Crazy Ass Stray Cat

StudioAudience · July 2007

A female stray cat has been hanging out in front of our house lately. It seemed pretty friendly, and would come up to us, meow, and rub itself against our legs whenever we went outside. So I figure what the hell, and bought it a bag of cat food and have been feeding it daily for the past couple of days. It lets us pet it and such, and would appear to purr contently. Cool and cute cat right?

Or so I thought. I've only had dogs before, so I don't know if she's just playing around or what, but the other day I was walking out to my car and she sorta lunges at my legs (I was wearing shorts) and attempts to bite me. She actually got me, but it didn't break the skin at all and appeared to be more of a playful bite. I don't know though. She was also sitting down one time and sorta raised her paw at me up and down for awhile, as if she was trying to bat me or something. I didn't notice any claws out while she did so, but I also don't know if she was just waiting for the right moment to tear my ass a new one.

So I'm a bit conflicted. Do I keep feeding this moody ass cat? Is it crazy? Or just playful? I've no clue. Should I be feeding it in the first place? We were actually thinking about maybe adopting it, but didn't know how well it'd adjust to be kept in the house after having been free to roam wherever it wanted for the past couple of years. We also didn't know how we would go about trying to cure our dog's apparently ingrained hatred of all things that go meow.

So any tips on what's up with the cat, if it's a good idea to try to adopt it, or how to make our dogs stop hating cats would be appreciated.

Pic of crazy ass cat:

Pic of curious dog:

cj iwakura · July 2007

Sounds lovable to me. I say keep it. Just don't expect to keep it confined to the inside; it'll come and go as it pleases, but it'll remember who feeds it and come back.

Though if it's that friendly to people, it's probably been domesticated at one point or another. You might want to check if it belongs to someone.

matthias00 · July 2007

Cats can be playful things. If one nips you but it doesn't hurt, it's actually a sign of affection.. and my cat bats at us any time we rub her belly but doesn't do anything else and will come back and show us her belly 5 minutes later no matter what. What I'm saying here is that she's not actually trying to kill you, just having fun I guess. I'm not a huge cat expert though so hey there you go.

Janin · July 2007

Sounds like it's playing. When a cat's angry, you'll know - they put their ears back, fluff their fur, and hiss. My cat 'bats' me all the time, along with the occasional soft bite. If you intend to keep her long term, buy a scratching post (keep it simple, just straight and carpeted, nothing fancy) and some toys.

As for the dogs, no idea - mine has always regarded my cat as nothing more than a piece of furniture.

Thanatos · July 2007

Yeah, when a cat wants to hurt you with a bite, it will break the skin.

Fallingman · July 2007

Firstly - feeding it will make the issue a lot more complicated... but I guess there's nothing that can be done about that now. Its going to hang around for a while no matter what ;-)

Sometimes cats that are part wild can be a little erratic. My neighbour has a can that will be extremely affectionate, then swipe at you (drawing blood), the try have another cuddle.

I guess its just trying to figure out if it wa being playful or really having a go at you. Did it hiss? Did its tail puff up? Arch its back? These are all pretty good indications that it was serious.

Aside from that - I'm generally favour of giving cats a good home. If you're serious about taking it on, I'd take it to the vet for some shots etc, then bring it in.

Though lets be clear. The cat is in charge. Basically, its decided to let you feed it ;-)

mooshoepork · July 2007

hmm, I had a similar issue, and the cat was actually "crazy" and beat up my cat. It cost us about 800 dollars in vet bills. After that... well, the cat never came back........

Shmoepong · July 2007

Fallingman wrote: »

Aside from that - I'm generally favour of giving cats a good home. If you're serious about taking it on, I'd take it to the vet for some shots etc, then bring it in.

Though lets be clear. The cat is in charge. Basically, its decided to let you feed it ;-)

If you plan on keeping the cat, take it into a vet as soon as you can. I wouldn't let the cat in the house until you made sure it had a flea bath and was dewormed.

The cat is probably used to living on its own and away from humans, so you may interpret a lot of its behavior as erratic. I'd ask the vet about common personality traits for strays.

Best of luck with your feline friend! =D

sdrawkcaB emaN · July 2007

Take the cat to the vet (especially if you're a goddamn hypochondriac when it comes to animals like me), get it checked out, and adopt it immediately.

Cats are officially the best pets ever.

Well, other than discreet, teenage Filipino boys, but that's a given.

HalberdBlue · July 2007

Unlike most people I know with dogs, its fine to let your cat in and out whenever you please without putting up an invisible fence or whatever. We have 3 cats and all of them go in and out whenever. Very rarely they will get lost or something and be gone for several days, but thats happened I believe 3 times to my family and we've had cats forever. Don't let them get in the habit of thinking that you'll open the door for them (to go in or out) at 3 AM though. Just ignore them when you are asleep and they'll eventually get the picture. Though 2 of our cats typically stay out all night and sleep most of the day and the other one is the opposite. They just meow at the door whenever they want to go outside, its not like we kick them out or whatever.

And I don't know if going outside is a normal trait for cats, but the two younger cats we have didn't go outside for the first several months after we got them, but once they saw the older cat doing it enough they decided to try it as well I suppose.

Djeet · July 2007

If you continue feeding it, then get it FIXED.
At least do that much. Cats can drop litters twice a year.

StudioAudience · July 2007

Ah, thanks for the advice. She actually tried to pounce on me again last night. So that makes it twice now that shes lunged at me; strangely, both times I was carrying a cup of water for her. Maybe that has something to do with it, I don't know.

