Sudden SEVERE, Violent Aggression...HELP!!!

DeputyMP24 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:31 pm **Posts:** 212

Please...I am at a loss and am desperate from some help/advice/suggestions. Suri very suddenly and very viciously attacked me last night. I had been dealing with a migrane all day, and the nausea finally won. I started vomiting, and while doing so she flew out of nowhere and attacked me!! Im talking a full blown wildcat attack... screeching and shrieking as she attacked. She did a lot of damage to my scalp, tore up my face, my arm and shoulder, and my leg. Im talking DEEP bites and scratches. My husband had to come home from work and take me to the ER for wound care. The doctor even extracted a piece of broken off tooth from a bite in the back of my scalp! Im on antibiotics for the next 10 days as a precaution against infection. As SOON as I got home from the ER, she came at me again! She spent the night locked in the bathroom. She is currently still locked in the bathroom (with litterbox, bed, food/water etc of course) today as she is still acting very aggressive. She is typically SO loving, sweet, and gentle! She hasnt even accidently scratched me since she was like 10 weeks old!

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

Oh my goodness! That's not good. I'm no expert, but you are top cat in your home so to speak. I know in a cat heirarchy if any weakness is seen by another cat they see it as an opportunity to move up the heirarchy and maybe this is what happened.

Alternatively, your being ill meant she no longer recognised you, maybe your scent changed or maybe your being sick scared her etc and it caused her to attack.

It may be worth taking her to the vet for a check up, to make sure there isn't an underlying medical issue.

That bite certainly looks nasty. Are you up to date with your tetanus jab? I hope she calms down soon and everything is back to normal. How is Freyja doing now? There has been a lot for Suri to process lately, maybe it's all got in top of her a bit.

DeputyMP24 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:31 pm **Posts:** 212

Its definitely not good. It was really scary to be honest.

I really wondered if my throwing up scared her...the noise, the smell... My husband wondered if maybe she thought she was protecting me from...me...? But, to have her come staight back at me 4 hrs later, and she is STILL acting aggressive towards me (and ONLY me!) this morning seems to rule that out? I DO have a consult at 2 pm with a cat behaviorist to discuss this issue.

I have no clue when I last had a tetnus shot, and advised the ER as much. They surprisingly didnt asminister one. All they did was pul out that tooth piece, clean the wounds and put me on antibiotics.

Freyja has made a full recovery from being sick. She was actually quarantined in a bedroom during the attack. (the vet wanted her quarantined for 10 days after being so sick with an unknown illness)

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

I'm guessing the 4 hours later is after your trip to the ER? You probably smelt a bit medicinal. If one of ours go to the vet, the other one won't accept him when he gets back because the scent is really strong. We wouldn't notice, but they will! It's taken a week before they've been normal with each other again in the past. So again, she might not recognise you after all the cleaning of wounds etc.

If it did scare her when you were sick, she may still be associating you with that feeling of fear.

Hopefully, the cat behaviourist will be able to shed some light on this. Good luck!

1crazymum · **Joined:** Tue Apr 26, 2016 8:25 pm **Posts:** 48

Oh you poor thing those wounds look really sore. I can't offer any advice but I can offer some heartfelt sympathy. I hope that it is just as the ladies have said and that your vomiting probably scared her and then coming home 4 hours later smelling of hospital made her freak out again, I hope things go back to normal for you and the peace is restored. xxxx

CMYKjill · **Joined:** Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:38 pm **Posts:** 1838

Wow this is a shocker! Possibly Suri has the mystery illness and this is a side effect? Or a bad case of jealousy? What a mystery! Your wounds look serious and I can imagine you are shook up. Hang in there. The other day Blondie was coughing from a fur ball and Grace ran up to her and jumped on her! It's the second time that has happened. It seemed so unsympathetic to me.

