Some advice please? Scratchy girl...

Hello
I have a 5-year-old female cat named Kacey. She was an 'accident' kitty and her dad was a feral cat. Her mother was a stable cat belonging to the people who I used to keep my horse with. When their cat had the unexpected litter, I adopted Kacey. She's a gorgeous little thing, very pretty and she can be very cute and sweet, BUT she scratches people and can really start to attack if you're not careful. This is where I need help!

When she was a kitten she was pretty affectionate. I could pick her up and cuddle her with no problems, and she would voluntarily crawl into my bed at night to sleep (you should have heard her purring!). As she got older, she became more detached from people. Then she started to scratch. Sometimes she is fine and she lets you stroke her, but it doesn't last long. Then her ears pin back, she gets this wild look on her face, and she swipes at you. She has been known to grab you with her front claws and scratch you with her back claws, and bite as well. She's like a Jeckyll & Hyde cat - adorable one moment, and quite scary the next.

I realise that perhaps she just isn't a 'people cat' anymore, but I'd love to know if there is any way that I can teach her that scratching people is bad?

She has had a bit of a rough time - up until this year I lived at my parents place and they insisted that she be an outside cat. I think she had a few frights from scary neighbourhood cats as she has an extremely timid nature. My brother also had a male cat who used to pick on her. I moved out of home this year and she came with me. She is now a total inside cat (her choice, I've tried to get her in the backyard and she doesn't want to know about it) and is the only pet in the house. She has relaxed a lot more since the move (although still VERY wary of strangers) and I don't think she is missing the company of any other cats. She responds well to my boyfriend and I, and often greets us when we come home, but she doesn't tolerate us patting her for long and she has given us both some nasty scratches in the past. Last night she was being cute and licking my finger, and then she suddenly turned on me quite viciously with her teeth and both front claws. No warning whatsoever. Usually I can tell when it is coming and I back off, but not this time.

Her mother has a beautiful nature and has never scratched a person in her life as far as I know, so I'm wondering if perhaps she inherited her wild streak from her feral dad? Does that happen?

Apart from this whole scratching & biting thing, she is gorgeous. She loves to play (her favourite toy is a shoelace!), eats well, and generally she is a great little cat. And I respect her space and I try not to intrude on her or do things that I know will provoke her. But all the same, her tendency to scratch people (without much warning) is a worry. If anyone can give me some advice, or even just reassure me that this IS normal behaviour for some cats, I'd really appreciate it.

Thankyou!


Here is Kacey (and her shoelace) in one of her favourite places - right by the heater. This was taken about a month ago.

 

Hi and welcome to Auspet. Thanks for posting her pic. She's beautiful. Here is a link for you to read.

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/cathumag.htm

This link is from a site a post a lot. If you scroll down to AGGRESSION, there is also a lot of helpful info.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Poin ... avior.html

 

Thanks so much for that, Chessmind
The links are really interesting!

 

Welcome to the forums! Kacey is lovely. I hope you get this all figured out soon! My Moe has left several scars on me so I know how you feel. Luckily she's mellowed out as she's gotten older. Good luck!

 

:m23: Hi and welocome. Kacey is gorgeous! She reminds me a lot of my Vene (RIP). They could be related. LOL's!


Of course Vene is a lot skinner because she used to roam the great outdoors and finally got hit by a car. :cry: I think Kathy5's Emily looks a lot like our kitties too!

Some cats just love to scratch and don't outgrow that. My Pooky(RIP) was that way so we didn't pet him very often. Pumpkin and Rene don't like to be petted in public. They will nip us when petted too much. As for the scratching, Pooky was the king. LOL's. We had bleeding legs, arms, backs. We finally did the declaw thing and have regretted it ever since. That is definitely a no no but we didn't know about cat care back then. Footsie has a biter/scratcher too. I'll go see if I can find some of his old posts on his kitty Footsie. Love to see more of Kacey's pics if you have any. Thanks :qm1: in advance.

 

These threads are interesting:
http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=21883&highlight=#21883

http://www.auspet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=17628&highlight=#17628

Darn. Can't find Footsie's pic. I'm going to try Catster. What a great pic of Footsie:
http://catster.com/pet_page.php?i=64724&PHPSESSID=40bc5c451051864b0b51615cb48228aa

 

Halaroo. You just reminded me that Rene left me some keloids from her scratches. LOL's. At least Moe and Rene have calmed down and are quite affectionate.

 

Thanks Vene & Halaroo! Your cats are gorgeous as well

Here are some more Kacey photos I have LOTS!


This was her as a kitten. It's not a great quality shot due to my bad scanner at the time - I'll have to redo it at some stage. She was SUCH a cute little fluffball! All ears, paws, & mouth!


This was last Christmas (backyard at my parents place) with some of her Christmas presents. She doesn't look too impressed though :roll:


See, she can be friendly when it suits her! This is Kacey and I at Easter this year. She got wriggly just after this was taken so I put her down - no scratches


Ahh, the monstrous side comes out. Sometimes I really do feel a bit sorry for that shoelace!


I just love this photo! Very cute!

Thanks again for all the links and advice guys - very much appreciated! I'll let you know how she goes (she's flaked out in front of the toasty warm heater right now, seemingly without a care in the world, lucky little madam!)

Cheers,
Steph

 

Thank you Steph for the wonderful pics! :m5: I love Kacey's red lightlights. She's a beauty! :m10: :mrgreen:

 

Kacey sure is a beautiful cat. I hope you find some helpful advice in the links posted by the other members. Good luck.

 

Kasey is a cuty. I love that photo of her with her tongue out!


Vene posted a link here to my catster page because I have a pic of my cat trying to take a bite out of me. I too have a cat that can go from friendly to aggresive in nothing flat. I try to direct his attention to his stuffed animal. It helps a lot and he plays with it on his own a lot too. He loves that thing.

 

hi steph and del...hey!!!! i just saw your horse pics tonight on the horse forum. i dont post there very often....only just recently on the topic of "how much did your horse cost". i posted a couple pics of my horse. i recognize those horses in your avatar!!!!



welcome to the cat forum. :wink:

my mother has two cats...both went through a tornado. her oldest...missy was about three at the time. well...that event traumatized her...she was a royal b_____ for a couple of years...scratching, swiping her claws, hissing, spitting. it took her a long time to calm down. sometimes i think when kitties get their lives disrupted, it sets them back. they get stressed. maybe just keeping her environment very secure and structured. max would get really wound up...and scratch and bite...but not mean...just overly rambunctious. what about a friend?

she is beautiful by the way. :wink: