Question:
Like others who have written, we have a psycho cat named Teddy whom we really love. We've had him since he was 4 days old. Teddy was feral, born in the wild and rescued by us, and has not been raised with other cats. He was bottle-fed until he was weaned. He is litterbox trained, beautiful, clean and black and white in appearance. Most of the time, he is calm. But we never know when he will go into "psycho mode," which entails hissing, biting, scratching and attacking anyone around, including our dog. After his attack, he settles down, curls up in a ball, and sleeps. Even our vet can't handle him -- the cat has to be sedated first.
Teddy is a house cat, but goes out in our backyard every day. He loves the yard and is content to stay within the fencing. How can we treat or modify Teddy's cat rages?
D. & B.F., Virginia Beach, Va Nov 28, 2010
Answer:
Your cat could simply be upset by an encounter with a rival cat outside or one who came by and marked Teddy's territory. Making your yard cat-proof with a cat-fence addition (various designs are available online) on the top of any existing fence may be your answer.
Try remotivating him with dangling and wriggling interactive toys to catch and "kill." See if he likes catnip (dry herb or tea) -- this could have a calming effect. You do not say how old Teddy is. The older he is, the greater the chance of his having thyroid cancer, one of the signs being increased aggression and irritability. If Teddy is very old, he could have painful arthritis or be developing dementia, even Alzheimer's disease. A full veterinary checkup may be advisable to rule out any possibly treatable physical causes for his psycho behavior.
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