This email came in addressed to me and Dear Sally and it definitely warranted both of our attention. It’s a reminder that animals are animals and if people don’t learn to read cat body language it can wind up as dangerous as it is for those people who don’t know how to read the warning signs from a dog who later bites.
I’ve been searching for advice on my kitten dilemma, and was hoping to find someone that could shed some light on it. I’ve had my kitty Marley since he was 8 weeks old, my boyfriend and I got him from a nearby shelter. Marley is now pushing 7 months (getting neutered this week). He’s been the most amazing kitten ever, he loved to be picked up, and pet, you could really do anything to this cat, he just loved any attention you could give him. We recently moved, and Marley was not impressed with us for that. The night we got to our new apt, he rubbed his head against my arm as if he wanted to be pet, so I pet him, within seconds he attacked me, bit/scratched all the way up my arm. He drew blood from me, my arm within seconds swelled up to the size of the stay puff marshmallow man.
I went to the doctors that AM, and they put me on an IV and loaded me up with antibiotics and said that I have cat scratch fever!! I’m now terrified that Marley will attack me again, and can’t give him the attention he wants from me. Do you think this will happen again, or do you think he acted like this because of the move? You can tell he’s been craving my attention, trying to rub against my ankles, but I refuse to even attempt to pet him, cause I don’t want to go through this again. When I walk down the hallway, he comes charging up behind me, which scares me, and then I think I might be scaring him as well. I’m now forced to walk down the hallway backwards, so I know when he’s coming up behind me. This is the first cat my boyfriend and I have owned so it really threw us off guard seeing him do that to me. I don’t want to get rid of him, because he really was the bet cat ever before this incident. Am I overreacting? Please advise.
Thanks in Advance
Carly
As usual, Sally has a bunch of questions that need to be answered for her to get to the bottom of this. I hope Carly will reply to this so we can help her further. Also, please note Sally’s very helpful links about Cat Scratch Fever – I can tell you that cat bites are twice as dangerous as dog bites and can even out people in the hospital.
Does Marley have a history of any kind of aggression? If not, I do think Marley was stressed by the move and over-stimulated by the new surroundings. He’s also still a kitten and probably somewhat rambunctious, but on the other hand might be starting to feel his yah-yahs since he’s not neutered yet. Carly shouldn’t avoid interaction. She should learn the signs of over-stimulation — dilated pupils, twitchy tail, airplane ears. Engage him using a fishing pole toy, which will fulfill his need for attention and toss some toys to divert his attention when going down the hall. Talk to him and gauge his reaction, then pet him briefly. If he seems tense, just say “good boy” pleasantly and walk away. My take is that he will calm down once he is neutered and gets used to his new digs. Here are a couple of interesting links on cat scratch fever:
www.cdc.gov/HEALTHYPETS/diseases/catscratch.htm
www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/cat_scratch.html
Based on that info, I kinda think it may have occurred from a previous scratch, or perhaps was an infection from the bite.
