Then you don’t need my advice on how to handle the cat; you need advice on how to handle your mother-in-law, and that I can’t help you with.
Well now, I think your advice could translate very well into how to handle an MIL who scratches and bites.
Before you cart him off to be killed, try plugging in a feliway diffuser in the area he frequents most. It emits a pheromone that calms distressed kitties and can help with all sorts of behavioral problems. I wouldn’t have believed it worked until I tried it myself, and it made an instant difference in our formerly terrified cat.
http://www.discountpetdrugs.com/feeldi48ml.html
Good luck!
No-kill shelters usually have cat-traps you can borrow. They use them to catch strays.
How often do you play with the cat? I doubt it would solve the problem, but sometimes the cat needs to get it out of their system. You could also get caps for the claws, although that would not do much about the biting. I am just thinking out loud about ways that MIGHT help.
Maybe Cat From Hell needs a kitten to love?
I always hated cat carriers so I punched a few holes in one of those clear plastic flip-top file size totes. Then ya slice up a sausage or some other fragrant warm meat and wait for the cat to jump in. Flip lids closed. Have a couple bungee cords handy to x over the lids to keep them closed.
I feed my house cats in one of these, so when it’s vet time there’s no hassle and no bleeding.
/hijack
I wish I had known this when I was looking for a second kitty a few months ago! I think black cats are pretty.
/end hijack
You’re going to need a bigger trap.
You may want to contact a private rescue society, one that fosters cats before adopting them out. (Google “friends of felines” and the like). They may have room for a problem cat.
I also know some people (friends) who seek out problem cats to adopt. Generally these are older cats that are not doing well at the shelter. Again, contact one of these private foster groups to ask their advice and see what options they have or programs they may know of.
And I second (or fifth) getting him to a vet first to rule out health problems.
HEY GENIUS!
The damn cat is hurting your children!:mad:
Send him back there. The Vet can put him down ASAP.
No, she needs advice on how to keep BIL from abusing cats. What an ass.
Abused cats are usually not very nice, through no fault of their own. Too bad you can’t find a nicer home for the cat, instead of killing him. And please stop MIL from adopting any more pets as long as asshole BIL is around.
I love all animals. I’ve never met a cat I didn’t like, or that didn’t like me.
Except one.
My Sister’s cat - he was the meanest, most psycho SOB of a cat I’ve ever met. But, she loved him, and she finally found that putting him on regular shots of Depro Provera calmed him to the point where he was almost lovable (to strangers).
Might be worth a shot.
(Pun intended).
I agree, That is actually a great idea. Big mean tough toms are hard to find. And they are usually excellent at mousing, ratting, and chasing away hole-digging rabbits. He sound exactly like a good barn cat.
I rather doubt that this is any significant part of the problem with the cat -
And even the MIL, who the cat supposedly likes, has scratched her on the legs, and bit her hand badly enough to send her to the hospital.
I will certainly agree that the BIL has probably not responded appropriately to the cat’s aggressive behavior, but it doesn’t sound very much like the BIL spontaneously decided to start lobbing dry goods at the cat, and turned a formerly sweet little pussy-wookums into the Cat from Hell.
My dad was a veterinarian with a small animal practice for more than thirty years, and I used to work for him. It has left me one of the least sentimental people around when it comes to pets.
Don’t get me wrong, I love pets. But the purpose of a pet, especially a cat, is companionship and entertainment (I am assuming the cat is not kept around for rodent control). I do not see how a cat who hisses at everyone, bites his owner, scratches and claws, attacks the grandchildren without provocation, and can’t even be handled safely, is much of a companion.
If an animal acts in some unacceptable way, you train it not to. If you cannot train it not to, for whatever reason, you get rid of the animal.
It’s a cat. It’s not a little person in a furry suit. It’s a cat.
A nasty, dangerous cat.
We had the meanest cat once, named Samantha. My brother found her in the backseat after picking up his car from the mechanic. We think her mother had kittens in there and then didn’t get them all moved before my brother drove off. Anyway, we loved and petted and cuddled that cat. Sam never had a bad experience in her life. And she was a roaring bitch.
She couldn’t stand to be held or petted, would growl and hiss at us, and once clawed my mother while my mother was opening a can of food for her. That pissed my mother off so bad that she slapped Sam and knocked her off the counter while yelling “How dare you bite the hand that feeds you!”
Anyway, when we moved out to the country Sam came with us and moved into the barn. I think the barn cats straightened her ass out. We left her there when we moved away (she was fixed, not like she was going to have kittens for someone else to take care of). Good riddance.
I respectfully disagree. She said the BIL could be the cause of the problem by virtue of his horrible temper and the fact he throws stuff at it. He may have caused the aggressiveness to begin with (abuse can either lie down and take the abuse, or start to fight back), and an abused cat may strike out at anything that moves near it - whether the movement towards it is aggressive or not. I’m not suggesting they keep the cat at any cost, I’m just placing blame in the right place. I have no respect for animal abusers, and even less when the abuse causes the animal to be put down.
Actually, she said
And he bit and scratched her MIL, and she is afraid to pick the cat up. And the cat swipes at the grandchildren without them provoking it in the least.
:shrugs:
Tell yourself whatever you like.
Send the damn thing to me. My SO’s cat is a spoiled little dick who needs his ass kicked by another dick.
As long as it doesn’t pee on everything, I’d take the little fucker.
If cats ignore me, I’m perfectly content ignoring them, which usually makes them like me.
Seriously. Or tell your MIL she can keep the little shithead but not expect to se you or your kids any time soon.