Dear Sinéad, Siouxsie and Thomas:
Our cat recently started hissing and growling at my husband. She had always been "his" cat, but all of a sudden, out of nowhere, she will start to hiss and growl at him and follow him through the house. She'll be just a nice as can be one minute and then turn on him. Nothing has happened to make her fear him. We are considering giving her to the humane society as we have grandchildren and as of now she cannot be trusted. She is 4 years old, spayed, front declawed and an inside cat. She is definitely fearful of some people, but not all. She is a very distant cat, not very affectionate. We took her to the vet and they found absolutely nothing wrong with her. They said it might be "hormonal" or something like it. Not very helpful at all. Thank you for your help in this.

Sincerely,
Cat Lovers

Sinéad: Well, Cat Lovers, we think we may be able to give you some insight about why your cat's behavior has changed and what you may be able to do to help her.

Siouxsie: When a cat suddenly begins behaving aggressively toward one person or a category of people (men, for instance), it's generally due to trauma. You say that your husband has done nothing to make your cat fear him, but is it possible that some other man might have scared her?

Thomas: If you had workers in your house, for example, or a male guest who might have unintentionally done something to scare your cat, this could explain her recent aggressiveness toward your husband.

Sinéad: That's right. Your cat might be associating your husband with the behavior of other males she's encountered.

Siouxsie: Also, if your cat is generally anxious and her anxiety has begun to overwhelm her, she may be "redirecting" this aggression from the object of her anxiety (which is beyond her control) to your husband (with whom she feels relatively safe). Redirected aggression is fairly common in cats suffering from anxiety.

Thomas: We'd encourage you to carefully observe what's going on just before your cat starts her aggressive behavior. If there's a pattern -- she is touched in a certain place, or the behavior happens in a particular location on your house -- you might find a clue there.

Sinéad: You mention that you have grandchildren now, too. Before your cat's aggressive behavior started, were your grandchildren supervised while they were interacting with your cat? It's possible that one of them may have hurt or scared the cat by accident; children generally love cats, but often they need to be taught to "be gentle with the kitty" and carefully supervised in their early interactions with cats.

Siouxsie: Human babies of a certain age tend to reach out and grab anything they can get their hands on. We've occasionally had our tails yanked and our ears grabbed by human babies, and we can tell you it hurts! A sensitive cat who feels vulnerable can find these unintentional hurts very traumatizing.

Thomas: And Siamese cats do tend to be a bit on the high-strung side.

Sinéad: You don't mention how you came to adopt this cat, but there are early socialization factors that can cause anxiety with people. At age 4, your cat has reached "social maturity" -- basically, she's reached the life stage equivalent to that of a 30-year-old human. Cats' behavior does tend to change as they approach this milestone in their lives, which usually happens between ages 3 and 4.

Siouxsie: Some of the issues your cat had during kittenhood can really come out in full force at this time of her life. If she was treated poorly before she came to you, or if she wasn't properly socialized by the breeder you purchased her from ... or even if her mother had some sort of anxiety or other mental health issue ... it could come into "full flower" at this time.

Thomas: The good news is that help is available, and there are some things you can do to help your cat.

Sinéad: We believe that the underlying cause of your cat's aggressiveness toward your husband may be anxiety, either as a result of recent or early trauma or because of an issue with her brain chemistry.

Siouxsie: If you surrender her to the animal shelter and she has a behavior problem, the odds are good that she won't be able to find a home. Depending on the shelter, she may be euthanized if she is there for a certain length of time without being adopted.

Thomas: If you want to try and help your cat, the first thing we'd recommend you do is to ask your veterinarian for a referral to an animal behaviorist. These "pet psychologists" can help determine the underlying cause of behavior problems and give you instructions on how to help your cat give up her aggressiveness.

Sinéad: A behavior modification program is going to take time and cost money, but we feel it's really worth the effort.

Siouxsie: The behaviorist or your veterinarian may prescribe a short course of treatment with anti-anxiety drugs. Medications such as buspirone (BuSpar) or fluoxetine (Prozac) have been used off-label ("off-label" means that a drug isn't specifically approved by the FDA for this use, but veterinarians have found through experience that it is safe and works as hoped) to help animals with anxiety problems.

Thomas: If you have these medications in your home for some other reason, do not give them to your cat on your own! Any drugs you give to your animals need to be given under the guidance of a veterinarian; otherwise, you risk serious health problems and possibly even death for your cat.

Sinéad: Another way you can help your kitty feel less anxious is through the use of a feline pheromone product designed to reduce stress. This pheromone, marketed under the brand name Feliway, comes in a spray and a plug-in diffuser. Both of these products are odorless (well, odorless to humans, anyway). Mama's used this stuff with us, and it really does work! You can find Feliway at your vet's office, at pet stores, or online.

Siouxsie: If you use Feliway, we'd recommend that you purchase one or two diffusers and plug them in at opposite ends of the house (or on different floors, if you house has two stories). Place the diffusers in rooms where your cat prefers to hang out, so she feels safe and comfortable in "her" room.

Thomas: When your grandchildren come to visit, you might consider restricting the cat to one of "her" rooms until any behavior modification programs take effect and you feel she's safe with the kids. This will probably help your cat feel less anxious, too.

Sinéad: You might also consider that conditions such as food allergies, heavy metal poisoning, and allergies to health, cleaning and beauty products used in the home are believed by some to cause behavior problems.

Siouxsie: With that in mind, we'd recommend that you feed your cat the highest quality food you can afford, that you use unscented cat litter, and that you avoid the use of chemical deodorizers or carpet cleaners if at all possible. This is generally good advice whether or not your cat has allergies or behavior problems.

Thomas: If you feel you need to find a new home for your cat, we ask that you do a couple of things to make sure she has the best chance of finding a "forever home."

Sinéad: First, if you send her to a shelter, please make sure it's a "no-kill" shelter. There are no-kill shelters all over the US and Canada, and a simple web search should reveal directories of these organizations in every state and province. When you surrender her, be honest about her behavior issue; she'll have a much better chance of finding an appropriate home if you tell the shelter staff about her special needs (maybe she needs to be an only cat or have a female owner, or she needs to be in a home without children).

Siouxsie: The other thing you can do is contact a breed rescue organization. If she's a purebred Siamese, a Siamese rescue organization will help you re-home your cat with another person who understands the breed and is dedicated to sharing their life with a Siamese. Links to breed rescue organizations can be found through the Cat Fanciers Association and even by a simple web search.

Thomas: Breed rescue groups may be willing to work with cats that are Siamese but don't have pedigree papers, so it's worth asking them even if your kitty doesn't have CFA or TICA registration or if you bought her as "pet quality" rather than "show quality."

Sinéad: We hope this helps, Cat Lovers. Please let us know how things turn out with your baby.

Got a question? Need some advice? E-mail us at advice@paws-and-effect.com. None of the material in this column is meant to be a substitute for regular veterinary care.