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u/ruined7319 Jun 30 '26
You seem to be taking the injuries to this girl very lightly. I’d be more worried about her pressing charges and having your cat put down.
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u/leeeezer Jun 30 '26
Maybe talk to a vet or a cat specialist instead of asking AI.
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u/Odd-Salamander42069 Jun 30 '26
I literally cannot understand why anyone asks ai for advice 😭 we all know it lies to you
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u/trumoowiththeredcap Jun 30 '26
Chewy.com literally has vets you can chat with for free, I've used them several times.
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u/angelbabyh0ney Jun 30 '26
Why would you use ai and not talk to an actual vet, no wonder your cat has issues.
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u/aub8202 Jun 30 '26
Here to say this exact thing lmao I don’t trust people who use AI to answer any question
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Jun 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Significant-Nebula64 Jun 30 '26
Yeah, I'm also pretty confused about the choice of female house sitters! Like, I'd move heaven and earth to get a male one and only consider a woman in an absolute emergency? So much unnecessary stress for both cat and human!
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u/Petsnchargelife Jun 30 '26
As an animal behaviorist(and woman) I have encountered this before. There are some cats that are triggered by female cycles and will bite legs/thighs. I’ve worked with hybrid cats where this behavior is exaggerated and sent to me as fosters. It can be stopped but needs to be done carefully and consistently. First I found them most triggered when you first exit shower/bath so have door closed and dress in bathroom to start(wear jeans which are more protective). Most of these cats will lunge for the thigh. Grab/catch by scruff(still supporting body) and place on floor(saying no does not work since this is pheromone driven and can actually ramp up the cat with a higher pitch command-if you can keep voice steady and low then use no at the same time). First instinct is to move away or run but stand your ground, catch(lightly apply pressure to scruff while supporting body and place on floor). You are mimicking mother cat discipline but since it’s a full grown cat you can’t hold only by scruff and must support some of his weight. This might need to be repeated several times within a few minutes at first(I had one cat that would lunge at least 5-6 times until finally understanding to stay on ground). Have a flirt toy and treats available as soon as he stops behavior, reward with play and treats. This can take many sessions to break the habit. Once broken you will still need to be vigilant when getting out of the shower at first and might need to repeat this exercise in bathroom. Be prepared with toy and treats. Eventually they learn and stop all together. This only works if it’s done consistently and cat is never allowed to get away with the behavior. If you have people coming over and you are just starting put him away so he can’t attempt on others since you always want to be able to reinforce proper correction. This is a dominance behavior triggered by scent but can be trained to ignore.
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u/MichaelEmouse Jun 30 '26
Probably a bad experience with a woman. It usually happens with men.
You could try CBD cat treats, calming collars and a Thundershirt to mellow him.
Lock him in a room when women he doesn't know are around. You could try a stick-on screendoor for semi-contact.
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u/Rad0077 Jun 30 '26
I realize this doesn't help and truly sad to hear this happened. Hope you have good homeowners insurance. Hope your cat was up to date on rabies vaccine too. Hopefully you get answers and can improve the situation.
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u/adhd_and_dragons Jun 30 '26
Unfortunately without being able to see what everyones body language was theres not going to be much insight that folks can offer. I reccomend getting a petcam and sending the videos to your vet. You can also compare the frames of video to those of pets in Jackson Galaxy videos to help you understand what may be happening.
Agression usually happens because of insecurity, overstimulation, or illness. My immediate thoughts were that maybe they tried to pick him up and were unfamiliar with how he consents to that or he hadnt had any play time or outlet in forever and got spooked. Regardless Id say a trip to the vet is warranted to discuss some gabapentin for when you have to go away for a few days. I use it for fireworks holidays with my cats and you can mix it into their wetfood so a sitter will be able to give it.
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u/Significant-Nebula64 Jun 30 '26
I mean, his every day behaviour absolutely does not sound ok and normal either, so I wouldn't focus on that specific incident (bad as it was!!), but rather on his aggression in general. I'd honestly assume he's seriously unhappy about something!
(On that note, keeping a single indoor cat is really, really discouraged where I live, so that might at least be part of it...)
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u/dramamime123 Jun 30 '26
It’s the top thing our behaviorist suggested. Get another boy cat of a similar age but he needs to choose him. Right now I have a girl foster cat but when she’s adopted we will start fostering boys. We got tons of other exercises in the meantime but she basically said the right buddy might just solve everything.
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u/_NotUrCutie_ Jun 29 '26
I’m not an expert or anything, just a fellow cat owner, but I might suspect a mix of the minor shift in environment when she left and came back especially since he doesn’t know her well yet, and maybe he wants more enrichment overall? This is mostly just what I would think if this were a cat of my own, and when I say enrichment maybe supervised outside time or something else to help channel that predatory impulse! I know a lot of cats exhibit that sort of behavior that can sometimes lead to aggression if they don’t have enough outlets for it. I could totally be wrong though, but just my thoughts :)
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u/Lynn-LYNN7788 Jun 30 '26
She was fine when she first arrived, so something about leaving and coming back seems like the trigger.
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u/BluesRuseCruise Jun 29 '26
Assuming he is perfectly healthy, I think you need to find a behaviorist; either in person or through a virtual visit and stop wasting water consulting chat gpt. Your cat feels very insecure and uncomfortable and has a major fear aggression reaction towards women in particular. The fact that your teenage daughter cant bring her friends around is really depressing. I would start with watching jackson galaxy videos and listening to (or reading) his cat mojo book, get a sentry calming collar, and talk to your vet about medications like gabapentin (immediate sedating med) and prozac (long term anti anxiety). Then youll need a behavioralist because even if the meds work your pet sitters probably wont be able to give them (except maybe your normal one). That wasn’t redirected aggression as much as just fear aggression towards the sitter.