My cat attacked me badly this evening and I'd be really grateful for any advice. Sorry if this is long but want to give any possibly relevant info.
We got him 7 years ago from rescue, he was around 16 weeks old. One of his sister's had a fracture and vet thought she may have been kicked. He's always been a bit of a nervous boy, but very affectionate when he gets to know you. He seemed nervous on his own, so a couple months after we got him we rescued another kitten. It took him a week or so to warm up to him, lots of hissing at first, but they're now best of friends. They do fight occasionally, but spend their days cuddled up together sleeping, and take turns to groom each other. Second cat is very laid back which I think helps.
Cat is not usually aggressive. He's not a fan of getting in the carrier, and when he knows he's going in and he's cornered he might give you a little swipe or a nip, but really feel it's a warning not that he's trying to hurt you.
Since we got him we've had 2 kids, currently 5 and 2. He tends to avoid the smaller one, but did with our eldest at first, but can be quite affectionate towards her now, giving head rubs and staying with her when he strokes him. He doesn't like being picked up and she's had a couple of warnings from him if she's tried, she's been told not to try.
I'd say he loves me most of anyone in the house. He'll snuggle up to me, he gives me lots of head rubs, and he's really happy to be stroked by me. He's generally very comfortable around me.
I'm the only person he's ever attacked aggressively. He's done it once before, I was lying in bed one morning next to eldest in the cot, who was 3 or 4 at the time. He'd been to see me in bed when he came in. Eldest kicked me or something so I suddenly sat up in bed and shouted out ow. He suddenly launched himself at me from behind, spitting, and sunk his claws into my back and arm hard. I don't know how I kept my composure but I turned around and spoke to him gently. I honestly felt that he hadn't realised it was me and thought I was someone else and a threat to the child, and I just needed to show him it was me and he would be ok. When he settled I got up and told husband, then got back into bed. When cat came back in the room he was really nervous, and sniffed around the whole bedroom. He was ok with me from that point until tonight.
Tonight I was sat on the sofa in my usual spot, had been there all evening and he knew I was there. He'd been sat on the cat barrel and I spoke to him from my seat. Other cat was cuddled up next to me as usual, I had a blanket over me and other cat saw movement under the blanket and suddenly pounced. I sat up and shouted ow, shooed other cat onto the floor and took the blanket off to check the new scratch on my leg. This is a thankfully quite rare occurrence, but has certainly happened numerous times over the years.
Very shortly afterwards, he got up and walked along the back of the sofa towards me, there were 3 seats and a table between us so quite far. He was quiet, and neither me nor husband paid him any attention really, so he mustn't have seemed very strange. Suddenly he launched at my head, dug all his claws in and was biting. I think I pushed him off with my arm and he came at me again. I managed to get my head down and pressed my face to the sofa so he couldn't get to it. I'm not sure if he jumped to the floor or husband shooed him down. He was hissing and his tail all bushed, I stayed still and got husband to get him out and shut the door. I'm lucky he didn't get my face, my scalp has been bleeding quite a lot, and is still painful now 2 hours later.
The only other thing I can think to mention, is that where I was sat was where my sister's dog sat for about 2 mins yesterday. We were in the garden the whole visit with cats upstairs, but we're in a terraced so had to bring the dog through the house and he walked in and jumped straight on the sofa. Sister got him off as soon as she had put her bags down, no more than 2 minutes. Husband is convinced he attacked me because he smelled the dog?
Another note on smell. We used to be able to take them to the vets separately, he might be a bit off with other cat when he returned but not terrible. Over the last few years he got much worse with that, hissing at him horribly for hours after we get back, to the point that we now take them to the vets together. He's ok if we do this. I looked this up and internet says it's non-recognition aggression.
At this point I'm feeling really upset, and not sure what to do. I love cat, he's been in our family for 7 years. He's usually loving and affectionate, if a little skittish. But tonight he's really injured me badly, and he wasn't cornered or anything. He approached me and attacked me, I wasn't even looking at him or talking to him. This wasn't a little swipe or a nip, this was the proper damage-causing stuff. I now actually feel scared of him (please don't think I'm pathetic). I feel like he's unpredictable and I'm not sure I want him around my children. Although to date, the only person he's ever properly attacked in 7 years has been me, twice.
My husband is convinced it's because of the dog smell. The attack occurred over 24 hours after the dog was there, I sat there all last night as well, kids have sat there today. I was wearing my dressing gown that I always wear, and that must absolutely stink of me as I haven't washed it in a good few weeks.
When he came back in, he was really nervous again, sniffing all around. His body was low and his tail was waving. He came up to me and I held my hand down for him to sniff. He did and gave a little head rub. I just sat as still as I could and spoke to him gently, basically too scared to move. I had no idea if he would attack me again.
I'm going to call the vet tomorrow morning and arrange to get him checked out. There's no reason to suspect any illness though, he's eating well, seems otherwise comfortable and happy.
Thank you so much if you've read this far, I hope I've included everything important. I'd be grateful for any advice or input. Other than the vet I don't know what to do. Please be kind though, I'm feeling a bit shaken up by all this, upset, and still bleeding. I just can't help thinking that if he'd attacked one of the kids and not me he could have really done a lot of damage, and that thought scares me.