We need some advice. Here’s the situation. My mother-in-law has a cat. He’s big, black and just plain mean. He has scratched her legs up beyond belief, and her doctor has advised her to get rid of him. He has bit her hand so hard that we’ve had to take her to the hospital. She loves the cat, and didn’t really want to get rid of him until last night. It may have been because I finally told her that, for her own safety, the cat needs to go.
There are only two people in the house he likes, and that would be my MIL and myself. He hisses at and scares our children: he will swipe at them in the hallway with no provocation. He’ll just hiss at my husband, and we won’t talk about his reaction to my BIL and SIL. It’s just not good.
We need to get this cat out of the house without causing him any pain and as little distress as possible. This cat is huge. Even though he likes me, I have never picked him up, and will not unless I have Kevlar gloves. We’re not even sure if he will fit in his carrier. We have called our local no-kill shelter, and they are pretty much useless with advice. Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated.
We had “Mr. Mean Face” who wandered into our yard…all 26 lbs of pissed off male cat.
We had him fixed and he immediately became “The Good Boy With The Nice Face”. So…is he fixed? His personality might get better after surgery.
To answer your question, we borrowed a wild animal trap to capture him for his surgery. You can probably get one from the county if you don’t know anyone who has one. Also, some “free spay/neuter” places have traps like these.
Good luck. I LOVE cats, but there’s nothing worse than a big scary pissed off Tom cat. They are frightening.
Use a broom handle and a piece of cord to make a catch stick. Watch the John Wayne movie “Hatari” if you can’t figure out how to use it.
After the beast is captured, how you dispose of it is up to you.
The trap is a good idea. For his sake I hope you can have him seen by a vet in case it is a health problem making him mean before giving up on him completely.
All I could think of when I read this post was the scene in Little Big League when Billy’s rampaging around the dugout and one of the players says to another, “Man, we need to get Billy a woman.”
What happened to make him so mean? Has she always had this cat? Did he all of a sudden change personalities? Is he neutered? He really needs to see the vet to determine what is up - he may be in pain.
Some people I know just captured a very skittish cat by feeding him only in a carrier; after a few days he would enter in willingly. It was just a matter of catching him in it and shutting the door.
Heh-heh…yeah, I’m not sure if he just wanted to get laid or what. But he is carrying on a platonic love relationship with one of my female cats (who had a litter and knows about boys). I think he forgot how to do the sexing thing, but he likes cuddling in the afterglow of the memory.
[ul][]Forget about the “no-kill” shelter. No one wants the cat now; no one will ever want the cat in the future. It will be wasting space that could be used for an adoptable cat.[]Contact Animal Control (the ones who will euthanize the cat). They may have a trap you can borrow. If not -[]Lure the cat into the carrier with food. If that doesn’t work -[]Have the carrier ready. Designate someone responsible for slamming the door when you get the cat into the carrier. []Consider getting some thick gloves designed to handle animals.[]Get a large, thick blanket.[]Line a large trash bin with the blanket[]Try to get the cat into an enclosed area like the bathroom.[]Fake the cat out with one hand while you grab him by the scruff of the neck with the other.[]Once you have a good solid grip, swing him out and away from you, and grab the base of the tail. Do not be gingerly about this. []Drop him into the blanket-lined trash bin head-first, and wrap the blanket around him hard and tight. []Stuff the whole package, cat, blanket, and all, into the carrier. Have the cat euthanized.[/ul]
He is neutered, and has been since he was eight weeks old. The water bottle only makes matters worse: we have tried that. Getting him seen by a vet would be no problem after we get him in the carrier. The wild animal trap is a fantastic idea. We can call around and see if we can get our hands on one.
Her and my FIL found this cat in the chimney when he was just a little kitten. He’s 4-5 years old now. I thought he was just okay with women, but he doesn’t like my SIL. He’s always been mean to everyone except for my MIL and myself: I know he doesn’t like any of the children, but I can understand that. Kids can be scary. My BIL may be one of the causes of the problem. He does have a horrible temper, and I know he’s thrown stuff at the cat. He just doesn’t like cats at all. My husband doesn’t like cats either, but he just hisses back.
