Tell me about getting rid of a bad animal.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I hate my cat. She hates me, along with life in general. Since day one, she’s been a complete terror-- attacking my feet, hissing at me and my company, eliminating on the floor whenever she sees fit, and being completely unpersonable in general. It seems that her goal in life is to eternally scowl.

I’ve come to the point where I’m just sick of it. I’ve dealt with it for three years and I’m just done. She does not enrich my life; she is a chore. I want to get rid of her so I can make room for an animal that I can pet and play with and enjoy.

I’ve put up with her for this long out of sheer guilt at giving her to the pound, where she’ll surely be euthanized, but lately I find myself not even caring. It’s humane and in the long run, it’ll save her (and me, or some other unlucky owner) from years of an obviously miserable existence.

Obviously I’ll try to find a good home for her first, though I can’t imagine who would want her. And as disgusted as I am, I still don’t know for sure I’ll go through with it.

Tell me about your terrible, horrible, no good, very bad animal and what you did about it. Or, just tell me how you feel about this situation.

2

This is going to sound terribly red-neck, but here is how we deal with such animals in rural Colorado. I have a .22 pistol and an old canvas money bag. I’ve only had to use them once, but when I was a boy my father taught me to never adopt an animal I wasn’t willing to “put down.” Fortunately, with that one exception many years ago, I’ve never had to shoot an animal (I wasn’t willing to spend the $35 it would have cost to have a veterinarian to shoot sodium pentathol into its heart.)

My suggestion is to call local veterinarians, explain the problem, and ask if they will euthanize the cat. Surprisingly, many vets would actually rather put a cat down than have it live in torment, which your cat obviously is. It’ll cost a few bucks, but it’ll be worth it.

3

While I can totally understand the situation, and I am not in any way suggesting that you keep an animal that you don’t want – what follows is a true story:

Years ago, a friend of mine had a cat whose temperment was exactly that which you describe in your cat. He was a hateful, angry little beast (well, not so “little”, he weighed close to 10lbs) who hated her and everyone else within ten million lightyears of him. He would hiss, bite and scratch at anything that dared to think about his existence. She tolerated him, because he was so unbelievably gorgeous (long, jet black fur culminating in white at the tips – so that he almost looked silver with giant blue eyes). She finally took him to the vet with the idea of having him euthanised. The vet asked her to give him 24 hours’ worth of observation before he euthanised the cat (vet was also stricken with the sheer beauty of the animal) and she agreed. The next day, her vet called and asked her to come pick the cat up – he knew why it was so angry. The friggin cat was allergic to everything. Dust, fleas, cat fur, you name it, this cat was allergic to it. It was so hateful because it was always in misery – only because it had such a long gorgeous coat, no one could see the horrid rash it had going on underneath. Most animals will start chewing on themselves and become self-destructive when in pain, this one turned it outward. Once she gave him his allergy medicine regularly, he became the sweetest darling of a cat.

YMMV. As for getting rid of the animal, you could do the country thing and shoot the cat in the head, the city thing and take it to the vet to be put down or of course, craigslist is always an option. Heck, I would suggest using this post as your ad, I bet you’d have 20 people wanting the thing by the end of the week!

Good luck!

4

Yes, looking into possible medical problems is a good idea. There is also kitty Prozac, which might help if it’s psychological. There might be someone willing to take him as a barn cat. Also, in some areas there are no kill shelters that will keep the animals they take until they find a home (with perhaps some exceptions for health problems).

5

That’s a good idea. Many unsocial animals are very happy in a place where they don’t have to interact with people and can hunt mice all day. You might want to try the “Who wants a mouser”-angle at Craigslist.

Don’t feel guilty for not wanting to put up with the cat anymore. Cat’s are individuals, and quite often, there just isn’t a match between owner and cat. You have tried long enough. Your only moral obligation then is to find a place where the cat might be happy, and the tips given upthread offer a good place to start. You might think nobody would want such a cat, but some people might pride themselves on taming/socializing just such an animal. Or they might have a cat they want a companion for. Just advertise ! You might first call the local animalshelter for advice…

Remember; there’s a darling cat somewhere out there who would love to live with you, and she can’t untill you have found another place for HellCat, who is obviously unhappy living with you.

