Ambushed by a Cat!
Ambushed & wounded by an orange tabby
It had been a rough day, topped-off by stop and don’t go traffic on I-25. Jenny was frazzled when she pulled into the garage and came inside through the laundry room. Her husband Phil was already camped-out on the couch, wine glass in hand, watching the 6 o’clock news. Their orange tabby cat, PJ, rested next to Phil, gently rubbing his head on his daddy’s thigh. Chihuahua “Micky” was curled up on Phil’s other side. A placid scene. Jenny kicked off her shoes, poured herself a glass, and headed for her spot on the other side of PJ.
Jenny badly needed to decompress with her good husband but, when crossing the room, she caught movement on her right. A fuzzy orange missile had launched for the back of her head and met its target before she could bob or weave. PJ’s claws sunk into her scalp as Merlot splashed on, well, everybody. Jenny was frightened and in pain.
Phil jumped up to help, interrupting Shelly Robando mid-sentence. While dabbing and rinsing his wife’s bleeding head, a low growl was heard. PJ was crouched in the doorway behind them with ears flattened, tail switching, laser focused on Jenny.
Phil understood that a showdown with an agitated cat could only lead to further casualties. Holding a bath towel in front of his head and chest, he slowly covered PJ. He then fetched a cardboard box and quickly set it over the dangerous beast. Down on his hands and knees he pushed his incarcerated kitty into the spare bedroom and closed the door.
What in the #$%! was going on here? Jenny and Phil had no idea. They love PJ. But can you ever trust a pet with a criminal past? A restraining order seemed impractical. Call the Animal Welfare Department? Human welfare would be a better idea. Their veterinarian had given them my card when they’d divulged PJ’s previous, lesser, aggression toward the woman who loved him. It was time to get serious.
A good cat gone bad?
Quiz: Why would PJ attack his person Jenny?
- He didn’t like the way she smelled
- She was dressed like a sparrow
- PJ is a natural predator who was already agitated
- He blames his mother for his problems
Cats are not dogs with short ears nor do their motivations resemble other species, including ours. They follow their own rules, regarded by some as wild animals we keep as pets. Those who fit best in a loving home were genetically programmed to adapt. Exposure to gentle interactions with people and other domestic creatures, since early kittenhood, is another plus. Strictly indoor kitties can struggle in their confinement; they need more.
Jenny and Phil adopted PJ when he was a baby. He was treated with kindness by them and by their Chihuahua Mickey. PJ was a good cat most of the time but a deeper dive revealed unsettling events, what his pet parents described as “bullying.”
Micky is a nice little guy the neighbors might never notice. Smaller than PJ, and a veritable canine saint, he does his best to mind his own business. When happily exiting through the pet door for his evening trip to the loo he’s been mercilessly ambushed by a lurking orange tabby. PJ carries out these surprise attacks much as he would if he were stalking prey.
If PJ had to survive in the wild, he would spend his evenings quietly lying in wait for an unsuspecting bird or rodent to blunder into view. Silently, he would bide his time for the optimal moment. With a surge of violence and singular intent he would spring on his unsuspecting quarry, claws and teeth quickly disabling his dinner.
Shouldn’t feline hunters and canine counter foragers trust that their food will continue to appear as it always has? We love our pets and they love us back but they remain stubbornly motivated by the genetic wiring in their brains. But that didn’t mean that Jenny had to accept life as a surrogate rodent.
The correct answer is c)
Cat gone wild
Behavior medicine is all about improved quality of life for everybody but there can be limits; our genetics are the cards we are dealt. PJ was an inveterate predator despite the steady flow of healthy food into his dish. Civilization at Jenny’s and Phil’s house just didn’t satisfy his innate programming. Even more than most pussy cats, he had the skills and motivation to thrive in the wild. Sadly, he was rarely allowed outside to function like a real cat.
It was Aristotle who observed that, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” Unmet needs get met. All PJ wanted for his birthday was a colony of gerbils. With a natural outlet for his primal need to stalk and kill he would have never targeted Jenny or the family dog Micky as his surrogate prey.
Feral cats are survivors; they’ll hunt any time of day or night but the urge rises, according to their internal clock, around dusk when their meals on little legs actively forage. PJ’s violence against the woman and Chihuahua in his life had occurred on multiple occasions but always between 6-9 PM. That would have been a perfect time for Jenny and Phil to uncage a few rodents. But, no, indoor varmints were not a part of their decorating plan.
PJ has always loved both of his people but he’d never tried to injure Phil, a bigger human than Jenny. We can conjecture that, early in PJ’s life, his predatory proclivities were triggered by Jenny’s smaller size and her quick movements. With repetition he’d learned to associate the sight of her, during the evening news cast, with acting out his inner savage.
PJ suffered from other sources of agitation. Remember him rubbing his head on Phil’s thigh just before Jenny quickly entered the room? His physical exam revealed a chronic ear infection. Pain anywhere in the body is a common influence on reactive behavior. The bobcats and coyotes visiting the yard were further triggers for PJ’s angst. He was both predator and prey. Already agitated, his adrenalin running high, he found the sashaying Jenny, wine glass in-hand, an irresistible mark.
Despite PJ’s primal inclinations, his aggression was a nonstarter. Punishment or verbal reprimands might interrupt his ardor but would do nothing to diminish his motivation.
A better cat, with an asterisk
It turned out that PJ’s aggression started at about the same time he began rubbing his ears. Jenny and Phil also reported that some evenings he would suddenly bolt from the room and burrow into blankets in the closet. An ear exam revealed mites, outdoor video showed coyotes and bobcats near the yard, and, worst of all, there were no indoor rats for sport hunting.
Ear pain is commonly overlooked in kitties. Prescription Bravecto quickly decimated PJ’s mite population. To reduce his fear of the much bigger predators lurking outside, I advised his people to install a motion activated sprinkler to disperse the unwelcome vagrants. Despite those nagging stressors Jenny and Phil still had a cat who needed to perch high, ready to strike and maim. We all knew that if they allowed him outside to hunt he just wouldn’t survive long.
Indoor simulations of the wild life made it possible for PJ to succeed. A floor-to-ceiling cat tree, located against a window in each of a couple of rooms, with bird houses and feeders suction cupped to the outside of the glass, allowed PJ to slather and chatter as he enjoyed an almost complete savage experience. I also directed Jenny and Phil to the Pet Behavior Topics page of my website (drjeffnichol.com) for a full list of environmental enrichments.
Evenings, when Jenny arrived home from work, coincided with PJ’s internal clock for reacting to the sudden movements of helpless wounded creatures that were his natural menu items. I told her and Phil to tie a 3-4 foot length of twine to one of their ankles. A couple of feathers glued to the free end of these strings, made an irresistible, erratically flopping intermittent trigger. Every time either of them stood up and walked around the house was an opportunity for the cat they loved to harmlessly pounce with murderous intent. No longer associating a human, Jenny in particular, with hostility, PJ became her trusted cuddle bunny.
We never assume a perfect, enduring outcome. I urged Jenny to carry a rape alarm just in case she recognized that low, quiet, ready-to-pounce posture of PJ’s. Satisfying his feline needs would be essential but his nefarious behavior could reemerge. So far, so good.
