OT:we adopted a demon cat from the shelter, any BTDT advice?

[newmomto3kids]

We adopted the cutest little cat from the shelter last week. He is 4 years old, an exotic shorthair. Since we have had him home, he has bitten every member of our family, and some visitors, several times. And not little nips, full on bruising bites. When you are petting him, when he is scared, in the dark, when you are just walking by him minding your own business. He hisses and then, whomp!!!
I know it seems like I should just bring him back to the shelter, but I am hoping someone has some advice about how to make him stop, or BTDT stories that suggest he will stop once he is adjusted.
I have a call into the shelter for advice also...
Thanks in advance...

[Marisa6826]

Honestly, with little kids in the house, I would just take him back to the shelter ASAP. There's a chance that he could not be well, or he could just be a not very nice cat. Do you know why he was at the shelter to begin with?

Cat bites are notoriously dangerous. I had a cat from hell that sent me to the hospital on more than one occasion due to infected bites (they got infected in less than 24 hours!). I held onto him for over 7 years and finally had to put him down after he attacked me, Jonathan and the dog. The last straw was when he attacked Jonathan - it was so bad, that Jonathan's sock was torn open and blood was pulsing from his foot.

You don't want to run the risk of having to admit one of your family members for IV antibiotics.

Send the kitty back. I know it's not what you want to hear. :(

Sorry

-m

[newmomto3kids]

He was at the shelter because he was a stray. But he is an expensive cat which confuses me a little.
I think that I know I have to take him back, I just feel so bad.
It sucks when you are trying to do the right thing and it ends up biting you in the you know what!
Thanks for your insight, I don't want to be having conversations about our biting cat 7 years from now...

[Marisa6826]

Funny thing is, Milo was from North Shore Animal League. NSAL is a shelter that rescues 'death row' animals from other shelters.

I guess I know why Milo was a 'death row' cat.

I probably should've been tipped off when the name on his cage was Grizzly, huh? ;)

Really, he was quite nice for a little while. Things just kind of spiraled downhill after that.

If he's a full breed cat, there's definitely more to the story. Did they check to see if he's microchipped? If he's 4yo and fullbred, I'd be surprised if he didn't have one.

-m

ETA - you didn't mention what breed he is, but have you looked into calling a breed rescue? They would probably be really happy to take him, since he will likely be put down (sorry, I know, another thing you don't want to hear) if you take him back and tell them he's bitten people. I did French Bulldog Rescue, and we were forever trying to get the Frenchies out of the shelters ASAP.

[Momof3Labs]

If he's that much of a biter, I would just put him down, honestly. If you bring him back and tell the shelter why, they will probably euthanize him (if they are at all responsible) anyways (though I guess that would save you the vet bill). If you don't tell them, he could get into a vicious cycle of being adopted and returned - and that isn't fair to him either.

No way would I keep a cat like that around children. There just isn't a magic pill to give him to get him to stop. This is not a normal adjustment phase for a normal cat!

[sweetpea]

The poor thing could be ill or hurting in some way. When my cat became sick she started biting. I thought she was just getting old and grouchy but it turned out that she had a hyperthyroid problem.

My sister declawed her cat (both front and back feet :( ) and that turned him into a biter/attack cat almost overnight.

Honestly, I would not trust such a cat around a child. How awful for both the cat and your family ... sorry you are in this situation.

[egoldber]

Bleah, sorry. We recently had to put down one of our cats that turned into a biter after we had had him for 13 years. (Yes, we had tons of vet work done to check for medical issues and tried some bahvior modification stuff too.) If I were you I would take him back to the shelter ASAP. There is no magic wand for this and it could take weeks or months for things to work and there is no guarantee that anything will work.