6

I used to know a cat with a disposition very similar to that of your cat. Tequila (not my cat, no I didn’t name her) just needed the addition of another cat Butch (not my cat, no I didn’t name him) and she settled right down and became a lovely affectionate cat. Perhaps you could shop around for another companion animal and introduce them. You never know - maybe Grouchy McGrouchpants will calm down.

I wanted to add that even if G McG doesn’t calm down, you can always choose and option to get rid of him then, and already have your nice new kitty broken in, so to speak.

7

Quick note: no-kill shelters fall into one of three categories:

  1. Limited Access Shelters. These places avoid euthanizing animals by being fairly selective in the animals they accept. The better ones only accept animals that they can find homes for quickly, so the animals don’t waste away in the shelter for too long; others just limit animals by the number that they’ll take, and by virtue of not selecting for quick turnaround, they quickly end up only with unadoptable animals.
  2. Hellholes. These are the places that don’t place numerical limits on the number of animals they accept, and the population quickly outstrips their resources, with the result that animals soon suffer from terrible overcrowding, with all the problems associated with it (disease, starvation, fights, neglect/cruelty from overstressed workers, etc.)
  3. Millionaire’s Hobbies. These are the rarest of the rare, shelters funded by philanthropists with a bottomless budget, who can take in any animal and provide it with good care.

The first type is unlikely to accept your cat. Nobody should take an animal to the second type of no-kill shelter. If you can find the third type, you’ve hit the jackpot.

Daniel

8

I euthanize a few animals a day. For some, it is end stage organ failure, for others behavioral issues. If your pet does not enrich your life, I’d make an appointment with a veterinarian for euthanasia. Taking the cat to “the pound” typically is just a way to shift the burden.

ETA: also, what Daniel said.

9

The only real problem animal I had recently was a cockatiel. He kept biting his mate’s feet whenever she wasn’t in the mood and he was. Other than that, he was just fine. I ended up putting an ad in the local free weekly and he got a new home, hopefully one without any female birds.

10

Wow. You’ve tolerated that for three years? Whatever your final decision, you’re a saint. I would have put a bullet in that damn thing years ago were I in your situation.

11

We too have a Bad Cat. He doesn’t like anybody he lives with. Though strangers will get the loving cat treatment, he’s only buttering them up to torture them later should they stay in the house. He sprays inside, and is generally grumpy.

He’s 12 years old now and has been a grump for the last 10 years–when we moved into town from the boones and turned him into an indoor only cat. We haven’t rehomed him because he is incredibly attached to our dog and he’s got these issues that we don’t want to inflict on others. Instead we compromised and let him go back to being an outdoor cat three years ago. Since then his disposition has improved so it was a win for everyone.

Of course, the other two cats wonder why they don’t get to go outside, too. I made a deal with the other male cat–he can be the next outdoor kitty if the Bad Cat ever dies. Being as he’s a cat, I’m not sure he understands we have a deal. The girl indoor cat doesn’t really want to go outside, she just wants to be able to go outside.

12

I love cats, and animals in general, and I think you should find a new home for your cat, or else have her put down. Animals are individuals, and I think you’ve got yourself a little sociopath there. We recently visited Jim’s grandpa, who has a cat that we hadn’t seen since he was a kitten. He has grown up into a real asshole of a cat - if he was my cat, I’d get rid of him, too. He sounds a lot like your cat. Miserable little sod.

13

Have you had cats before? Or is this your first one?

14

OP, is the cat outdoor or indoor or both? If you live in an apartment on the 10th floor of a highrise, I guess my suggestion won’t work.

But, if the cat has access to the outside, I’d start letting the cat outside more and more. Maybe it’ll abandon you on it’s own.

Maybe this is a controversial suggestion, but in my experience, the best cats are ones which adopt you, not the other way around. Cats often really resent getting adopted. The cat may hate your guts for adopting her, but she could wander up to someone else’s house, purr demurely and become the greatest cat ever. For someone else.

