Aggressive Cat!

[Ditsythespider]

I really need some help with my cat.
I got her as a rescue cat about a year ago when she was 8 months old.
I really hadn’t wanted a kitten or younger cat I wanted an old cat but the re homing shelter wouldn’t let me have an old cat as I had young children in the house and they like to re home older cats in houses that are quiet.

So anyway straight away my cat was a bit high maintenance. Almost immediately she was getting into fights with other cats and bringing home dead bird and mice. I assumed it was just her marking her territory because she was in a new home and since then her behaviour has slowly gotten worse and worse to the point I’m finding her difficult to live with.

I’m now at a point where she is bringing home at least 3 dead birds, mice, moths, bees whatever she can get hold of a day. I know cats bring home gifts but this is so much more excessive. I’ve had cats all my life and grown up with them and never had a cat who bring home this level of ‘gifts’.
Now I’m guessing she’s discovered a mice nest locally - we live near farms and she has brought home 14 mice since yesterday morning some dead some alive that I’ve had to catch and get rid of but this is in under 24 hours!
She started about a month ago weeing on my pillow, and it’s only my pillow she wees on no one else’s. I’m single and she literally wees on my pillow. I have a double bed but always sleep on the same side and it’s always my pillow she wees on.
At first I thought maybe she had been caught short but threw away the pillow because I didn’t want her scent on it.
But since then she has continued to wee on it every chance she can and has now stated pooing on it too. I’m spending a small fortune in pillows at the moment.
She has a cat flap to get in and out and already had litter downstairs before this started. I put extra litter upstairs after this to see if it made a difference but I didn’t. I shut my door constantly now but the second I forget she’s in. I was in the shower the other day and left my door open she walked upstairs and I knew what she was going to do, jumped out of the shower to run and get her but she was already weeing on my pillow when I got there.
She knows it’s wrong because as soon as I caught her she ran out of the house.
She somehow knows how to open cupboards so if she comes in through the cat flap when I’m out she knocks her food out of the cupboards on to the floor, she then rips every shred of food she has open and then leaves it and doesn’t it eat so it’s wasted. She has wet food three times a day and constantly has dried food and water down so I know it’s not that she’s hungry.
She also pinches food. I could put her dinner down and if I feed my children at the same time she will jump on to the table and try to pinch food from their plates.
I know she likes her cat food because she happily eats it once the kids have finished eating.
I try to feed her first so she’s full when the children get their food but it makes no difference she eats and eats and eats until she’s sick and then I have to clean vomit up.

Today I was making packed lunches for my kids and heard her come in, next minute I heard my dd screaming so ran to her and the cat had dropped a injured bird on her bed. I got her up and out of bed took the bird downstairs and as I went through to the back door the cat was on the kitchen counter top eating the packed lunches I was half way though making when she had brand new opened food on the floor. Again she knows this is wrong because every time she gets caught she runs out of the cat flap.

She is constantly acting aggressively toward my dd but not my son. My dd will be sat playing and I’ll see the cat sink her chest down to the floor and stick her tail up in the air then she pounces at her I usually stop it in time but if I’m not in the room she will scratch my dd.
She is fine with my son and let’s him play without attacking him.
She also sits at the opposite side of the house to us constantly she doesn’t seem to want to interact with us or enjoy being in our company at all.
When my brother comes round to visit him she’s like a different cat can’t leave him alone and is purring and jumping up at him all the time so I don’t even know if it’s a male / female thing because she’s a female cat and is so aggressive towards to me and dd.
She’s quite awful to the local cats too, she sits outside the house often and fights with any cat that crosses her path. The neighbours have also complained previously about her scratching their dog through the fence.

I have been to vet and there’s is nothing physically wrong with her, shes flead and wormed at the vets every month, they suggested some plug in calmer things that didn’t make a difference.

