Aggression from senile cat. Help!

[sherrylynne]

We have a new problem with Stubb's senility. He was walking past one of our other cats tonight, and attacked him. No reason for the attack, and Watson was laying there half- asleep. A claw sheathe stuck in Watson's eye. I had to pull it out. So far, Watson seems ok, so it may have just caught the inside of the bottom eyelid. Being a cat, and refusing to hold still, I couldn't see exactly where it was. We're going to watch him tonight, and take him in tomorrow if needed.
The other cats are all becoming stressed, because they don't know if they are going to be attacked by him with no warning. The ferrets avoid him like the plague.
He's already on Bach's rescue remedy(for 3 days now), and I've doubled the amount he gets as of today.
I've been told it could possibly be a brain tumor, but the only symptoms he shows is the confusion. His eyes are fine, etc. And even if it were....
If I can't bring Stubbies aggression under control, and quickly, we are going to have him put to sleep.
Short of isolating him all the time, I'm at a loss.
   

[Bonkers]

  My first thought would be is Mr Stubbs in some kind of pain? I know that it has not been too long since you had him to the vet but since he is advancing in years he may be suffering some arthritic pain or there could be an underlying medical problem. Any changes in his eating or water consumption? There are drugs that may be used such as valium but I would first see if increasing  the Rescue Remedy helps.

http://www.petplace.com/cats/introduction-to-feline-aggression/page1.aspx
http://www.cat-world.com.au/AggressionInCats.htm
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/aggression.html

[Bonkers]

  Sorry, I forgot to ask how is Watson's eye?

[lesliek]

Some other possible causes could be a new food sensitivity,or ferals in heat or spraying outside that he can smell.Hope Watson's eye is ok and you can find the cause of the aggression.

[Bonkers]

 Between my two males, I have been attacked on three separate occasions. Both my males get extremely upset if they see a stray male cat hanging around the house. Thank goodness they have never attacked my little girl Tinker. Now when I see someones tail get bushy I run and hide untill the tail goes back to normal.

[coontuffy]

http://itchmoforums.com/miscother-pet-discussions/pugsley-t8149.0.html

sherrylynne, I am so sympathetic to you and what you are going through with Mr. Stubbs.  It is horribly frightening for both you and the kitty who is the victim of the attack.

After putting Pugsley through thousands of dollars worth of testing, Pugs will be 2 in October, my youngest kitty, the neurologist said, "You have a perfectly healthy male cat.  It's behavioral....good luck"

sherrylynne, that is just a crock of crap and I know in my gut that this all came to fruition as a result of something in a food.  At the same time Pugsley went psycho, my Rufus started showing signs of severe illness which is still ongoing.  In my opinion, there were 2 foods that started this horror show. 

I now have improvements in Pugsley since he has not had either food in over 3 weeks.  Rufus is another story..............    

[Bonkers]

  I have no doubt that sensitivities to food and the crappy additives in them can often times be an irritant and cause agressive behavior. On occasion I have seen this with my Jasper, although not to the extent that Mr Stubbs exhibited. If Stubbs seems confused it may also be that he just did not recognise Watson.

[Perseus]

sherrylynne, I'm so sorry to hear about Mr. Stubb's aggression, but believe it or not it's not that unusual at all.  I've had several cats do this over the years.  I've come to learn it was because something frightened them or they became afraid; or they have been upset for some reason.  Even if they are in pain they can get upset over it. Aggression and biting that is atypical in a cat is mostly because they are frightened although there can certainly be other reasons. I would be surprised if it turns into a pattern for him. 

I would just give him some time to see if it happens again and keep up the rescue remedy.

I hope Watson is okay, too!  It's always something.  After 25+ cats nothing really surprises me any more....

A couple of days ago little precious never naughty Athena got stuck between a desk and a wall.  She got totally freaked out and then got tangled in the computer cables.  My dh tried to lift her out, and she bit him hard!  This is a cat that's never bitten either of us before, but she was so frightened her natural instinct was to bite as a defense against the mean bad cables.