I’m not saying abandon your cat. Just give her the opportunity to abandon you.

My last cat adopted me and he’d obviously been neutered, cared for, socialized to humans - even had fantastic house manners. He just didn’t like wherever it was he came from and decided he really liked me, my yard, and my house. I didn’t steal him from anyone, he was free to go anytime, but he chose my house and that was pretty much that.

15

My dog adopted a cat once. She would herd the cat into the house. The cat wasn’t having it.

I’m actually surprised at the support you are getting for this, from what I’ve seen of other pet threads, they quickly devolve into hot, stinkin’ messes.

I have an overdeveloped since of “I got myself into this mess-itis.” and have had to get rid of a dog. I tried freakin’ everything known to mankind to get the dog to stop peeing on the floor. She just wouldn’t stop. I had gotten her from the pound and she was overdue to be euthanized, she had been overlooked, so I had the added guilt of that on top of a small apartment that smelled like dog pee constantly.

I found a no-kill shelter for her and made sure they knew she needed to be an outside dog, no matter how small, fluffy and white she was. She was flat out unable to be house trained. I still feel bad, but some things you can’t fix. The important thing is you find a solution that is best for you AND your cat.

16

My SIL kept two perfectly dreadful cats. When she died, I was all for the Dirt Nap for both of 'em, but we found a shelter right here in the 'hood that will keep asshole cats for the rest of their natural lives…segregated from the rest of the cats, if necessary.

If you don’t have that option, I vote for Dirt Nap. I mean, who else would want an asshole cat?

17

Thank you, everyone, for all your encouraging responses. I was expecting a lot of “OMG horrible selfish cat killarrrrrrrrrrr!!!”, but I’m pleasantly surprised at how understanding you all have been. A coworker of mine overheard me saying I was considering putting her down if I can’t give her away, and she was just morally outraged; she seems to think that we should suffer merrily away into eternity together if no one else will take her. But it’s not as if I’m just callously throwing her off a bridge… I have made a real attempt to live with her and deal with her problems, and now I’m making the very difficult decision to admit defeat.

To answer some of the questions/comments here–

Litoris, it’s funny you should bring that up, because she actually IS allergic to something, but I don’t think that’s what causes her to act the way she does. She gets little scabs on and around her head, which the vet says are due to a flea allergy, and they go away when I give her flea medicine. She was a monster before she ever started getting those, though.

alice, we actually tried that, and though she seems to enjoy the company of another cat, her eliminating issues have gotten many times worse. Since we got the other cat, we’re lucky if she goes in the box 50% of the time. We have two boxes, but the other cat seems to like using both rather than just hers, whereas Shady (the bad cat) goes in hers only, but only about half the time-- the other half being wherever she damn well pleases.

vetbridge (and others): I think you’re right. I hadn’t looked at it that way, but it really would be sort of an out-of-sight out-of-mind solution to give her to a shelter. No one wants to adopt an animal who’s crouched in the corner hissing and spitting. She’d end up being killed anyway, but only after a period of caged torture.

Bridget, yes, I’ve had cats before. Why do you ask?

levdrakon, she’s never even been out except to go to the vet. And while it’s a nice notion, I don’t think it’s entirely realistic to assume that letting her run away would result in her finding a new owner. More likely she’d hide until hunger forced her out, and then either get hit by a car, be eaten by a dog, or slowly die of starvation. That’s not the kind of death I’d want for even this beast of a cat.

18

Then tell her to take the cat to save it from death. And if she won’t, tell her to STFU.

19

(jumps up and down waving hand)

See? See?

20

ding ding

Revenge, and gets you out of a bad situation all at once! :smiley:
Seriously, after three years, any chance you might have bonded with the animal seems to be gone. I’m inclined towards the position that as long as you don’t abandon the animal, now, to a life as a feral critter, you’ll have acted as a responsible pet owner. That includes, trying to find a new owner (with full disclosure, of course), taking the cat to the pound, or euthanizing it at home or through your vet. As others have said, you’ve made an honest attempt to live with Hellcat, you don’t owe it, nor yourself, anything more.