Biting cat

[lailasmum]

So back to my original question. Would a shelter take her?

 

I reckon so. I don't think your cat sounds agressive just very very nervous and the only tools they have to defend themselves are teeth and claws. You could always say she is nervous and see what they say. I am sure given enough time (weeks/months) and an owner with experience your cat could get used to somewhere else especially if the cats home is the kind that vets potential owner and gives them advice and support.

Edited January 27, 2012 by lailasmum

[ThreeBlessings]

Dawn- If you feel this cat will always have the tendency to bite I totally understand not wanting to take her to a shelter or rehome her. If it came down to it with our cat I think I would put her to sleep before I would have her in someone else's care. I would just feel too responsible for the consequences. Google cat bites. It is often very, very bad. I do believe as much as 50% of cat bites get infected. Its been awhile since I researched it, but I remember being quite alarmed between what I witnessed with my sister (who still has nerve damage) and what I read online on medical information sites.

[Catwoman]

dawn, I was just thinking -- it might be worth asking your vet if her or she knows of a safe place for your cat, if you're not able to find a new home for her on your own. Our vet allows people to post notices about pets that need new homes, and in emergency situations, he takes the pets himself and keeps them until he finds homes for them. I know most vets don't do that, but yours might at least know of a good shelter, or even about someone who has recently lost a pet that might want Mimi.

 

It's worth a try.

[sbgrace]

She does sound like a scared cat to me trying to defend herself. I would not put a cat who reacted in those specific circumstances with defensive biting down as aggressive. That's just scared cat. It sounds, though, like you feel you need to get rid of her because having her at the new house isn't good (because of pee and allergies) right?

 

The vacation is moot in my mind FWIW. We've had cats all my life until recently when we had to rehome because of my son's allergies. Both as a child, as an adult (16 years of cat ownership with vacations at least yearly), my sibling cat owners, and with the inlaws that now have the cats we've always just put out extra litter boxes and plenty of food and an overabundance of water. This is 10 different cats who do fine on vacations this way. The cat clearly doesn't want a visitor checking on her for companionship and, in my opinion, she doesn't need one for health either.

 

Ok, so you want to put her down because you can't rehome her due to this poor reaction to new owners (I agree) and you don't want cat allergens and pee in the new home. In my strong opinion the kindest thing to do is put her down at the vet rather than sending her to a shelter. If she were mine I'd want her to die being held and comforted by someone who loves her. How the rabies thing goes in with that I've no clue. But I'd use my vet rather than a shelter.

[Brigitte]

Have you had her checked for a urinary tract infection? That would cause the peeing outside the litter box and might explain the irritability.

[Live2Ride]

I agree with your assessment of why the cat behaved as she did, but I have to disagree with the idea of putting the cat outside. If Mimi has never been an outdoor cat, I don't think she would survive it. She has no knowledge of how to take care of herself, has no clue about predators, wouldn't know how to cross a street safely, etc.

 

Also, she would probably feel terribly rejected if she has always been an inside cat with a family to fuss over her and love her, and suddenly she found herself alone outdoors.

 

I feel so sad for her. I wish I could take her in.

 

Believe it or not, many cats do wonderful outside...I'd rather give her a chance outside, than put her to sleep, but that's just me. My kids fuss over their cats a ton, all five of them, who are all outdoors. Most of them were rescues, some from indoor homes.

[Mrs Mungo]

Editing because I misunderstood the question.

 

Our local no-kill shelter charges $50 to drop a cat off to them. When we did it (a stray kitten rescued by a visiting friend), they didn't ask if it bit or anything. We wouldn't have known.

[Catwoman]

Believe it or not, many cats do wonderful outside...I'd rather give her a chance outside, than put her to sleep, but that's just me. My kids fuss over their cats a ton, all five of them, who are all outdoors. Most of them were rescues, some from indoor homes.

 

I'm still sort of hoping that Dawn will give the cat another chance at being an indoor cat, so putting her to sleep wasn't really on my radar. :001_smile:

 

I forgot to ask in my other posts, but... If the cat wasn't using her litter box and there was no medical reason for it, was the box being cleaned daily? Many cats are very sensitive to a dirty litter box and will simply refuse to use it if it isn't kept clean. The only reason I ask this is because, if it was in the basement, it may have been easy to forget to clean it if the family wasn't down there every day.

[Teachin'Mine]

So the cat is two years old and hasn't peed in your house for over a year. If this is the case, there's no reason to think that it will pee in your new home. I wish I could take your cat.

 

Is she declawed? That's often a reason for cats to use their teeth since they don't have their claws. But again, it's only with strangers and only when a stranger tries to grab her out of her safe hiding place. Hissing at someone is a perfectly okay thing for a cat to do. They're letting you know that they're scared. Let the cat hiss and leave, and they'll be fine. The more a cat has strangers coming into the house - without being pursued - the better they will do.

Edited January 28, 2012 by Teachin'Mine

[Catwoman]

So the cat is two years old and hasn't peed in your house for over a year. If this is the case' date=' there's no reason to think that it will pee in your new home. I wish I could take your cat.

 

Is she declawed? That's often a reason for cats to use their teeth since they don't have their claws. But again, it's only with strangers and only when a stranger tries to grab her out of her safe hiding place. Hissing at someone is a perfectly okay thing for a cat to do. They're letting you know that they're scared. Let the cat hiss and leave, and they'll be fine. The more a cat has strangers coming into the house - without being pursued - the better they will do.[/quote']

 

:iagree:

[reign]

That sounds like normal cat behaviour to me, being taken to a strange environment by a strange person and then being forcibly removed from her safe place under the night stand I would expect a cat to bite. It would be surprising if the cat hadn't bitten or scratched her. The thing to do would have been to have put food, water and litter tray near by and shut the door and leave the cat alone to acclimatise in that room. Then occasionally go in and sit nearby quietly, ignore the cat for a bit and then leave and repeat. It takes a week or two not just a couple of days. They're tame wild animals not living soft toys.

 

The woman who took the cat has obviously had minimal cat experience.

 

Maybe try a cat lover with more experience handling and introducing cats to their home.

Reaching for a scared cat I would be surprised if she didn't fight back. The cat was with a stranger in a new place. Hadn't eaten in a few days possibly and without seeing anyone she knew for awhile. Scared animals fight it is natural.