Shodan, I know this is probably the best option. But my MIL will not get rid of the cat if he’s going to be euthanized. She needs to for her own safety, but she won’t do it that way, no matter how much we tell her. And we can’t change her mind on this.
Who knows, maybe he regrew his testicles and needs to be snipped again. Maybe he’s got a urinary tract infection. Maybe he needs kitty Prozac (it exists). At the very least, give the cat a chance before killing him.
That’s actually not a bad idea. He might be perfectly happy being a barn cat. If you live in a rural area, you can ask around. Don’t dump him on a farm, though. I have a feeling that’s how we get most of our strays. There’s a barn 2 doors down and I’ve acquired 3 of my 5 cats as strays in my yard.
My SIL had two unadoptable cats. One of the local shelters is an old farm house that has a room geared to just unadoptables. They just exist there until they die (which certainly ain’t my cuppa, but it appeases those who can’t stand the thought of the forced dirt nap).
My mother owned a similar problem cat and was dead set against him being put down. There was nothing physically wrong with him, nor had he ever been mistreated. Some animals, like some people, just enjoy being mean.
Joshua, the cat, eventually went “to live on a farm.” Nobody will willingly adopt an animal like Joshua. As Shodan pointed out, even had their been a no-kill shelter, Joshua would only have been taking up space there that could have been used for a cat somebody would want. It was better for all concerned that Joshua went to live on that big farm in the sky.
A no-kill shelter will not likely accept a cat with aggression issues and it would be irresponsible of you not to disclose it. Euthanasia may seem cruel but this cat obviously has issues and sending him to a shelter where he will spend the rest of his life in a cage being angry and afraid is not fair to him.
If the no-kill shelter won’t take him and you send him to another shelter they may euthanize him immediately due to the aggression or they may have to wait two to three days to make sure you don’t change your mind and then he will be euthanized. If he’s recently bitten someone he will have to be held for 10 to 14 days for rabies quarantine. All that time will be spent in a cage barely being handled.
Shelters are overflowing with nice kitties that need homes, especially black cats*, no one will adopt a large aggressive cat. There is a very slim chance that a change in environment would change this cat’s behavior, but it’s pretty unlikely. There is a chance that this cat has something physically wrong with him affecting his behavior, like diabetes or liver issues, but it could also be poor socialization as a kitten or a bad experience. It sounds like the situation is beyond identifying the problem and attempting to correct it so I think the kindest thing to the cat is to give him some peace. Taking him to a vet for euthanasia will be quicker and less traumatic. They can sedate him first quickly or possibly even give you a tranquilizer to administer at home in his food. This way there will be less trauma from aggressive handling by strangers and waiting in a cage in a strange place.
I am all about saving cats, I have more than my share of cats that would have been euthanized had they gone to the shelter. We are constantly treating sick stray kittens at work and finding new homes or no-kill shelters to take them. There are so many kittens and adult cats in need of homes or shelter space that by sending this aggressive, unadoptable cat to a no-kill shelter you are likely condemning some other healthy, friendly cat to death because there will be no room for it.
If you mother-in-law decides to get a new cat, please see that it gets socialized properly. Don’t let it play rough (hand biting/scratching), it’s cute when they’re kittens but dangerous when they are adults. Don’t let it be ganged up on by too many kids. Don’t let the cat haters any where near it. Don’t adopt a feral kitten or any kitten that is timid for a home that has so much activity. Timid kitties and reformed ferals need love too, but I’d say they are better for a smaller, quieter household. It sounds like there is a lot of people visiting your MIL often.
*Black cats have an additional strike against them. They are adopted less than other colors of cats because a lot of people are superstitious. The cat in the OP is an exception, black cats are not more prone to aggression, they are often very sweet. The local SPCA has told us that because they have so many black and black and white cats any new arrivals with these colors are euthanized. We are now keeping any of these kittens we receive to find homes or no-kill shelters to take them. The no-kill shelters are also overflowing with black cats. We no sooner find a couple of them homes or shelter space than another couple come in to take their place.