I’m absolutely sick of her behaviour it’s like she’s a feral cat. I’ve always been someone who said I wouldn’t re home a cat but I’ll be honest if I thought someone would take her off my hands I’d happily give her away right now. She’s making life miserable for everyone. But the truth is no one is going to want her with her behaviour so I need to find a way to cope with her. As it is at the moment we are having to keep every door in the house closed so she can’t get into different rooms because she’ll be bringing small animals in and leaving them or weeing on pillows.

How old are the children and which litter do you use?

Oh dear!

It sounds like she's not the right fit for your home. She sounds like a fabulous mouser though- do you think any of the local farms would be interested in taking her?

Sounds like she'd be happy enough spending her days out and about hunting with a warm barn to sleep in and some food.

Children are 7 and 8 now they were 6/7 when we were looking.
We use Cat San litter and she will use both litter trays up and down stairs but if I open my door as soon as she realises it’s open she’s on my pillow weeing i feel like it’s more of a scent marking thing that she’s doing which is why I try and replace the pillows so there’s no scent but it’s getting silly I’ve bought 6 pillows this month.
Because I’m not used to closing my door I sometimes forget.

I don’t know if a farm would re home her. She was found as a stray kitten before going to the shelter and I think maybe she still acts like she is a stray but I don’t really know how to make her a family cat. I try sitting her with me and stroking her which she hates. I leave her and she won’t sit anywhere near me. I try and stroke her as I pass and she growls at me maybe it’s me lol

Sorry half a sentence it would be good if I could find a farm that would rehome her but at the same time I worry that she would hate it and I’ve left her in the wilderness. If I could just get her to be a bit less aggressive that would be enough.

She might well be a mans cat.

Does he want her?.

My brother has 2 dogs so I don’t think that would work otherwise it would be ideal.
I think I’m in it for the long haul aren’t I? Or at least until she gets older and stops jumping on stuff and mousing.
It’s just getting miserable especially the amount of mice she’s brought home the last few days. I’m scared one is going to get into the house without me knowing and start having babies.
She’s brought another live one back this morning thankfully I’m home so I locked the cat flap and didn’t let her in until the mouse was gone but it’s overnight and when I’m out that’s the problem it’s nearly winter so I don’t want to leave her locked out but she’s sometimes out until early morning and if I don’t leave the cat flap unlocked she literally howls until she wakes me (and half the street) up if I leave it open I usually wake up to dead mice in my lounge.
I’ve basically ended up with a nightmare cat haven’t I 🙈 I cant believe how many cats I’ve lived with and the problems this one is causing. I had 4 growing up ( 2 sisters and then when they got old and died 2 brothers) then when I moved out I bought my lovely little boy cat who died about 2 years ago so then I thought I’d get this little lovely cat except she’s basically feral.

Do you play with her much? Just thinking that might use up a bit of her energy and help her bond with you. Young cats often aren’t much into petting or sitting on laps. Don’t read too much into her fawning over your brother - nervous animals will often do this as a way to “appease” a stranger.
Might it be better to block the cat flap and just let her in and out of a window or door? Then she can’t bring her ‘presents’ into the house so easily. Will she wear a collar with a bell?
You could set up a warm bed for her in a shed/garage/utility/outdoor kennel so she’s got somewhere to go if she seems unhappy being inside (not suggesting locking her out - just giving her the option).
I know it seems like they do this stuff to spite us but try to remember that they don’t think like that. She sounds anxious. She is probably peeing on your pillow because it’s the place that smells most strongly of you - so it feels safe - and now it’s become a habit. She definitely won’t be punishing you, however much it feels that way!

You need to contact the rescue that you rehomed her through. They will be able to place her in a more suitable environment if you know you don’t want to continue to care for her.

Sorry cross posted - see you’ve already tried shutting catflap.

@AmazingAardvark you’ve given me some brilliant suggestions there thank you.

I’m actually embarrassed I’ve not thought of a noisy collar

Presume she has been spayed / neutered?

Found as a stray kitten, eh?

She probably is a feral cat then. They aren't at all easy. I know, I've had one.

You've had some good advice already, and the only ideas I have are to try Feliway plug-ins all round the house, and to give her one of your pillows in a cat bed downstairs. If she has one of her own, then she might leave yours alone.

