My cat attacked me now I'm scared

[Elfontheshelfs]

My cat is 5 he has never even scratched me before viscously attacked me as I went to feed him I ended up needing 9 staples in my head. I love him so much but I'm terrified to even be in the same room as him. I've taken him to the vets nothing is wrong he is a indoor cat and I stupidly didn't get him done as he was such a good boy. He is booked in for next week. I really want to keep him but how can I not be so scared of him even just seeing him sends me into a panic my partner has been looking after him and I've kept him separate from me since and has been about a week now.

Do you mean you have taken him to the vet after the attack and they said nothing is wrong? If so, what tests did they do?

Can you let him outside?

Get him checked for illness or injury if this behaviour is not the norm

Wow, the amount of people saying get rid of him or worse - put him to sleep, for one attack. These people should not own pets if they give up so easily on what could be a medical condition or something like misdirected aggression. I can't believe what I'm reading.

OP, get him neutered then see how his behaviour is then. Guaranteed he'll be 95% more placid.

Oh I'm so sorry OP. I was attacked by my cat similar to you. I was knelt down in the kitchen and he crept up and jumped on my face. I had two huge gashes on my face, on my arm and he also ripped out some of my hair and put puncture marks around my hair line. It was terrifying honestly. I'm left with permanent scars to my face and arm. I couldn't be in the same room as him for a few weeks. When I eventually tried he did it again about a week later, snuck up behind me and went for me. We'd only had him a month or so from a rescue so a bit different to you but he was also inside cat at the time. After the 2nd time we took him back to the rescue. I felt awful but I just couldn't trust him at all and I was petrified in my own home. It took me years to be able to be comfortable with cats again. It's a tough decision but if you can't live with him you can't. If he was a dog people would understand. I found people were very dismissive even amused despite the clearly bad injuries I had. Again if he were a dog you/others wouldn't question it.

Oh and just to mention he was neutered. He'd been indoors as we were getting him used to the environment. So just be aware neutering might not help if the issue is he wants to be outside or something else set him off.

Crikey - some of these stories are just awful! @Yaty especially

We've always had cats and thankfully nothing like this has ever happened . Ours have always been spayed/neutered as soon as poss and also let outdoors from around 4 months old onwards.

I can imagine a strong male cat with outbound claws could be very dangerous .

I would only advise the OP to do what she feels comfortable with and if that means re-homing the cat - so be it.

Once has been neutered perhaps put on a bike helmet and thick gloves and layer up when around him? until you feel you can trust him again. Might look silly but that's what I would do.

Yes you're right, we allow ours out and both are neutered and they also got each other to play with, so I guess that makes a difference to their behaviour.

Being PTS is not the worst thing that can happen to an animal. I have never before heard of such severe injuries being inflicted unprovoked by a domestic cat. It would be completely irresponsible to keep him alive.

Ask the vet to give him a brain scan while he’s under anaesthetic for the neutering.

I was just thinking this. What on earth were you thinking not getting him done and then keeping him indoors?

You let that cat down & now you act the scared victim when he’s the victim in all this your the human with the ability to use critical thinking skills (unfulfilled ability in your case) you had the opportunity to prevent this.

You should foster for a cat rescue...🤣 I have been bitten, scratched and attacked and have quite a few permanent scars. However, it has always been either due to an aggravating factor such as another animal or more likely due to something a human has done to it and NOT the poor cats faults.

There is absolutely no need to kill an un-neutered male cat that has been kept indoors for 5 years because for an unknown reason it attacked it's crouching owner once.

Fortunately, the OP has realised it's probably her fault and is willing to try to rectify the problem.

@IttyBittyLittleKittyhave you ever had 9 stitches from a single incident? Of course it’s not his fault-but he is a potentially dangerous animal.

A entire Tom cat kept inside was just asking for trouble - I’m honestly shocked you made it this long without having any issues.

Get him neutered and let the poor boy out to roam!

He’s only potentially dangerous because he is an entire male cat that’s been kept locked up inside for his entire life.

