Hello I’m having a major issue!
my DD has just turned 4 years old and we’ve had our cat Harry since he was a kitten (he’s 1 now) and they have always had a really good relationship. She has always known to treat him kindly and although she is loud and runs around a lot he has never been that bothered by it and they got on so well.
Recently The cat has been fluffing his fur up when I try to open one specific window in the house but I thought nothing of it since he never went for me, but something happened about a month ago (after the window thing started so this is not what caused him to be weird at that window) where me and my DD and the cat were all at the window and I opened it and he just went nuts, DD reached out for him when he was already annoyed and this resulted in her being scratched really badly on the face and blood was drawn it was honestly traumatic! Ever since then he has been really on edge around her and it’s gotten so bad she can’t even walk about our own house or go out the front door without him chasing her or puffing himself up😓
now I am so scared to even do anything in my own home with her incase she gets hurt again, and making loud noises or trying to physically get him away just makes him react worse as he won’t run away he will just get more annoyed. You also can’t touch or pick him up when he’s in fight mode he will just attack you so I don’t know how to remove him from the situation either. He doesn’t leave us alone constantly watching her then reacting head on instead of running away which shows he’s not scared so I don’t know what’s causing it? Unless it is fear but I don’t understand why he’s been scared in the first place.
anyway my mum is going to take him to her house and he’s getting neutered soon so hopefully this will help because he is an angel when it’s just me with him. He runs away from strangers that enter the house just is willing to fight DD head on when she does something he doesn’t like. It’s really taken a toll mentally so I feel like removing him completely is the best option which also saddens me as he’s always been such a sweetheart, he is sleeping on her pillow as we speak while she snoozes away so I don’t understand the random bouts of aggression he has with her now so randomly.