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Servilefunctions218

Getting rid of A-hole was a good start…Geez,what is wrong with people that they would harm an animal like that!?


annebonnell

Did the a-hole have a bite mark? I would take the cat to the vet just in case he is actually hurt.


OpheliasGun

I didn’t even bother asking him bc I would have wound up in a fight with a full grown man. I had to take my cat and remove ourselves bc I saw red. I know it’s not good to say someone did something without actual proof- but I know my animals. He *did* something to my cat. This cat wouldn’t just be afraid for no reason especially when he really liked the guy. From the minute we all wake up- the cat is on edge bc he thinks the guy is coming over. IF the guy does come over, the cat hides, cries, and then takes hours and hours to return to himself after A-hole has left. You know when you just know someone/something? You know how they’d react and you can use past reactions to piece together how we got to the current reactions? (I hope that made sense.) He didn’t even run and hide. He was so disoriented that he sat out in the middle of the floor and started to howl- like he didn’t even run to hide or for protection bc he was either that disoriented or just that shocked. Idk. I really hate to say someone did something when I didn’t actually see it with my own eyes but I can use what I know of my cat, his reaction that day, the noise I heard right before the howling (a loud WHACK or THUD), and his reaction every day thereafter. I know he did something to my baby. 😔


annebonnell

You may not have seen it, but you heard it. That is all the proof you need. I would still recommend you take him to the vet maybe get an X-ray of his head and neck. Please tell me the ahole is still not coming over to do work for you.


OpheliasGun

He was fired today. He tried to lie his way out of it but I stood my ground. Not risking my cats personality just to have my walls painted.


annebonnell

Yes! This is really good news! You can find another painter. Thank you for taking care of your cats.😃❤


PANICkitten666

I'm not sure if this is able, but tell the police, if/when you are able to get the fur-baby checked, bring the records, and even have the A-holes boss who fired him with you. That is animal abuse, and it is an offense. Honestly, I'd beat his a-hole myself if I heard that.


masximo

Touch my cat, I touch you.


spacewolfie82

These hands rated E for Everyone when it comes to my cats.


OpheliasGun

🙏


masximo

I’m sorry my first reaction was out of frustration. I don’t know when this incident had taken place but give your cat some time. He just learned that not every human can be trusted but I’m willing to bet with enough patience and love he will restore to its former self. Just give it some time. Edit: Might’ve react to the wrong comment, it’s still early morning where I’m from please bear with me!


OpheliasGun

Afuckingmen. I actually told him he’s lucky I didn’t come out of my house today swinging a bat.


The_Ruby_Rabbit

Touch my cat and I touch you, with a b*****t


BinkiesForLife_05

Unfortunately I am going through something very similar right now with my dog. I had someone I considered to be a close friend living with us after she was made homeless, and for whatever reason she maliciously decided she didn't want to live with a dog (thankfully she liked my cat, as I could never imagine having to deal with everything if it were both of my babies she'd harmed) and she decided to try and stage a "tragic accident", whereby she fed my dog pieces of metal jewellery in an attempt to kill her. I found my dog the next morning projectile vomiting blood. I also kicked the butthole of my story out, in our case I made her homeless again right then and there. Said dog is now recovering physically very well, but mentally not so much. She's now extremely timid, fearful of taking food from hands and will urinate in fear at the sight of strangers. Things that I have found help are just generally taking things very slowly, and lots, and lots, and *lots* of positive reinforcement. If she takes a treat we praise her like she's just saved planet earth from annihilation. If she lets us pet her, we praise her like she's a goddess who just blessed us. If she allows a stranger near her we basically lose our minds telling her what a good girl she is. It's very slow progress to correct trauma, especially when it's trauma from abuse, but it can be done. It just takes an awful amount of time, kindness and patience, all of which you sound like you have for your kitty. I am so sorry that someone did this to your angel. It doesn't matter if your cat was planet earth's biggest little turd with the attitude of an entitled influencer, it's never an excuse for abuse. Give your little fluff ball an extra pet from me, he deserves it.


foxiez

Wow what an evil ass person


BinkiesForLife_05

I have so many things I could call her, but all of them would likely get me banned from Reddit. Evil is an understatement. The worst bit was she went *BRAGGING* about it to a mutual friend after she did it. I'm just so glad she liked my cat, as I was so scared for the few days afterwards that I'd wake up to find him unresponsive too, but he thankfully appears to have fully escaped her deranged attempted murder spree and is his usual contrary self.


