My dog was discovered, not born. She appeared in the belly of a stray that veterinary students were operating on as they learned their trade. (In surgery school, unwanted animals are sedated, operated on, roused, resedated, operated on again--a different procedure--then euthanized.) Anyhow, they hadn't realized her mother was pregnant, so there were the 7 premies. She was born breathing, one was resuscitated, the rest died.

My friend the vet student and his wife bottle fed her for 6 weeks, then we adopted her. She bit our hands constantly, aggressively. We needed gloves.

Finally I asked a smart trainer about it. He said, when a puppy sinks its needle teeth into mother dog's ear, mother dog does not squeal, "Nooo! Mustn't bite Mommy. Bad puppy!" Mother dog snarls, whirls, and nips her good. The puppy learns things about coexistence from being in a litter; it's not just cuteness when they climb all over each other.

I had to stop acting like a human and be a bitch. For the next several months I roared, advanced as though I were going to bite, and shook her by the back of the neck--one or several, depending. Now she's 12, and a cupcake.

Dogs and cats are taught by their mothers and siblings. Some can be saved by humans who can fake it. But I think some can't.

He is swishing my leg with his tail as I type. I had some very expensive stereo speakers at the time, and the condo I lived in didn't allow outside cats, so I went to the Humane Society and chose a big declawed orange tabby male. I would never have a cat declawed myself, but I had no problem adopting one. As it turned out, the original owner had probably done it in self-defense, but had still given up.

After hiding under the bed for a few days, he emerged after I had retired, jumped up on the bed, and sank his teeth as deep as he could into my hand. I jumped out of bed, and he attacked my ankles. I chased him into the living room and he hid under a chair. I closed my door and went back to bed, after cleaning and dressing a pretty severe pair of puncture wounds.

The next day I sat down in a chair, and he emerged and began stalking me. He crouched and pounced, and I caught him mid-air with an open palm to the side of the head, spinning him around and leaving him a bit stunned and very surprised. Apparently no one had ever fought back before. He tried the same thing later and as he crouched I raised my hand, he looked at it and shook in anger for about thirty seconds, then backed off. He later tried a sneak attack, I chased him down and pinned him to the floor with my hand closing around his neck. I held him for about ten seconds, just allowing him to breath. A couple more bouts like this and he understood: If he picked a fight with me, he was going to lose.

We are now best of friends. I do still let him fight with me, but he knows the rules: no ambushes, no clamping down with his teeth, but a light brush with the teeth to count coup is allowed.

I know there are many who think I should have spent thousands of dollars to have him psychoanalyzed and socialized, I say screw that, he just needed to understand who the was the biggest badass in the house. By the way, he does not and never did attack guests or children, but if he does escape from the house he immediately starts looking for birds or rodents to kill or another cat to attack. He was castrated before I got him, but the vet said it was probably done too late. I told my vet this whole story, and he agreed I had done the right thing.

Flame away, I expect it. This cat was down to his last life, if he went back the shelter it would be to be put down.

In my previous post I illustrated that cats can be safe and happy outdoors. But I agree with others who say that an aggressive cat should not be outside where it could harm people and other animals. Also, cat feces do pose a health risk, so maybe its better not to let cats out in the suburbs or city. That seems sad to me. Maybe city dwellers should just get small dogs.

First of all, I love animals, but I do not believe that a person should be required to sacrfice their peace of mind, income, and all their energy to their pets. I would love for every dog and cat to have a loving home. However, I do believe that it is sometime better for an animal to be killed rather than to live in frightening conditions or to cause harm to people and other animals. It seems to me that the LW has truely tried to give this cat a good home, but unfortunately this cat is unable to feel secure. LW can continue to spend money and energy on the cat, but I doubt it will help. Maybe for peace of mind, LW should give the cat one more chance and some sessions with a proffessional. But I still doubt that this will help.

So here is my advice: CRAIGSLIST!

I adopted a dog that was listed on Craigslist. My dog was one of MANY who was listed with a picture and the information that if the animal was not adopted by the end of the week, she would be brought to the Humane Society. My dog was a sweetie with heartworms and ear mites and the owners were unwilling or unable to pay for her treatment.

I think that if you decide that you are truely unable to live with the cat that you should list the cat on Craigslist before taking him to be euthanized. List his history. Explain that the cat will not be accepted for adoption at a shelter and will therefore be euthanized if no one adopts him at the end of a set time. Make sure to point out that you will not give this cat to anyone with children. There are a lot of hard core "cat people" out there (and they'll probably be damn rude to you - but really don't let their bad attitude and hatefullness be your problem, you've got enough to deal with)! Let the cat be someone else's burden (or joy - who knows). Perhaps no one will be interested in the cat and you'll still need to euthanize him. But at least you will have tried one last thing. Good Luck! Oh, and maybe talk to a lawyer about the liabilites of giving someone a dangerous animal, they might tell you that this is an awful idea!!

Lastly, I grew up in the country. We adopted shelter cats to be mousers. Because we had cats we didn't use rat poison. The cats stayed outside day and night, except when we had a freeze. They were mellow, affectionate, healthy cats and all of them lived long lives. Not one ever ran away. Yes they killed some birds, but not too many. I think that the birds had a bigger problem with the snakes and other bird species. Point is: cats can be very happy and quite safe out of doors.