I am sorry you were hurt , this is one of the reasons why its so important to get cats neurtured. All vets and pet shelters will tell you to do this ,it's the responsible thing to do as pet owner. If this isn't in his nature , something has happened to trigger this. Either a female cat nearby probably and he's misplaced his frustration, or there is undiagnosed medical condition. I don't believe a normally placid cat will just do this for no apparent reason.

I'm glad you are sorting this and getting him done rather than just giving up on him, and hopefully you can work this out.

I have had multiple deep scratches and even a bite or ten from Tobias, including big splashes of blood trailing across the floor as I ran to the sink. But in his case I knew perfectly well that he was a very untrusting, scared ex-stray and I was encroaching on his "safe space" or even trying to catch him (for the vet). He's even caught me quite badly with his claws when I was offering him some chicken more than once!

So yes he hurt me pretty badly (though nothing like the OP) and there is absolutely no way would I have him PTS or send him back to the rescue for that. I've worked out his "safe spaces" and never offer him anything or even encroach on him there e.g. behind one curtain in the cats bedroom, or bottom shelf of the linen rack (except on vet trip days, and then he will have had Gabapentin).

So I agree with various PP that it's a case of get him neutered asap, and try to work out what the trigger was.

But the pp who commented on the strong smell of tom cat pee, sadly this doesn't always go after neutering. Tobias would have been around 2.5 when he was done, and his pee still REEKS about 2.5 years later!

Yes it’s annoying that it does persist for some cats, especially those neutered later on. It should help a bit though.

On the plus side though, they do often have those really cute puffy tomcat cheeks 😀

I’m really sorry OP that must’ve been frightening. I’ve had cats for years and never had an incident like it. How are you now are you recovering ok? Any more aggression from the cat?
We’ve had only one incident with one of our 3 - she was being chased by a bigger cat through the cat flap and climbed up DH’s leg to get away and left him with quite deep scratches (nothing that needed medical attention). It sounds really scary what happened to you!

Please be careful.

When I was in my 20's a work mate said she needed to move and could I please look after her cat. I agreed.

I loved him, he was so soft and cuddly. He followed me like a little shadow.

One night he heard cats meowing outside, turned around and launched himself at my boyfriends head. He needed Stitches and the doctor said he had been close to losing his eye.

I was horrified, I never knew a cat could do so much damage. He was black nd blue and looked like a large dog had attacked his face.

But I was young and really didn't want to give up my cat. I convinced boyfriend that if we had him neutered, and maybe let him out, he obviously wouldn't do it again.

And for a few months I was right. Until I wasn't. He attacked again, this time with no provocation that I could tell.

Luckily I managed to find a lady who permanently takes in wild and violent cats. But it broke my heart.

Thankyou everyone he will be getting neutered on Tuesday. He has shown no aggressive behaviour since. I think the way I reacted to him growling at me is partly why I was attacked and my kitchen is small so couldn't get past him to leave. when my partner got home he also growled at him but he didn't act scared and my cat rolled straight onto his back. I do love him so much so I'm going to try my best moving forward. I have admitted not having him neutered is my fault I stupidly thought as he has never been aggressive he didn't need it and understand that was wrong now. As for the PP saying I'm 'acting scared' I'm not acting scared I bloody am there was blood everywhere and the cat kept jumping and running up my body biting me i was home alone and it was traumatic.

@Elfontheshelfsyou've every right to feel scared. Like I said if it was a dog noone would question it. Unless you've had it happen it is hard to imagine. Those posters saying why didn't you just move him, when my cat did it he was fully attached to my face and head, claws in my scalp biting with his back legs scratching my face. My partner had to peel him off me with difficulty and you were alone. I hope getting neutered helps but please be careful.

It would’ve been really scary and traumatic. If it was a dog no one would expect you not to be scared. I’m glad the aggression has tailed off a bit. Dcat will be fine getting neutered, neither of my boys seemed phased by it just hungry after it. I hope it soon changes his behaviour. Do you have any means to let him outside? Could boredom play a role in his aggression?

Exactly this. And unspayed females kept indoors are even worse. One put a whole family in hospital. After she was neutered she was fine.

He's not neutered. That's almost certainly the problem. Boredom may make him unhappy, but not aggressive.