[nin514]

Hello, I was hoping someone could help me with a problem I just had with my 10 month old male cat. He has not been fixed yet, but he has an appointment in 2 weeks. I also have one of his female litter mates. They have always been strictly indoor cats, but today it was really pretty out, and they were whining at the windows so I decided to let them out for a bit...
The male cat dashed off. He finally came back 2 hours later and immediately attacked the female cat. Had her squealing. He was being very rough, and he'd never done this before. I went to break it up, and he literally jumped up on my face, and started scratching. When he was finished, I was covered in blood. And I think I need stitches on my lip. I'm really tore up now, and he's outside because my parents are afraid he'll do it again to someone else.
Has he gone crazy? Is this just a behavior problem, or could there be a health problem? I'm oblivious as to what to do about this. I don't know whether to make him stay outside, let him in and see if he acts ok.. I just don't know. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[drjean]

Let him in, but keep them separated. An inexperienced cat outside for the first time is likely to get himself injured or killed.

NEVER let an unneutered cat outside. That's a recipe for trouble in many ways! In fact, I recommend never letting cats outside at all--much too dangerous. You just discovered one of the many reasons why!

Most likely what happened is he had an unpleasant encounter with another cat. He was scared and upset, and so took he out his frustration on sis. That's called "redirected aggression." An unneutered tomcat can be *very* aggressive.

Up till now, he didn't know about outside. Now he does, and you may have problems in the future keeping him in.

If the female is not spayed, you have a real potential problem there. She could already be pregnant. He could be out there now making kittens--in a world where 8 million animals die in shelters every year! That is NOT an option! Please get him neutered ASAP!

And get yourself to the ER--cat scratches and bites can become severely infected.

Good luck!
Dr. Jean

 

[nin514]

Thanks so much for the information. He's back in the house, and calmed down a lot. I also had the neutering moved up to Saturday, so that will be taken care of soon. Seems he's going to be fine now. And so am I. Thanks again.

 

[Mike]

Hi!

Have you had the opportunity to be looked at, yourself? As Dr. Jean mentioned, you definitely want to do that, so you do not end up with some infected scratches. Better safe than sorry.

Keep us informed as to how things are progressing for both you and the kitty.

Welcome to the forum, BTW.

Peace,
Mike

 

[nin514]

Hi Mike... my uncle is a doctor, so he looked at it and gave me some antibiotics. It was mostly minor scratches, but he got me really good on the lip. Luckily, it didn't need stitches. Dude (my boy), appears to be readjusting right now. We're just trying to give him lots of peace and quiet. Thanks for your concern! I really look forward to exploring the forums.