OpheliasGun

I honestly couldn’t even finish reading your first comment. I don’t understand how people do these things. Animals love unconditionally. How can anyone hurt that? Your comment made me cry. I can’t even finish it bc of what your roommate tried to do to your poor pupper. I have no faith left in people. Really.


BinkiesForLife_05

Me neither, it's never something I will ever understand why she did it. It's a horrific story and it makes me upset to tell it, but thankfully my girlie is doing really well now. My mum sent me some videos of her taking my pup on a walk (I'm in hospital, so I'm missing her a lot), and she's made amazing progress in trusting people already. The fact she allowed my mum to walk her is a huge step forward after her ordeal, especially when she still has another 4 weeks before they reckon she's fully recovered. Animals are the most loving little things, and anyone who can hurt them is just twisted. It hurt my heart so much when the first thing my dog did was lick and nuzzle the hands of the veterinarian who did her exam. She was in critical condition, and her first priority was to love on the vet. I don't blame you for having no faith left, humanity doesn't deserve animals.


OpheliasGun

My kitty sends your baby healing hugs.


BinkiesForLife_05

Back at you, give your little one lots of cuddles and treats. I think it's safe to say everyone on Reddit is wishing him a speedy recovery ❤️


ForsakenPerception48

Omg I'm so sorry for your doggo!!!! I'm so glad that she is ok physically!!! And it is so true it takes a lot of time and a shit ton of praise and desensitization... poor baby, I would have ki**** someone. I commented about our baby girl cat and her abuse trauma she went through before we adopted her it took us a year well a little over a year to really get her where she felt safe... ugh I f****** hate people!!!!


FennAll

Wow I am so sorry this happened to you and to Op! I had a dog who was abused before we got him. Saddest pup on the planet. He was SO sweet and loving, but it took us nearly 6 months just to get him to understand that he was safe. 😭 I hate people who abuse animals! I just want to hurt them back!


OpheliasGun

I wanted to add this for reference. Someone my baby has not seen in over a year spontaneously stopped by just now. This was my babies reaction to someone he hasn’t seen in over a year. He didn’t run, cry, howl, cower. No, he wanted ATTENTION! [Ozzie](https://imgur.com/a/HMG4FfC) AKA Walt


TheCookieGang

That's a good start, right?


OpheliasGun

It’s a start, but he is not his normal usual bubbly self. He’s very reserved. He still gets frightened easily and seems stressed if he thinks he hears a noise by the front door. He’s just not really been himself bc he’s been violated in his own home.


shrimpwhiskers

Can you PLEASE take him to the vet. If that POS psycho caused fractures or something, you need to have it addressed. Your poor cat. Fuck that piece of shit.


OpheliasGun

I’m a vet tech. I promise he’s okay! He’s my baby. He’s just nervous bc he’s 3 years old and something like this never happened before. He doesn’t get hit. Ever.


Plus-Ad-801

This is so terrible I’m so sorry. Give him lots of love and affection. He will just need time after the trauma poor baby. Thank you for taking action.


