Expert: Dear Tabbi - 1/13/2009

Question
My 74 year old mother rescued an abandoned kitten 4 years ago from a feral colony in her neighborhood.  She has loved this cat with complete dedication over the years.  Lately, the cat has become extremely aggressive.  He simply does not do what he does not want to do. He has now attacked her twice.  One time resulted in over 3 months of hand therapy due to the ferocity of the bite wound. She is now completely intimidated and distrustful of the cat.  My family is rather extreme when it comes to our animals.  We have gone to all lengths and into serious debt to ensure our animal's prosperity.  So it is a HUGE decision to put an animal to sleep.  She is at her wit's end, she cannot spend the remainder of her years afraid of an animal in her home.  We have tried to find any type of placement for this cat but everyone tell us that with the economy the way that it is, there is no room for kind animals and an aggressive cat will be put down immediately.  Organizations that cater to special needs cats say that they simply don't have the room.  We are at a loss.  Her heart is breaking at the thought of putting him to sleep.  We were considering medication but the cat usually cannot be persuaded to take anything and will definitely attack if forced at all. I have not read any success stories about medication in feral cats during my research online.  Anyone?  Please help!!!  Does anyone have any suggestions or know of anyone that would be willing to take on this project????

Answer
Mary,

A lot of people will not agree but you need to think with your head and not your heart. Feral cats carry a lot of inherited and inbred baggage including agressiveness and distrust of humans. Feral cats take a LOT of patience and special handling, and even then there is the possiblity that they may never become socialized or tame.

As an alternative to putting the cat to sleep, make him be an outdoor cat. He probably would be a lot happier. As long as she puts food on her porch (or where ever) the cat should stay around. If he doesn't then he is where he wants to be.

There are so very many cats and kittens that are very loving and sweet being put down every day due to overcrowding that you shouldn't try to keep a cat that can injure someone seriously, especially an older person. Rescuing one (or two) of those cats who otherwise may never know love, affection, or having enough food would, in my opinion, be a better for your grandmother.

Tabbi