an emergency and he can't survive outside and i can't deal with the prospect of putting him to sleep.  I love him and he's very special and wonderful most of the time, but this extreme dangerous behavior keeps increasing as he gets older.  We had toyed with the idea of bringing the orange cat in because it clearly used to be an inside cat but i think jerry would seriously maim him.

I need help and i need advice soon.  My wife will be alone with the cat for three more days.

Daniel

Answer
Hello Daniel,

I can certainly see the seriousness of your situation.  Let's see what you and I can come up with together as a solution.

Let me ask a couple of questions that will better pinpoint what is behind his behaviour.

- Has Jerry always been like this, or is it something more recent?  

- If this is a behavioural change, have there been ANY other changes in behaviour?  Any litterbox habit changes?  Any food changes?  Etc.

- Is the outside orange kitty spayed?  

It sounds to me like the problem behind his behaviour could be two-fold.  It sounds to me like he's obviously feeling threatened by your outdoor friend.  Is there any possible way to find out if she has any possible health problems?

So, here's the scoop.  A behavioural change in a kitty Jerry's age can mean one of two things: either he or the kitty targeted has a health issue, and it is disturbing him, or the outside kitty is unspayed, and her scent is creating aggression in him (as it would with some neutered males, instead of the unneutered smitten reaction, it turns to more of an agressive reaction after neutering).  That reminds me, he's neutered, right?  If not, that's a whole separate issue, and PLEASE let me know if that's the case.

My advice is as two-fold as the probable issue behind his change in behaviour:

- Take him in to see the vet and BE SURE that there aren't any health issues.  In a kitty his age, that's usually the cause behind a situation like this.  If he gets a clean bill of health, see the below idea.

- If the outside kitty isn't spayed, call Animal Control and see if you can find a shelter or place near you that would either do so for very low cost, or for free.  You don't have to give them your information if they don't have any information for you about it, don't worry.  You won't lose yoru baby if you're calling and just asking questions.  :o)  In her getting seen to be spayed, they would also be able to identify if she has any other health problems, so that side of things would get handled as well.

You can try also buying a product called Feliway, and spraying it around the house.  It's a product that emits kitty pheromones and calms kitties down when they're being agressive or stressed (sounds like he might be both at this point).  

Bottom line:  there is a solution, don't worry.  Try to relax.  We'll figure this out together, okay?  The more you relax about things, the more calm those around you will be.  See if you can situate things so your wife has as little contact with him as possible until you can definitively figure out what's going on.

Let me know if any of the above ideas doesn't apply, won't work, etc., ok?  I'll be watching my profile in awaiting your answer.  

Hugs to you guys,

Rosie*