Ragdoll Cat Forums

My mother's cat is neutered (recently) but he has had this biting problem since she got him at 12 weeks old. When I said that he will sink his teeth into you as far as he can..... that's exactly what he does! It's not like he is biting you to say "stop" because he's annoyed at what you are doing..... it's really like he is actually trying to hurt you. He will give you a nasty look and before you can react to it he has already attacked you.

My mother is 75 years old and I'm sure she doesn't train him consistently as you should when you are trying to teach them not to do something. She does live by herself. I think one of the problems she has with Lucas is that she has actually become afraid of him because he is so vicious to her. When I go to her house.... Lucas has usually listened to me but since I don't live there with him it doesn't help my mother deal with him any better when I leave. When I went there the other day... Lucas attacked me and bit me really hard and infected my hand where two of his teeth really penetrated. I was brushing him to get some soiled hair off of his leg. He bit me when I was brushing him and I put him on the floor and was reprimanding him about biting me when he jumped up on my right hand and bit the heck out of that one! He does not act sweet and dolcile like the breed is suppose to. For him to bite his "person" is really very unusual.

I know that my mom will not be able to continue to care for him if he keeps up this behavior and honestly I was always planning to bring him home with me when that time came but after this last attack..... I'm not sure I will be able to have him in my home where I have 3 cats of my own already and 6 grandchildren that come and visit often. I will be worried that Lucas would hurt someone else.

Does anyone know of something we could try to help him become more docile? He is a beautiful cat and it makes me heart broken to think that I may not be able to keep him considering these current behavioral problems. I feel so responsible since I was the one who bought Lucas for my mother for her 75th birthday present! Please help!

Thanks!
Sharon18

Sharon18 Wrote:For him to bite his "person" is really very unusual.

If this means that for the ten months he was fine and then this started, this tells you that something has happened that is amiss. The first things to check are medical. So a vet visit is in order. However, pain can be hard to diagnose. We had a Siamese who was showing pain, but one could manipulate his joints and he would not react. However, we gave joint treatments a try since he was older - and the reactions stopped. As with many things about our cats, the hard part is identifying the triggers, but then you can deal with them - and often easily. Your description of the behavior does make it sound like it could be caused by pain, since the incident you describe started with handling him.

You say they are just neutered, so this can be caused by testosterone level also. Whole males can have "roid rage." Particularly if he showed signs of sexual maturity before the surgery that sounds like the most likely cause. It can take some time after surgery for testosterone levels to drop.