u/Tall-Sugar-2687

Hi, I have no idea how to start this. I’m writing from Midwest, I rescued a very neglected cat (Goliath) Sunday from this lady who was a hoarder with lots of pets, and kept him in a garage a lot of the time. He is 2yrs old, no neuter or shots. He was so filthy and smelt so bad, When I brought him home I bathed him and ended up giving him a flea treatment. Unfortunately he was getting eaten alive by them, they were EVERYWHERE on him, and when we gave the treatment, fleas were dying on him all night (including at the vet.) after his bath I was checking his nails out, and realized his nail from his extra thumb (on both paws) was extremely ingrown and infected. It had grew to where it reentered and punctured his skin. It had discharge and a bad smell. I called and ER vet and they advised I bring him in the same night I got him. He did really good, his ingrowns were cut and he’s been on antibiotics since Sunday night. He came home and had way more energy, was very affectionate, eating and pooping well, and overall good. My concern is the biting suddenly. When I move my arm while petting him he has bitten very hard (3 times now). It’ll break skin deep and it’ll turn purple right away. I’ve had to neosporin and bandage my arm each time. And I can’t tell when it’s coming, I have 2 other cats and I know a love bite or bite from overstimulation shouldn’t be that hard. After the bite he’ll go right back to being affectionate. He’ll cry if I leave the room, follow me everywhere, and I’m worried how he’ll act when I return to work tomorrow. My other cat had behavioral/social issues with us but not like this. He’s on antibiotics for 3 more days and the 2 vets I’ve spoken to suggest waiting for his shots until after he’s done fighting the infection. But I plan to get him neutered the same day or week if possible. I love him a lot but I just never faced this problem before and the bites will be pretty bad. It’s random when he does it. I try to limit how much attention I give him but even a few minutes ago, i tried to walk away and he bit at me (but missed) and I saw how hard he chomped down. I don’t know what fully happened at his past home but I’m not sure how to help this.

TLDR: 2yr old male rescue cat had very questionable conditions in past home and faced neglect. Is very clingy and randomly bites hard when he’s showing me affection. Seen ER vet for paw infection, getting shots/neuter after finishing antibiotics. Not sure what to do.

This happened the last time I was new as a DSP, except I had no experience and was new to everything. I get lots of people who catch attitudes or completely ignore me when I come to the house to train and it sucks. The first time I trained to become a DSP, they straight up said “nobody told me I was training, I’m not going to train you.” So I learned so much from watching and having to insert myself…safe to say it was not easy and I went through a lot the first time. Especially because I was put to stay at a house marked as “high intensity behavior” when I had no experience. My second time around with a different company (I left the first one when my mom got very sick) I’m experiencing the same. Of course I feel more comfortable inserting myself in the places I have experience in (with permission first ofc) but it is a little more complicated to ask where I can help or if I’m over stepping my boundaries. So I’m stuck between not doing too much but maybe not doing enough. These are shadow shifts which I know are more letting the main DSP work while you watch. It’s been difficult, they’ve either been rude, not doing anything besides sitting and sleeping on shift, or just kinda ignoring me while I awkwardly ask every now and then if I could help with anything. 😪

I guess I’m just wondering if I should work on just stepping back or if I should assert myself more? I feeling a little lost even having 3 years experience