Letters to the Editor
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Allie
Scram does not work for these two cats. They are not afraid of humans. I don't want war in the 'hood (and my child would cry if I hurt the things), so I've refrained from the stick method. (Other than the cat, the neighbor is OK). Water guns work in the summer, but are inconvient in the snow.
Even if I don't touch them, the dander on the car and in the air around the car are all that's necessary to set off the allergy. It only has to be in the air.
They not only tore up my plastic lid, but two other neighbors' lids. I have no idea why. I've water hosed them off the lid, but they just come back later when I'm in the house. Right now there's wood on the lid until I can clean it out.
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Domini,
mix some vinegar in with the water and squirt the cats with that - felines detest the stuff. Maybe some squirted around the car too. I've read that citrus rinds keep cats away so maybe you could leave some on top of the car hood if they often sleep there. I also saw a special type of mat at the pet shop, for keeping cats off of countertops - it had sort of short plastic nubby spikes on it. On television I once saw a vet who kept a type of mat that would deliver a small electric shock on his sofa, to keep his dogs off - maybe you could get one of these and an extension cord to train those cats to stay off your car. Those sound like terrible cats.
Regarding the LW's cat... sadly it sounds like she may have to have it put down - it's a menace, if it can't be medicated or other treatment does not work. I have always had cats and love them, but one must draw a line somewhere when it affects one's life so much.
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Also
Cats hate the smell of citronella oil.
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the cat
The advice from the folks who have started animal shelters is very useful, and it boils down to: if medication and behavioral intervention doesn't work, you really do need to consider euthanasia, as a kindness to the cat.
But I also hope you'll consider WHY this cat is out of control. People simply cannot teach a day-old kitten everything its mother would teach it. You two managed to save his life with all the bottle feeding, but you couldn't possibly socialize him to be a well-behaved cat the way its mother could have. The cat is definately brain damaged, because the interactions between a newborn and a mammal parent in those first weeks of life help lay down brain circuits in ways that lead to 'normal' brain functioning throughout life. So you do have an insane cat, and while medications may help you live with it in peace for another 12 or 15 years, it can't fix the simple fact that a mother cat is necessary to create a sane kitten. A person can't do it.
Whatever you do, please don't just turn him into a 'barn cat' or let him out into the world (as I know you don't want to do, but other letter writers are suggesting). Outdoor cats kill an extraordinarily high number of wild animals each year--hundreds of millions of them, particularly small rodents (6 of the 8 species of native beach mice in Florida are threatened by predation, largely cat predation). Good luck.
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No Brainer
Put it in a secure box--take it to the humane society--have it euthanized. It is a danger. It is fucked up. I cannot understand the drama here.
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The LW is
a punk. Simple solution, get rid of the cat. Give it to a nice Korean family who will give it a nice home in their roasting pot.
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Unhappy cat/unhappy humans
I meant to post this letter earlier but got involved in other projects. I thought I would just add my support to what is a difficult decision- getting rid of a pet which you've invested a whole lot of time & emotion into...I too ended up with a kitten that had been orphaned at about 2 weeks of age. At first I was reluctant to take it on &, in fact, other people were engaged in the all night/all day feeding and cleaning of the litter of 3. But at around 5 weeks of age 2 of the 3 disappeared & I was asked to take the last one which I was reluctant to do but finally I agreed. At the time an acquaintance of mine told me, "a kitten that hasn't been raised by its mother will never be normal". Well, I should have paid attention to that statement as the next 8 years(!) with that cat were certainly a trial...At the time I had 2 other cats so I did have other ones to compare it with (all my cats have been neutered quite young & this one was too). Basically, it had a very erratic personality and became increasingly aggressive with age. All my cats were indoor & outdoor. I live in the country and depending on the season they spend more or less time inside rather than outside according to the weather. And this last guy was treated just like the other 2. It was the aggression that became a big problem. It started when he was quite young. At one point, he was playing with some yarn I'd been rolling up & somehow he got tangled in it & when I reached over to help him out, he attacked me with real growling ferocity (I actually allowed him to keep all his claws dug into my left arm/hand while I cut the yarn off him with scissors). When my sister visited me at one point I told her to not pet him as he didn't know her & I was worried he might be aggressive (he was about 3 years old then). Of course, sisters being what they are, she did reach out to pet him and he managed to bite through the cuff of her leather jacket & through a silver bracelet she was wearing & actually punctured her wrist with his teeth. After that we thought he should wear a sign to warn people off...Anyway, since we are in the country, it wasn't actually impossible to manage him and I could generally trust him IF his tail wasn't 'wagging'..When it was- watch out! After 8 years with us, he finally died from a tumor in his nose/mouth which, by the way, did not make him behave any better. IF we had lived in the city, for sure we would have had him 'put down'...I actually don't believe he was ever very happy- all his signals were just hopelessly mixed up. We are responsible in many ways for the animals we live with and sometimes the quality of their lives is not good for them or for us their guardians. These are hard decisions but sometimes we are called upon to make them.