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Old March 18th, 2006, 12:32 AM
TabbyGal TabbyGal is offline
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Location: Toronto
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My Little Boy

Hi Everyone!

I'm the mum of five kitties (three girls, two boys) and a daughter. I am concerned about my oldest boy, Ferris who is a year old. He is normally a very active kitty; chasing and being chased by the other kits. However, on Wednesday evening when I came home from work, I couldn't find my boy. Normally all my kits and daughter greet me when I get home. Later that night, I saw the door to my armoire moving and noticed Ferris sitting on the top shelf. I brought him out and petted him and then got up to get the kitties dinner. Ferris scuttled out of the room and since then has been hiding under my bed.

He's still eating and drinking and using the litterbox; when I brought out some catnip for the other kits, he put his face in my lap where I had the bowl and made his usual possessive moves on. After that though, he scurried off to his hiding place. My daughter admitted she smacked him a couple of times as he had attacked one of the girls for no reason and had also scratched her leg badly. I have told her many many times that we don't hit the kits, we use the water pistol or clap our hands. Now of course she feels bad because he won't come out until she's asleep. Of course, I am very upset with her but also upset for Ferris. Does anyone have an idea what could be happening? He had his shots two weeks ago and he should've been fixed this weekend had this not happened. I can't afford to go to the vet and have costly diagnostics done. What do you think?
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  #2  
Old March 18th, 2006, 01:27 AM
Prin Prin is offline
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Sounds like he's terrified of your daughter. Sounds like she did something pretty horrible to him while you were gone, and he thinks it was just a random attack on him by her. JMO..
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Old March 18th, 2006, 02:53 AM
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badger badger is offline
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If it's not too late, I'd get him to that neutering appointment. Intact-ness just adds another layer of stress to a multi-cat household. And when he returns, put him in a room by himself for a day or two, he'll smell different and the other cats might bug him. Lots of treats and cuddles.

And your daughter needs some new strategies. Hitting never ever gets the desired result, plus it's cruel. I'm not crazy about water sprays either, unless there is outright aggression and someone could get hurt (read: vet bills). A loud NO or, if necessary, some time out from the others should do the trick. With that many cats - I speak from experience - you have to keep your eye on the dynamics; it's like playground duty, knowing where the stresses are and diffusing them quickly.

Last edited by badger; March 18th, 2006 at 03:00 AM.
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Old March 18th, 2006, 08:39 AM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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I just wanted to add,Ferris might be also be in pain,your daughter could have done some damage in hitting him:sad:
Please make sure it never happens again,as I am sure you will.
It does not take much force to damage a little cat..:sad:
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Old March 18th, 2006, 11:14 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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I accidentally kicked one of my cats. He ran and hid for hours, and was very wary of me for days. I felt like a monster, but some cats are very sensitive that way.

You sound like a very caring person, and I hope your daughter has learned that hitting cats is useless at best, and cruel at worst.

Having an adult intact tom cat in the house is not very good, so I hope you will take him and get him neutered, which should have been done months ago. You're VERY lucky he's not spraying everything in your house.
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Old March 18th, 2006, 11:43 AM
TabbyGal TabbyGal is offline
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Thank you for your advice!

Thanks to everyone who replied. I have already spoken with my daughter about the ramifications of using violence on the kits and anyone for that matter. She was, of course, very upset that she had done this and as a result, she is grounded from certain activities. Ferris will be getting fixed next week. The reason why I have not been able to do this, is because I was in extreme financial straits and have only recently gone back to work.

Shortly after I went offline, my boy came out from under the bed and walked to the kitchen for water and kibble (although I have put a supply in bedroom). He then played with the other kits and after about a half hour, he jumped on the chair to snuggle with his big sis cat. He has come out today while we were tidying up to play a bit, so I'm certain that it's not an illness.

I have had cats in my life since I was 5 years old and learned many things from them. But this is the first time one of my cats has done this.
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Old March 18th, 2006, 03:24 PM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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TabbyGal,I agree with Lucky,you seem to love your cats very much,as I do mine and I am glad he's back to normal
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