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Old 10-27-2011, 10:02 PM
 
2,873 posts, read 5,819,915 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by peppermint View Post
I'm so sorry. My husband and I are laughing so hard at your misery.

My husband suggested a rolled up newspaper to swat at him (or actually make contact). Do you think that might work?

I actually feel sorry for him. He's got some kind of neuroses, I guess. Poor baby. You, however, are a saint for not taking him to a shelter or to be destroyed. The previous owners of our oldest were going to put him down because he had a UTI. I think that's just about the most despicable thing. He's the most wonderful cat I've ever owned. Anyway, kudos and blessings to you for trying to work with JJ.
Do you want him? Cause I can have him packed up and ready to go tomorrow morning.

In a box with no air holes.

(If I swat at him with anything, he'll come back at me twice as hard. Same thing when I just push him away. He escalates everything into a war. When he was a kitten, we had this one terrible night where he just would NOT STOP BITING because I wouldn't let him play in the wires under the desk. I was so frustrated and tired I ended up just sitting on the floor sobbing)
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Old 10-27-2011, 10:06 PM
 
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Originally Posted by subject2change View Post
Just realized the way I wrote my post might sound like I was saying YOU needed meds. I meant maybe you need for him to be on them! Of course, if you think they would help you too, go for it!
Oh, at this point I might need something!

His behaviorist didn't want to put him on any medication. These days he's mostly good with these terrible outbursts when he doesn't get his way. When he was young he was like this ALL THE TIME. The behaviorist felt his real problem was that he's very intelligent, so he wants to find ways around the rules. He knows what no means, and it pisses him off.

As an example, he'll bite my face. I'll tell him no and make him get off the bed. We repeat this for a few rounds. Then he'll come up and just touch his nose to my face. If that's allowed, he'll just open his mouth without actually touching my skin. If that's allowed, he'll just touch his tongue to my cheek. If that's allowed, he'll very delicately nibble...and then CHOMP. He has to test exactly where the line is.

Now imagine going through that cycle at 3am when you went to bed at midnight.
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Old 10-27-2011, 10:22 PM
 
Location: Mountains of middle TN
5,245 posts, read 16,351,655 times
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What about one of the huge dogs crates in another room?? Put a litter box and a cat bed in there and a dish of water. I understand he can't have dry food, but waiting an extra hour or a few won't kill him, right?

ETA: I mean put him there at night and let him out to eat in the morning when you get up.
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Old 10-27-2011, 10:31 PM
 
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Maybe he has neurological problems. That would explain a lot of things. Maybe he would be happier if he was allowed to not be in constant pain and suffering. Sounds like he is self medicating for his pain, have you taken him to the vet? Letting a cat who has pain and is suffering is not being a good caretaker.
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Old 10-27-2011, 10:47 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mrs1885 View Post
What about one of the huge dogs crates in another room?? Put a litter box and a cat bed in there and a dish of water. I understand he can't have dry food, but waiting an extra hour or a few won't kill him, right?

ETA: I mean put him there at night and let him out to eat in the morning when you get up.
I do actually have a large dog crate from when he was a kitten. I'm just afraid that with him being so much stronger now that he might hurt himself by sticking his paws through the front grate and doing back flips like he does against the bedroom door (the crate is plastic, but the door is a write grid)
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Old 10-27-2011, 10:56 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jasper12 View Post
Maybe he has neurological problems. That would explain a lot of things. Maybe he would be happier if he was allowed to not be in constant pain and suffering. Sounds like he is self medicating for his pain, have you taken him to the vet? Letting a cat who has pain and is suffering is not being a good caretaker.

Self medicating by biting ONLY when he wants to eat?

He's is a very well vetted cat - if he looks at me funny, he earns himself a vet visit. He's not in pain, he's just stubborn and wants what he wants. 80% of the time he's sweet as pie and just wants to snuggle and get kisses. In fact, he just ate and is now curled up on his share of the chair purring his little head off and doing the happy paw dance. Why? Because he got his way.

He's also feral, and I don't mean that lightly. He was a stray and had no human socialization before he was 8 weeks old. He was also very likely separated from his mother before he was found. There is a lot of very important socialization that goes on during that time frame.

If you met this cat, there is no way you would think for a second that he's suffering. And truthfully, he's an AWESOME little guy and I wouldn't give him up for the world. He's just got this one really, really frustrating habit of acting out when he doesn't get his way and escalating it to a level that makes him seem demonic. The rest of the time he's a lover, not a fighter.

This is also a shift back in behavior for him, as he was doing much better with his behavior. I'm thinking it actually might be his inhalers- the steroid isn't supposed to be systemic, but maybe he's having a steroid flare and it's making him more hungry.
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Old 10-27-2011, 11:01 PM
 
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The steroid thing makes a lot of sense to me. Look into that for sure.
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Old 10-27-2011, 11:08 PM
 
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Originally Posted by subject2change View Post
The steroid thing makes a lot of sense to me. Look into that for sure.
Yeah, it just kind of hit me when I was getting his inhalers ready for the night...he just got a refill about two or thee weeks ago. It's the same dose he had before, but maybe it's off just enough to change things.

I'll call the asthma doctor in the morning.
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Old 10-27-2011, 11:58 PM
 
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Okay, new plan...we have a guest bedroom. I can't put JJ in there by himself because he's not very familiar with it and could get hurt. But when he starts up I can stagger my way over and leave him locked in his familiar bedroom to tantrum alone. He'll probably knock stuff over (so I'll have to clean up and move the TV), but I'm betting he calms down very quickly when there's no one there to get attention from.

I'm don't want to give up sleeping with him entirely as he's super sweet when he sleeps and wants to be held all night, but maybe he'll get the message that when he starts being a brat his mommy disappears.

*I'm still calling his doctor about his steriods, but even if he is more hunger than usual his behavior is not acceptable*
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Old 10-28-2011, 07:09 AM
 
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I'm just so sorry.

About the steroids, they (as you probably know) can make humans meaner, more violent, and flat out crazy so why not to cats?

I think you have a good plan, and I wish you the very best.
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