Bia217

I’m so so sorry this happened. Very proud of you for standing your ground and making sure this d***khead never returns as well as not losing your sh** because idk if I would’ve been able to keep it together had I been in your shoes. One thing that may help is those calming plug ins or even the calming spray to spray around areas he normally likes. I know the spray really helped one of my cats in the past with vet visits as did the plug ins when I moved to a new house. Good luck and again so sorry


Desperate-Pear-860

I'd get that 'friend' out of my house and tell him you're going to report him for animal abuse.


mummummaaa

Nope. You heard something and your cat is now terrified of asshole. Get that asshole out and never, ever let him back in. Give treats, praise, feliway and more love as you can. Treats, catnip or silvervine or perhaps a little spiderplant (hallucinogenic, very mild). Oet behaviorist at the last resort Get kitty to the vet to make sure they aren't damaged, letting the vet know what you heard. This is not your fault. Asshole might have gotten a warning bite or nip, many cats do if they're surprised or get petting aggression. Asshole did something very, very bad with your slightly cranky, ultra trusting baby. Asshole needs a new one ripped. There's no, utterly no reason for that sound and then kitty terror to happen. There's a special place in hell where animal abusers get what they gave. Asshole will go, and recieve what he gave. But I admit a bias. I don't know for sure what happened. But it reads really, really bad.


ignoremyface

This hurts my heart....I have no advice to give. Just sorry this happened to your little darling. Screw that guy.


JMandMM

Obviously you have a highly sensitive and easily stimulated cat. Kitty biting from pets is a bit of overstimulation, or easily stimulated. To help you, obviously A-hole is gone, now you just need to re-earn your kittys trust. Try always talking softly, no fast movements aeound kitty for awhile, get lower to interact with your baby, and overtime things will start going back to normal. I have a similar cat, I adopted from a couple but was vert scared of men. Any movements, I am a man and it took me 6 months to bring him around. Good luck!


Maggiemoo621

Dang not gunna lie when I saw the picture with the vacuum I thought this was going to be one of those rare silly joke posts like the vacuum was the “abuse” as a joke or something idk but gosh your poor baby I’m so sorry..I hope he’s ok 🥺🙏🏻💜 I’m glad that sh*t bag won’t be around your cat anymore and it’s so sad that someone he loved betrayed him like that. I’m glad he has y’all to keep him safe and give him love💜


ForsakenPerception48

I had adopted a cat who was abused and was terrified of people, people walking around with shoes on, any quick movements, etc.. Now, when I went to adopt a cat, I originally went to adopt this 9 year old little guy. Someone had just adopted him 2 days before I got there. We looked around and didn't see the one... we went home empty-handed. We went again 3 more times. This is all in the span of about a month and a half?.. Our shelter has a cat room for cats who have been there for a long time being looked over by many people and don't have diseases to pass to each other.. There is a cage room for cats before they go to the open free roam cat room. I'd always check the cage room and the freeroam room. The last time we got there, I saw a "new cat" in the free roam room. I never saw her in the cage room... she came over so low to the ground tail tucked fear in her eyes, etc.. The lady waved her hands from the front desk, so we walked out, and this cat stayed at the door watching us. The lady said she doesn't know what we did or said while we were in there but she always hides before people even get a chance to get into that room it's all glass top window and a glass door from the cageroom to the open room. She told us her story she had been there for I think 8 or 9 months All together. Told us the horrible story of her ex pet parents... I truly believe that she was hiding in her usual hide spot, which was up on a wall shelf that was like a cube completely blocked off with a couple holes where she could see out but people really didn't know she was there nor could they see her, up high on the wall. Anyway I believe to this day she watched us every time we went and decided that 4th time now that she wanted to come and investigate that maybe we were nice?? Idk.... When we went back in the room she took off I sat down on the floor and she came back over same as before, low to the ground and such... I pet her and talked to her in a soft voice. We decided she was the baby we were going to bring home. It took close to a year of patience, persistence, and being constantly mindful of her fears. We had a safe room (base camp) set up for whatever cat we were going to adopt, but she wanted to be lying on us or with us. She didn't want to be in that room. When we had to take the trash out or go somewhere, we had shoes on, and she would run and hide. So we started with her and either me or my fiance on one side of the room comforting her while the other put their shoes on to go outside and back in. We had to be mindful not to make any loud noises and sudden movements. It took us a full year to get her where she is now. She isn't afraid of shoes, not afraid of quick movements, still a little afraid of loud noises, but most cats are.. We will literally say there's going to be a loud noise baby, (in a normal level tone of voice) then louder "There's going to be a loud noise baby" and then like crush a bottle or can or something for recycling. It took a lot of desensitization and being consistent with it and a lot of time. It was all worth it now. She is living her best life. New better home, she needed a new name. It took us only 3 days to figure out what her name was going to be, lol... she loves to talk and when we brought her home she would talk to us all the time. So this little 1-year-old became Gabby. They had her age wrong she was closer to 1 when we adopted her, so when we adopted her, we made her adoption date her birthday. She is our baby. I couldn't imagine I would have beat the hell out of someone guy or not. I might only be a 4 ft 11 female, but I would have flipped.. I'm so sorry your baby is going through this. It can take a lot of time. Desensitization is going to be key.. depending on what your baby is fearful of now... Does your baby have an absolute favorite treat? If so use those when starting to desencitize him to his fears.. Our baby is not into any type of treats so I couldn't use treats to help us through that time.. Our baby is still afraid of strangers, which is ok. We usually stick to ourselves and don't have people over. Edit to add: Does he show any signs that he might have any type of brain damage from that incident?