[Perseus]

my Rufus started showing signs of severe illness which is still ongoing.  In my opinion, there were 2 foods that started this horror show. 

I now have improvements in Pugsley since he has not had either food in over 3 weeks.  Rufus is another story..............    

Peg, off topic but I have to inquire:  which two foods?

[sherrylynne]

Thank you everyone, for all your input . First of all- Watson's eye is fine, thank heavens. It was just the inner lid, for which I'm grateful!
This problem, I think, started last May, when we lost our last dog, Mia. Mr. Stubbs and her were best friends. The day we got back, after having to have Mia PTS, Stubbs looked at us, looked for Mia, then immediately turned and attacked Watson. I think he blamed the poor guy for Mia not being there.
Since that time, it's been plateauing, and downhill, then plateau, the slide.
Now, all the animals steer clear of him. He definitely has to be shut away when the ferrets are about, as all they have to do is get within 3 feet of him now, and he'll strike at them, even if he has to go out of his way to do it.
Watson has been terrified of him for a while, Herne is exceedingly leery of him. The only one not overly afraid of Stubbs is Ligiea, and even she is watchful. If he tries anything, she'll constantly smack him whenever she sees him if he's tried to strike her.
I guess what I'm saying is that this has been a pattern for a while now. It's just gotten worse in the last couple of weeks. Much worse.
I'll definitely talk to the vet when I take one of the ferrets in for her lupron shot on the 21st, see what she suggests.
He doesn't show any apparent pain. Normally if he has pain of any kind, he hides, which he's not doing. I suppose the confusion could cause that, though.
He is definitely arthritic. When the weather is changing, he reacts to it with more confusion than usual, along with more vocalizations. At least I'm assuming it's arthritic pain, since I also suffer from it at that time, with all the weather changes .
I've also upped the amount of the rescue remedy for him from 6 drops a day, to 12. I started that yesterday.

[Bonkers]

  Poor Mr Stubbs. It is amazing what losing a good friend can do to a pet. I attribute many of Jasper's problems to him missing a stray girl kitty that he was enamored with a few years ago. Everything went downhill after that. There is product that I have used with some success. It is called Calm & Relax by Azmira and there are supplements like Cosequin that may help with his arthritic pain. Keep us posted as to how the increase of the RR works out for him and what the vet has to say about his aggression.

[sherrylynne]

I will, Bonkers, thanks. What can you tell me about Cosequin?

[Bonkers]

 Cosequin is a glucosamine and chondrotin supplement. There are both cat and dog formulas. It comes in a capsule which can be opened and mixed with their food. I used to order mine off the web but many veterinarians carry it also.

http://www.nutramaxlabs.com/products/animal/cosequin/cosequin_cat_FAQ.asp#1

[coontuffy]

sherrylynne, I have had some wonderfully amazing success with Trixsyn

http://www.trixsyn.com/

This had been a godsend for my 12 year old girlcat Rikers.
She was born without hip joints so her walking all these years with a swayback resulted in severe arthritis in her spine!!!

She was in agony and I was even contemplating sending her to the Bridge because she could barely move and was crying out in pain.

The Cosequin worked a bit but not from a pain perspective and the Cosequin also constipated the poor doll so badly it made her arthritis pain even worse.

It is a liquid.
No ingredients from China.
Helps with Interstitial Cystitis as well.
Comes in a liquid which tastes very good and they send you the syringe to give it as well.
1 ml 2 times per day.

LOL Rikers loves it so much she licks the syringe after I give it to her.
She's been on it about 6 months and I will never stop giving it to her.
Some days she does well on just 1 ml.

Her mobility has increased dramatically and her pain is non existent.  As a matter of fact she came to me and yelled for me to pick her up and put her in my lap.  

That hasn't happened in a very long time.

[sherrylynne]

Thanks, I'll check it out, coontuffy. Someone also suggested I have him tested for hyper-T. Would it show up within the 2-3 months since his last blood test? He does seem to have some of the symptoms.