In any case, if I were to get her sprayed/vaccinated, I would probably have to buy one of those cat carrying cases and try to coax her in, correct? Is she going to be pissed afterwards and not come back anymore?

Aurin · July 2007

StudioAudience wrote: »

Ah, thanks for the advice. She actually tried to pounce on me again last night. So that makes it twice now that shes lunged at me; strangely, both times I was carrying a cup of water for her. Maybe that has something to do with it, I don't know.

In any case, if I were to get her sprayed/vaccinated, I would probably have to buy one of those cat carrying cases and try to coax her in, correct? Is she going to be pissed afterwards and not come back anymore?

hehe it's spayed :P

And she might be pissed off at you for a bit, but if you keep feeding her and treating her nice, I'm sure she'll stick around.

Djeet · July 2007

i wouldn't worry too much about the pouncing, she sounds playful. the times when i've had a cat claw the shit out of me it's usually when they've been petted/stroked a lot, they get overstimulated and kinda growl a bit, and their tails start start swishing around, so you get a little warning. of course some cats are just psycho

get a kitty carrier a bit bigger then you need to. you can try tricking her into it by putting in a catnip toy and waiting till she's mostly in there before closing the door. trying to force her in head first if she don't want to go probably will result in blood and frustration. i've had best results in tipping the carrier back so the opening points strait up, then grab the cat by the scruff of the neck (when you have a good hold on her her feet will tuck up (instinct)) then lower her in, she'll grab at the opening with her front paws. do this quickly as you don't want to hold an adult cat by the scruff of the neck for too long. she'll probably pee/poo/vomit in the carrier, and she won't like being in it.

you can try a cardboard box, but that can get gross, and may only be good for a one-way trip.

fleas have been a bitch this year (at least in southern US), i've had better results with a flea collar than advantage/frontline.

Incenjucar · July 2007

We've had absolutely loving cats that will still make you bleed. Some of them are neurotic, especially if they had bad experiences in their kittenhoods (most of our cats have literally just shown up one day, sometimes injured - we've had too many to count on one person's fingers).

The main thing is to make sure the cat isn't -sick-, and that you don't get violent with it in return and make it worse.

I've had a cat slash my wrist open (emo scars

), but she's still the most lovabale tub of lard around. She's a bit dangerous, but she is so goddamn sweet when she's not having a PTSD flashback or whatever it is that sets her off (we found her, as a kitten, dehydrated and with an injured paw, in a tree, on our property, and whatever injured her is probably why she freaks out).

Cats can learn pretty well, and their personalities can change over the years, so you have to realize that their behavior will be based on their experiences, and treat them thusly.

--

I do not recommend a carboard box.

We caught a kitten in a cardboard box once (And we still have the lil' sweetheart), who had bad experiences with cages (her nose still has a scar that exactly fits cat cage bars). Because she had that bad experience, she freaked out so badly when we caught her that her paw BURST THROUGH THE CARDBOARD BOX LIKE A CHEST BURSTER.

Scraped the hell out of my hand. (But so worth it; she's insanely adorable, all playing fetch with socks and following people around like a puppy).

themightypuck · July 2007

Thanatos wrote: »

Yeah, when a cat wants to hurt you with a bite, it will break the skin.

My ex roomies cat who I loved (RIP he recently died) was the sweetest cat in the world but he had a dark side. He was very needy and if my roomie wasn't around he would hang with me. All my friends loved this cat because he was so cool and sociable. Anyway one day I'm working on my computer and my roomie is out of town and the beast won't leave me alone so I grab a chair and pull it next to me for him to sleep on. He goes for it. So I'm working away and he's asleep and I pet him. RRRRWWWRROWRRRR. The cat bit my hand near to the bone. It was like CSI. When I pulled my hand away it painted arcs of blood on my wall. The cat growled at me for 3 days until my roomie came back. I was wearing gloves when I fed the thing. I still have a little scar on the finger he got. tl;dr ^ if a cat wants to hurt you with a bite it will break the skin.

We kissed and made up and he never went for me ever again.

StudioAudience · July 2007

Haha, right, spayed. Thanks for the cat advice/experiences. She is normally quite a cool cat. One last question and this thread can be locked: How do most clinics spay cats? When my dog got neutered, he had to wear that plastic cone for about a week or so. Do female cats undergo an operation that requires a similar cone? I don't know how well she'll be able to fend for herself in the streets wearing that, but I don't think she's quite ready to stay in the house 24/7 yet either.

Advent · July 2007

I'd suggest keeping her inside for at least a few days after spaying. The process includes removing bits and a fair amount of stitches in the cat's belly area. They tend to be a bit groggy from the gas afterwards, as well.

Anyhoo, the cat looks on the small side, so if you're planning on keeping her, I'd bring her in sooner rather than later in order to let her get used to the dog (s).

TGSean · July 2007

I recently had a female cat spayed, and they didn't put the cone on her. They basically said to just make sure she doesn't lick/pick at the sutures, and if all looks normal, to take her in 2 weeks from then to have the sutures snipped off.

I would however recommend having the cat living indoors for at least the first week after surgery. But if she acclimates well to living indoors, I'd say keep her inside the whole two weeks, if not from then on. Indoor cats are so less of a hassle, lol.

Penny Arcade

Quick Links

Crazy Ass Stray Cat

Posts