| Paw Colors | Points |
|---|---|
| Grey | 0-49 |
| Red | 50-149 |
| Orange | 150-299 |
| Green | 300-599 |
| Magenta | 600-1499 |
| Purple | 1500-4999 |
| Blue | 5000-9999 |
| Brown | 10000-24999 |
| Black | 25000+ |
Rather long post - SORRY!
My tom cat is approx. 3 years old. I adopted him from a shelter 2 months ago where he was given to the them as the owners were neglecting him/didn’t care. He was a friendly stray for at least 1 year prior to me adopting him and he now has FIV and is an indoor cat as a result. He’s neutered and healthy. He’s also settling in to his new life very fast although he still begs to go outside. He has a secure balcony but it’s obviously not what he’s used to. He’s getting better with that every day though so I’m not worried about it any more.
I have the exact same problem as this post describes (please read):
biting kitty
But there’s more too him and I’m starting a new thread as I think the issues may be linked together.
I have tried pulling him off me but he’s
very
strong and I feel I am using too much force to apply this method. I have also tried the NO shout at various levels but only without result or with the result of scaring him which is not really ideal. The water pistol idea is great in theory, but who wants to walk around like a cowboy with a plastic gun strapped to their belt all day long for the sake of a single squirt? Well, maybe some, but it’s not really my style…
The other thing which I think is related is that he is incredibly vocal. Not necessarily loud, just frequent, persistent and random. It’s not because he’s hungry, wants to play or wants direct attention. If I didn’t know any better I would say he’s playing a prank on me. He will sit next to my chair and start off with a guttural sound (like a door creaking really) and if I don’t look at him he will keep miawing louder and louder. If I keep ignoring him he will stretch out and tap his paws on my thigh. He’s never bitten me in these situation - he just talks.
If I pander to him and look at him he will often stifle his miawing like he’s forgotten what he wanted in the first place and look at me puzzled. 9 times out of 10 he will then be quiet. If I try to pet him or otherwise interact with him he usually walks away. His meal time cries are different and they are not part of the issue.
I don’t use my hands to play with him, ever, so I’m not encouraging him to the aggressive behaviour towards people. He must have learned this as a kitten from his previous owners and I’m at a loss now. He attacked my sister yesterday in the kitchen as she was sitting on the floor trying to fix the oven and not while she was interacting with him, which is what is really giving me cause for worry. He was miawing at her but that’s nothing new as he does that all the time anyway. Any new ideas would be very much appreciated.
He is otherwise a fairly normal cat in the sense that he’s absolutely bonkers like all others. He eats well, plays LOTS and with most toys and like a short fuss but can’t sit still long enough for a full petting session.
As I wrote this he was quiet but just now he’s walking around ‘creaking’ at me. Some might find it cute, but it’s fast becoming very annoying in the long run as it’s all day every day… I need serious advise, please…
Keywords: aggressive, Attention, biting, Crying, hind leg scratching, ignoring, kicking, meeow, miaw, play, vocal
Answers to this question
4 Answers
4
Do you know how old he was when he was neutered? I wonder if he was neutered a bit later in his life and if this aggression (which is typical of unneutered males) has thus just become his habit.
Hopefully the aggression is really just something that was taught/tolerated in his old home and he needs time to \\\”unlearn\\\” it. The fact that he was a stray for a year could also contribute to that. He\\\’s had actual experience hunting in the wild, fending for himself, so perhaps for him, he was \\\”hunting\\\” your sister. I would just urge you to continue with the loud noise/ignore tactic. If yelling NO doesn\\\’t work, try shaking a canister of dried beans or making some other loud sound at him.
Perhaps this is part of his adjustment period - the meowing, that is? How long was he in the shelter? Did they mention the excessive vocalizing? If it wasn\\\’t a part of his normal behavior before, perhaps he\\\’s just talking to make sure you\\\’re there. When I adopted my B-Rock (who was also neglected and mostly kept outdoors), he did all sorts of weird things that screamed ABANDONMENT ISSUES! We were his 5th home in less than a year. He is still excessively clingy to me, but he\\\’s calmed down.
I wish I could be more help!! 
If I come up with any strokes of genius I will certainly share!!!
(And thank you for this awesome visual… hilarious: \\\” who wants to walk around like a cowboy with a plastic gun strapped to their belt all day long for the sake of a single squirt?\\\” I just unpacked my cowboy costume from a few Halloweens ago… I just may have to do this! hehe…)
4
I have a himalayan male who was fixed at least four years ago, so his excessive vocalization is not a left over habit. He eats and tells me he wants to go out, but when I go to let him out he doesn\\\’t want to go. Two minutes later more meowing. Constant until I go to let him out, but then he won\\\’t go, and may even eat more. Maybe he just wants to look outside, because I have no windows low enough for him to look out. Cats can be so emotional - and none of them will take up English as a second language. I would suggest leaving squirt guns in the two or three places most likely to be needed. When my cats ignore my \\\’No\\\’, a clap of the hands will get their attention. The attack on the sister sounds like jealousy or envy. The excessive meowing seems to be telling you that he wants out (so he walks away from petting). He knows he can\\\’t go out, but thinks he can convince you otherwise if he is persistent. My cat\\\’s meow to go out actually sounds like \\\’out.\\\’ Only two of my cats ever try to hold me. One is male, and the other is female, and both have been fixed, but the action seems to be motivated by a desire for closeness, but only happens when they are lying on their backs or sides - so I no longer pet them at such times.
1
I\\\’m having some problems with this site. I\\\’m trying to reply or to comment and then my comments etc disappear. Am I going nuts? I\\\’m also not getting any notification emails. So I\\\’m sorry if I\\\’m messing things up a little.
1
Response to Fraggle\\\’s answer (cuz my comment didn\\\’t post EITHER! HA!):
You\\\’re not going nuts!! 
The comments haven\\\’t been working lately. Well, they work about half the time. I\\\’ve been copying my comment posts before I hit \\\”Post Comment,\\\” just in case it doesn\\\’t go through. Then I just paste it into the Answer section & deal with it that way. It\\\’s been REALLY irritating. I haven\\\’t been getting notifications, either, so who knows. This site goes wonky on occasion & there don\\\’t seem to be attentive moderators to fix it.
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