Uh... my cat is trying to eat me.

[tiqa]

Our pet cat, age 1.5, has always been moderately affectionate.  He's our only animal right now.  I've never been as close to him as I've been to some of my other pets beforehand, not had that deep "connection" with him, but I've had him since he was a few weeks old and we've always gotten along just fine, and he definitely spends the most time with me out of the whole family.  He likes to sit/lay near me and, until recently, would often come sit in my lap and nuzzle me, purr, etc. for about 5-10 minutes in the evenings.  He's never shown any hint of violence towards me or the kids.  Never scratched, bit, nothing. 

Well, when I got pregnant a little while back, things got weird.  I very quickly went from BFP to bedrest with hyperemesis.  I was in the hospital for several days at a time on several occasions, and then had home IV therapy.  I'm doing slightly better now, and am about 12 weeks. 

Sometime around me getting sick, Mr. Kittypants (no, not his real name, lol) got mad at me.  He still is gentle towards our kids and is fine with my DH, but he is VERY aggressive with me.  He will attack my hand like he is trying to bite pieces off it.  I joked to DH that he thought I was on my way out and thought he would eat me for the heck of it.  But seriously.  Now that I'm a bit more mobile he will come lay on the bed with me, but if I so much as try to pet his head, he will snap down on it and kick and fight and lash his tail.  And he's not joking.  What gives?!

Incidentally, when my home nurse comes, he will be very curious, sniff everything, sit there as if he's making sure everything is being taken care of.  Like sit very close to me, not bite, etc.  But then as soon as she leaves... he will be back to attacking me.  I'm getting to the point of just shutting him out of the room entirely because I can't even look at him without him trying to attack me half the time.

Cat psych experts??   Anyone??

Edited by tiqa - 7/2/12 at 4:24pm

[Mosaic]

I love that you gave your cat an assumed name to protect his identity.

Anyway, I wonder if he is reacting from your hospitalizations/illness and taking it a little personally. Sorta like, "Hey, you deserted me and left me here and you're still not quite your old self, so I'm hesitant." I'm not a cat psych nor do I play one on tv, but I hope that 1) you feel much much better soon and 2) Mr. Kittypants goes back to his old self when you do!

[Katielady]

It could be a smell thing. We had two cats (I'll call them "Fuzzbucket" and "Mr. Jones" to protect their identities, lol) who were brothers and normally got along well. Fuzzbucket used to get UTIs every so often and would need to go to the vet, sometimes staying overnight. When he got back, Mr. Jones would VICIOUSLY attack him. It was really upsetting to see. DH and I decided Fuzzbucket smelled wrong, almost like he smelled like a stranger. We could notice the medicinal smell on him, so I imagine to a cat it was an intense change. Between the hormonal changes, the meds, and the hospital stays, you might just, well, stink. To a cat, anyway.

As for what to do about it, honestly if it were me I'd keep the cat out of my room and off my bed until the behavior improved. Meanwhile I'd get some special treats and hand-feed them during times when he's relaxed and mellow. But don't let him keep biting you, you've got enough on your plate without being a cat's liversnap.