[Angela_Grace]

Pierre, my 2yr old monster has always been very physical. He hates being held and switches moods worse than anything anyone has ever seen. He can be sweet, cuddly and adorable & then as soon as he's done being loved on - he'll switch gears and want to tear my hands apart. I've never understood why he is like that and summed it up to it just being his personality. Is there a way to get him to be all cuddly and lovable for more than just a few minutes?

Also - I've seen a few of those shows about horrible cats and how they get them to listen and behave - but I just can't get my cat to end up like that. He has toys, things to climb on, plenty of food/water AND love....I just don't get it.
Can someone begin to explain to me why he has these mood swings? I've just learned to accept that his personality is just aggressive with a slight mix of love. :/
I should mention that at night - he'll find his little spot close to my pillow and snooze with me through the night but as soon as the sun comes up, it's back to being evil. Once, I woke up to him biting my wrist for no apparent reason. :/

 

[dweamgoil]

I am not qualified to advise on ferals, but some cats get over-stimulated very easily, and will attack when they are being petted, stroked, or played with. It is very important to watch for cues in the cat's body language that this is happening and to stop petting them or playing before they can switch gears. They eventually learn to control themselves and to tolerate touch and play without getting all hog wild about it.

If this is what is happening among other things, of course; as soon as the cat begins to get nippy or scratchy, stop giving any attention; walk away and ignore the cat until it comes back later for more attention. If you can, you may put kitty in a quiet room for a brief time out, but this must be done immediately after the offending behavior. If not, just walking away will suffice. In other words, reinforce the good behavior and ignore the undesirable behavior. When kitty is being good, shower it with lots of love, attention, and treats. When it's being bad, ignore, ignore, ignore.

I would also lock kitty out of the bedroom until you can get the cat to understand that it needs to control himself. They sometimes play when you jerk in your sleep and if you're not awake to catch this... Some cats even try to play with people's eyelids when they are dreaming...ouch!

Cats are usually aggressive because they feel threatened or insecure. It's also important to give kitty lots of places to decompress away from people until they are ready to interact less guardedly.

Hope this helps

 

[Angela_Grace]

That makes a lot of sense! I should give him an area that is away from where "the people" usually are, which would give him his OWN sense of ownership. I have his cat bungalow, bed & toys in my bedroom - his litterbox in the bathroom and almost no other toys anywhere else. I suppose mixing his things and mine can be confusing and would never really give him "me" time. Haha!

I will take your advice! Thank you.

 

[Dave_ph]

Is he fixed? Because that was a big part of the latest "Cat from ****" episode.

 

[dweamgoil]

Is he fixed? Because that was a big part of the latest "Cat from ****" episode.

Good point, Dave.

 

[Angela_Grace]

Oooh Dave, you betcha! He was fixed as soon as he became of age. I can't quite remember when, but I do recall my vet telling me that as soon as he reached that age - to bring him right in. I was told that it would not only improve his behavior, but keep him from marking his territory.
He's NEVER marked his territory (not even sure if he can if he wanted to...ha!) but his behavior is still up in the air. I mean, maybe it's just because he is naturally crazy?

 

[catloverami]

How old was your feral cat when you got Pierre? I ask because if he didn't receive a lot of handling from the time he was born and up to around 12 weeks of age he was never really properly socialized with people. If he was taken away from his momacat and litter mates before before 6 wks. he was never socialized with his litter mates to learn to control his bite or claws. So he may have never really learned bite control that well. dweamgoil has given you some good suggestions how to deal with him. You might also consider "clicker training", or using a voice command to "come" and then giving a treat. You want to substitute his biting behavior with coming on command for a treat (or substitute a toy, rolled ball of paper or such). As soon as he starts to attack or bite walk away----no treat or toy. He should catch on that he has to behave well if he wants a treat or toy but biting isn't going to get him anywhere. Good luck!