My cat keeps attacking my toddler Post Reply

[SmaB]

Hey all

So I have an 11 year-old cat that has been living with me and my hubs for 2.5 years. He is my family cat which was living with my parents until they broke up. We've had him since he was a kitten, he got loads of love and cuddles but despite that he had always been a bit antsy and independent, not particularly loving - the kind where he'll purr when you stroke him then bite you 5 mins later. But obviously knowing his personality the random attacks were very few and far between as we learnt to read the signs and co existed very well.

My toddler is now 19 months and on the move. Previous to this Monty (the cat) has not been bothered by him but has now started to attack him on a fairly regular basis. I know why, he must feel threatened etc etc and I'm not looking for an animal psychology lesson I actually want to know how I can go about re-homing him. I have had enough of having to punish Monty for hurting William it's obvious he can't handle it and is too old to learn.. It makes me very sad but I'm only going to have more kids and be less able to keep an eye on him when he is with William and cannot bear to see my child bleeding and crying. If he was a dog he'd be off straight away.

Does anyone have any advice or is looking for an old but well trained cat who needs some company?

[JThomas]

Hi there,

We had a similaritish situation - slightly temperamental cat - friendly to me and my husband, but much less so to strangers and prone to "play" attacks - not really biting or scratching, but certainly not everyone's cup of tea! She was 13 years old when our twins arrived (we'd had her for 3 years having got her from a cat rescue).

The boys are now nearly 3. The cat never launched an unprovoked attack on either of them, but she certainly isn't the sort of cat a toddler could sit on. And she has made that clear through bites/scratches (again, not hard - no blood or anything, but clear enough). They fairly quickly learned not to bother her and she gives them a fairly wide berth. Funnily enough, she is now way more friendly to other people than she used to be.

So a bit of time might improve things?

Also, I seem to remember my vet had some sort of plug in pheromone device which can be used to calm animals down in a stressful situation....

Good luck with sorting it out.

Jx

[Writerlady]

After the day i've had, i'd be tempted to re-house the toddler and keep the cat.

[chiccainclapham]

Hi!
Have you tried with Feliway for a few days? I don't want to convince you to keep the cat, it is just that when I came back home from the hospital with my baby my cats were quite unhappy and aggressive. The vet suggested Feliway:
http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/Catego ... tAodwHcAQg
It worked quite well with them.
One thing you can do to get some advice is to call Celia Hammond Animal Trust. They have a great knowledge of cat behaviour and can help you. Or they can tell you what to do to re-home the cat.

Hope this helps, let me know.

[Camille]

Ditto Writerlady