My lovely cat has turned vicious! Help :(

[fluffy91]

This could be quite long so sorry!

I have 2 cats, one is friendly to me but not bothered about anyone else and will occasionally scratch and bite people when they go past.

The other one is half feral but was born here and has been kissed and cuddled every day of his life and is very affectionate.

Feral and his mother do not get on well but feral has always been friendly.
Other cat had an operation 2 weeks ago and for the first day or so feral cat was very aggressive to her and to all of us.

I have a ds who is 2.
He loves stroking feral cat. He's a bit uncoordinated but never hits, pinches, kicks him etc. I don't let him, he has to be gentle.

Yesterday feral cat growled once or twice near ds which i thought was a bit odd, then today he growled and hissed when ds stroked him and frightened him.
He's been hissing and spitting at me all day whenever i try to talk to him or touch him or even if i stand near him.

Whats happened?!

I'm not sure if i have the money to afford vets investigation to see if he's in pain and i can't keep an aggressive, volatile animal with ds.

I know rescues won't rehome an aggressive animal and i won't have him put down.

What do I do? :(

Hi. Just sent you a PM. x

If you are tight for money but want to get him checked out take him to the RSPCA vet. They have two different sets of fees, the cheapest being for those on benefits and then another rate for those on low incomes (less than £1000 per month I think).

Maybe try Feliway spray first in case he is feeling threatened which may be causing his behaviour.

has feral cat been neutered? as this may calm him down.

It could be that your ds bless him just might have done something like dropped a toy on him by mistake so he is a bit off colour with him. That happened with one of my children.

I got one that hisses and bites all the time anyone else but me (he is a rescue that was beaten for meowing) so they do rehome vicious cats if someone is prepared to take them.

One advantage is if a cat doesnt like you he wont go near you unless for food or to go outside. So keep a bed for him in a high spot away from your little boy and as long as he stays out of the cats "space" he should be ok.

It could be he is ill or has had a scrap with another cat and hurt himself. I would get him checked over just to be sure.

It is so sudden that I wonder if he is injured? mouth abcess,something like that? He may have been disturbed by the other cat's illness but that should have resolved nowI would have thought.It sounds as though he is either hurt or he has had a bad fright.Is your child ever alone with him? Might he have bashed him by accident? I would take him to the vet right away tbh,if he was mine.He does sound as though he needs a proper check.