Try leaving food on your pillow,she might be less likely to pee where there are treats?

Try a different litter?

Re litter, try a clumping one, they are so much better, our cat scrabbles in her tray enthusiastically. Have a look at Jackson Galaxy’s videos on youtube, they may give you some help.

I know you said you’ve been to the vet, but have they specifically checked her thyroid function?
The ferocious appetite, continual eating and hunting, plus aggressive behaviour can all be symptoms of a hyperactive thyroid.
If it’s not that, then she may just be feral, and was not adequately socialised when a kitten. That would fit with stressed dominance behaviour, such as peeing on your pillow as you’re perceived as the dominant person in the house, and the avoidance of petting and lap sitting.
My current rescue cat was a little like this on arrival - peeing in inappropriate places such as the carpet by the front door, lots of hunting and bringing in vermin to play with, and trying to bite or scratch with no apparent provocation. It wasn’t nearly as bad as you’re going through though, and she settled in a couple of weeks. I gave her space and didn’t try to force any interaction at first, and tried cat based behaviour myself such as the slow blink to give reassurance, and avoiding prolonged eye contact. When she bit me, I gently cuffed her nose the way a mother cat cuffs a kitten who gets too rowdy. She was quite taken aback, and only tried it once more a few days later, with the same result.
We now have a good relationship- she sleeps on my bed, curls up beside me on the sofa, purrs contentedly and leads me to her cupboard when she wants fed. She enjoys playing games with me, chasing her toy bird on a string.
She’s still an excellent mouser - my DC call her the Verminator! - but I need that as my house gets plagued with field mice from the barley fields behind my garden.

Thanks for the replies, the vet checked her thyroid he said it could be thyroid causing the problem but her said the results came back with normal function and she was wormed at the same time. I’d always just bought worming tablets for her but he said that could be the cause of her constantly trying to get at food and the tablets of bought might not be good enough but I saw no evidence of worms to be honest.
Since then I’ve paid into a scheme at the vets where she’s goes every month and gets a worming tablet and flea treatment for a year they weight her every time so they know it’s the right amount she’s getting with her still being young they said her weight will be increasing so this way she’s getting the full amount.
She was already neutered when I got her they did that at the shelter I got her from.
The pillow is a good idea for her bed as are the cat treats. I tried the plug ins for about 3 months and they made no difference but I’m wondering if I should’ve persevered longer maybe.

I’ll have a look at the videos on YouTube thanks and the litter. I feel like if I can just fix any one of the problems for now I’ll be happier.

Re: the collar. You can get extra loud bells. And try to get two bells on there (in different places if possible) - that made a big difference for my adorable serial killer of a cat. I guess they can learn to keep one bell still while hunting, but two is more of a challenge!

Bonus: you’ll hear her if she sneaks into your room/the kitchen counter.

The bbc did a cat behaviour show where a cat was weeing on the bed, they replaced the tray with a 50l plastic storage box with a good 2 inches of ultra clumping litter & the cat started using the tray & not the bed.

Ultra clumping is very soft on their paws.

I took my cat in at a similar age to yours. All was fine at first then he suddenly started peeing on my bed. Whipped him off to the vets who gave him a clean bill of health. Suggested I played with him and gave him treats on the bed to change the association and it worked! No issues in over 18 months now x

@AmazingAardvark I’m currently on day 3 of the collar with double bells.
Day one she brought back one mouse, but since then I think the mice must’ve quickly gotten used to the noise because (touch wood) I’ve had nothing since, which is very unusual for her. I would’ve normally had at least 9 mice through my door in that time frame.
It’s also really good because I can hear where she is in the house so if I hear her heading for the stairs I can nip up and double check all the doors are closed which has stopped her weeing on my pillow too.
Trying to to get too over excited just yet lol.

Just saw this - hope improvement has continued! To warn you, mine loses her collar a lot when she’s out hunting so get a stash in. And please make sure they are quick-release collars, not a buckle or elasticated - that’s super important!