DeputyMP24 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:31 pm **Posts:** 212

I just spoke at length with a feline behaviorist about this incident. She feels that the attack was triggered when I started throwing up. The loud, terrible, unfamiliar noise, the smell of the vomit, etc could have triggered either an attack out of fear for herself, or fear of her thinking she needed to protect me. (from myself) I was advised to leave her segregated to the bathroom for the next 48 hours. Since all her aggression is directed only at me, I have to basically reintroduce myself to her through positive re-enforcement, smell association, etc. She also recommended putting a radio in the bathroom with her and very quietly play classical music as a form of relaxation for her. I HAVE been using Feliway, but she does not respond to it at all. She never has. This is going to be a long process apparently, as when a cat reacts to a situation this violently it can take several weeks to "correct" the behavior. If I dont start seeing marked improvement in the next few days, Im to contact her again. She was SUPER helpful.

zakadoh · **Joined:** Fri Aug 14, 2015 1:51 pm **Posts:** 190

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry you have had to deal with this! I am no cat behaviour expert so other than what everyone else has said about maybe she was scared etc Im not sure what to say. I can put your mind at rest about the tetanus shot though, it is a bacteria that is usually found in soil and manure, so if Suri hasnt been exposed to these (is she an indoor cat?) then you wouldnt have needed a shot. I hope you get everything sorted out soon

Clare&magic · **Joined:** Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:44 pm **Posts:** 707

I had a scary experience years ago with my previous bengal, we were out for a walk and a dog frightened him and as I tried to protect him he turned on me out of fear.

It was so bad he bit through a small vein in my finger, me and my husband struggled to stop the bleeding.

I didn't realise how dangerous cat bites were so I just washed my hands when we got home, it wasn't until the middle of the night my fingers and thumbs on both hands started to swell.

Hubby took me to the hospital next morning where they xrayed my hands and counted 21 bites that were all infected, they put me on 3 weeks of penicillin and dressed all my wounds.

I got abscesses on both hands which had to be lanced and dressed for 3 weeks, the hospital said I was lucky not to lose a finger or thumb.

I'm glad you went straight to the hospital as I know first hand it can be very serious.

I definitely think it was pure fear that she did this, animals act in strange ways when they are frightened, hopefully she will be fine with you now.

Hope you heal up quickly.

spitspot · **Joined:** Mon Jan 12, 2015 2:26 pm **Posts:** 734

This is an awful situation for you. You poor thing. As most posters have said, it definitely sounds like your being sick scared her to bits and her basic feline nature came to the fore, resulting in this attack. As the saying goes - the best form of defence is attack. As the behaviourist said, you need to be reintroduced slowly and surely. It's going to be hard for you to not be frightened but try to stay calm and confident. I really think Suri was just so freaked out that instinct took over. She has never hurt you before so I'm sure it will be ok. You being sick was something she has never seen before so who knows what went through her head. There was another poster on here a while ago whose husband dressed for halloween as a ninja turtle. Green face paint and the whole lot. He scared his cat so badly that their relationship had to rebuilt - It does happen. Before I had kids I used to dog walk at a local rescue centre. I got bitten by a german shepherd on my leg. He was outside just standing calmly next to another walker. I walked up behind on the grass and startled him as he had not heard me approach. He turned round in a nanosecond and bit the nearest thing to him....my leg. He had no idea what was behind him but instinct told him to bite first then look later. He was a lovely, cuddly, cute dog but instinct is instinct. I really think this must be the case with Suri. I really hope it settles down for you and you can work through this.

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Shayla, I saw your post on Suri's Facebook page. I am so sorry. Cats who become extremely aggressive can do a lot of damage on a human or another animal. Those are some serious injuries. I'm guessing Suri's attacks on your daughter, Sierra, stopped eventually? And I doubt they were as horrific as the attack you experienced!

A couple of things come to mind -- Freyja! How have things gone between the two of them, especially after Freyja came back from the ICU? Suri behaved normally, up until the time you vomited? The odd thing is that she was still aggressive toward you after the ER, although that could be the medication and hospital smells that get on humans.