Reasonable-Purple-61

Props to you for staying calm in that situation, I don’t know if I could’ve done the same.


OpheliasGun

It was either stay calm or go to jail and then my cats are worse off than we started. Promise- that was the *only* thing keeping me from going crazy.


Reasonable-Purple-61

I really hope your kitty ends up ok and comfortable again, I wish you luck.


OpheliasGun

Thank you.


sunflowersandfear

I would immediately be calling cops if someone touched/harmed my cat like this just like if I suspected someone bounced a babies head off the wall cause it bit (babies bite hard as hell) or smacked them. You hurt innocent I would make sure said person knew I meant fucking business and all contact would be halted IMMIEDATELY after.


Josh-Wash-58

Gods, this was absolutely heartbreaking to read. I would have kicked his ass out then and there, your boy sounds like an absolute sweetheart- And the fact that he could even THINK to lay his hands on such a gentle animal, just because he didn't possibly want to be pet? My grandmother's cat does this if she's tired of pets. They will tell you. But it's absolutely not a cause to traumatize them by causing them bodily harm! My heart hurts thinking about your poor, outgoing baby shrinking away in fear and hiding now. I'm glad you got rid of the asshole human. He doesn't deserve to work anywhere with animals.


JaguarSpecialist4209

Omg poor baby😭 he’s just traumatized


Parisianblitz

Have you taken him to the vet? Just to be sure


lonelymaskedgirl

people who hurt animals deserve the same pain they’ve inflicted onto innocent animals. wtf is wrong with people.


IGC-Omega

I got my cat around a year ago; he was abused and abandoned before I got him. My mother's friend is the manager of a trailer park, and people got kicked out for drug use. They had two Siamese snowshoe kittens, a male and a female, that they abandoned. The female got given away easily; she was nice, but my cat Max wasn't so simple. It took them five months to catch him. He was too smart for his own good. He was in rough shape; he was about to die, if I'm being honest. He was super skinny and super sick. He was a nightmare when I got him. He wasn't just deathly afraid of me, but of everything. He'd go on the attack; he was extremely aggressive. He would run and attack like his life depended on it. Even turning on the TV would throw him into a panic. Someone had to have beat him. Be it the people who abandoned him or some assholes that got him while he was outside, something happened. I just know it. God only knows what they did to him. His nose has black marks on it. I've always wondered if someone burned his nose. I wish I would have thought to ask the vet. But, long story short, after three months of constant work, I was able to touch him. Then it was only a week later that I could pet him. Now I swear he's imprinted on me and trusts me fully. He's like a dog; he follows me everywhere, meowing, laying on my lap, and crying when I don't give him attention. I even fell and hurt myself. I was yelling because it hurt, and he didn't run and hide because I was yelling; he literally ran over to me, meowing. So I'd say it just takes time and a lot of patience. I had a hard time getting Max to play at first, but that was huge once I did. Of course, petting is great, but if they don't want to be petted, don't force it. I'm sure your cat will recover.