WHY WOULD DADDYCAT BITE ME??

by Donna Greiner
(Riverside NJ)

Hi, I'm back again..what a pest! My saga of Daddycat continues...hope you are feeling better. As you may recall, I took DADDYCAT (the neglected ear infected beat up stray) to the vet. She finally relented and offered to neuter and vaccinate him. He's now neutered and in my home. I have him in a large crate in the living room....everything fits inside....litter box, food, cozy blanket, etc.

Here's the question...why would DADDYCAT suddenly decide to bite my arm while reaching for the litter box to change it after 4 days of doing this?? He did not break the skin, but the teeth left two marks, as I did withdraw my arm quickly to avoid a puncture type bite.

I am now extremely glad I have isolated the 7 month old kittens in my room. Being curious of course, they may explore around his crate and he could scratch them. As I had told you in one of my previous questions, he is FIV positive. Although I know it doesn't pass to humans, it does worry me if he's going to be biting me.

Our weather is so cold still, and with a mixed ice/snow storm coming in the morning...I feel he isn't ready to go outside...especially after being neutered just this past Friday.

The neutering was supposed to have helped him to be less aggressive outside, and not pass on the FIV through bite wounds. For his own health as well. I am now afraid to put my arm inside the crate again.

Suggestions, cat family???? Much love,

Donna, SMORES, SMITTEE, DADDYCAT, MOMMYCAT (oh most feral)

REPONSE:

Happy to hear you were able to get him neutered. However, he will have discomfort for some time.

My cat Giorgio that was brought inside when the weather was cold and rain mixed with snow was the reality outside, was neutered in Dec.2012 and he was grumpy off and on for almost a month. The vet guessed he was only around 2-3 years old, but the older they are the more discomfort they seem to have. Sounds like Daddycat is older also.

Once he's allowed outside he will run off some of that energy and settle down somewhat. However, with Giorgio, although his aggressive nature has lessened he still gets into some fights. So watch Daddycat for evidence of battles when he comes home. Any visible cuts, small lumps you feel when petting him could be a claw left in him, etc.

Giorgio no longer goes looking for a battle but now that he has a home he is very protective of our yard and any cat attempting to enter is in for a rude awakening. Giorgio is kept downstairs away from the other cats in the evening but is brought upstairs to be with the other cats each night for a hour...but he's on a leash until he learns "cat manners".

You may find that Daddycat will be similar to Giorgio...at first staying out for hours at a time and coming home for a meal break, then returning to the outdoors until dusk and then coming home to his bed.

Slowly, over a year, the time outside has reduced substantially and he goes out for an hour, eats, sleeps for a couple of hours in my office and doesn't bother the other two cats that also nap in my office when I'm on the computer. Probably because I'm there also. He takes another jaunt before dark and then returns home for the night. He purrs constantly, happy to have a warm and loving home. It just takes patience, lots of it.

Hopefully you will experience this transition a little faster than we did. Every cat has its own individual schedule for adapting to changes. Daddycat probably won't bite you again once his pain and discomfort are gone but you will still have to be cautious.

I have long oven gloves that I put on that reach almost to the elbows which I keep handy. When a couple of the cats decide to get snarky with each other and I might have to separate them, on go the gloves! You have to remember that external or internal stress can cause them to fight. One cat might have a dream of being chased...opens its eyes and one of the other cats is walking past...it briefly thinks that's the culprit and reacts.

Daddycat just needs patience and love. Over time he will be fine. But until he stops feeling the discomfort of his surgery and gets some outdoor time, be cautious. And, get a long pair of oven gloves...they work great. Good luck to you, you are doing a wonderful thing by rescuing him.