I agree with the behaviorist in keeping Suri separated for a period of time. I would let someone else handle her for a while and slowly introduce you back into her life. I'd give it several days and then see how she is with you again. One never knows when an animal will turn on you -- it is in an instant, so I would make sure your husband or some other adult is around when you are with Suri, just in case. Your kids would probably not be much help if this happened again. I would wear gloves, protective clothing, just in case.

I HATE this happened to you, especially because Suri has been such a great kitty.

DeputyMP24 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:31 pm **Posts:** 212

OH MY GOSH, CLARE!!! How scary!!! I am sooooo sorry you went through SO much!! Thats scary!! I definitely knew medical treatment would be needed for cat bites/scratches. Infection was my biggest concern. I woke up this morning to discover the scratch at the corner of my left eye has turned into a full blown black eye. I look like a boxer with all the facial wounds. The deep bite on the back of my head hurts sooooo bad, and the bite on my thigh looks terrible.

Sherry....yes, those have fully subsided, and were NOTHING at all like this. Those were like... ankle and leg attacks, minus any actual physical injury. If she had ever hurt one of the kids this severely, she would have been rehomed immediately.

Suri and Freyja have gotten along perfectly from the get go. Even when Freyja came home from the vet, Suri never once showed the slightest hint of aggression towards her. Freyja HAS been quarantined since coming home... as per the vets instructions. She and Suri have interacted only VERY briefly since she came home to avoid the possible spread of whatever had her so ill. Freyja was locked up when this attack happened.

Suri had been 100% herself right up until I started vomiting. I throw up REALLY loudly, so I truly feel she may have just been absolutely terrified by it. Whether she reacted out of fear for herself or fear for me....who knows. Why she came back at me when I came home from the ER....again, who knows. She was quite agitated still yesterday, and that was still very much directed only at me.

I noticed yesterday that Suri seemed very distressed being kept in the bathroom. This same bathroom has been her Safe Place since she was 10 weeks old! She yeowled non stop while in there. (very unusual for her) I decided to move her and all her stuff into a spare bedroom. She calmed down almost immediately. I peeked in on her several hours later, and she came right over to me, tail held high, purring! I allowed her out of the bedroom to see how she acted. She immediately followed me to my bedroom, hopped up on the bed, curled up next to me and fell asleep!! I did move her back to the spare room for the night, as I definitely do not 100% trust her yet.

Today she seems much much much much more like herself. I have noticed she is avoiding the bathroom where I threw up/was attacked in like the plague. I think the whole incident just traumatized her. She is still spending some alone time throughout the day in the spare room so she can fully decompress.

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

I'm glad she's settling down a bit. Definitely sounds like you being sick has totally freaked her out.

Note to self. Never be sick in front of Hendrix or Jagger....

Hope everything is back to normal soon and your wounds heal quickly.

Clare&magic · **Joined:** Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:44 pm **Posts:** 707

Please keep a very close eye on your wounds, cat bites really are series, if in any doubt go back for stronger antibiotics.

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Shayla, I hope you're doing better! It sounds as if Suri has calmed down quite a bit. I understand the "I don't trust her" thing. You never know when a cat will turn on you. I remember when I fell down the stairs and my b/w cat Bear was in front of me. I practically tumbled over him. He totally freaked out -- ran into the bedroom, behind the bed and would not come out for hours. Thankfully, no attack, but I screamed all the way down the stairs (thankfully, I was not hurt), but it traumatized him.

It sounds to me as if Suri was terrified of your behavior vomiting. Something she had never seen or heard before. This may just take time for her to overcome -- and your scars will take much longer to heal, I'm sure.

Just glad the attacks on Sierra stopped. Hopefully, when Freyja and Suri can get back together, they will be playmates and leave you alone for a while. Hard to believe a beautiful, sweet little bengal like Suri could do so much damage. Take care of yourself.

Sudden SEVERE, Violent Aggression...HELP!!!

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