Hi all.
The life story of our cat is relevant regarding what's happening to her now,
so I'll start at the beginning.
We got her from an SPCA organization (not spca but similar) at the age of 12
weeks. The most adorable kitten, still especially beautiful, but she showed
behaviour problems from the word go.
The first three days we had she had her face firmly pressed up against a
corner in our bedroom. She didn't show any signs of her recognizing our
attempts of getting in touch with her. After three days she started looking
around, and immediately fell for my husband. She managed to get up in our
bed and lay there licking his forehead all night. No need to mention he was
pretty sore in his forehead, but allowed her to do it as she was so scared,
and it seemed to comfort her.
stay with me.
After this intitial week she was more and more outgoing, playing with me,
but always seeking comfort and petting from my husband. We assumed that
whatever happened to her before we got her was done to her by a female, as
she never cuddled with me, and if we got a female vistor she would be gone,
as compared to when we got a male visitor she always came out after a while
to say hello.
Three years went by, she was always skittish. if we came into the same room
as where she was we always had to get down and say hello, letting her come
to us, before proceeding into the room, or she would run panicked. We were
always considering her needs and reactions before doing anything really, as
we felt so sad scaring her.
I know it's long post, but please be patient
She was fine really. She loved my husband and son, especially after he went
through the from child to adult voice. They both would hold their hands up
in knee height, and she would jump up to get stroked by the hand, litterally
stroking herself against the hand. She was happy, as long as we were careful
with what we exposed her to. Me - she accepted, but never got attached to.
Now, please stay with me, a month ago we bought a cottage out in the country
side. Our other cat took to the new enviroment like he's never done anything
else, exploring and enjoying the nature (they both had been inndoor cats in
the city earlier). But poor Susie...... she was just petrified. She would
hide under a blanket, with her nose firmly lodged into a corner in the
bedroom. Like we were back to stage one when she was a kitten.
Nothing we could do seem to get through to her, any comfort seemed like an
intrusion, she was just litterally stiff with fear. After three days we took
her back to the apartment as we couldn't stand seeing her like that.
Now almost three weeks later she hasn't improved. She's hiding in one of the
bedrooms, occationally coming out for food and potty, occationally coming
out to cuddle with my husband, as she always used to do, but now only for
short periods of time before going back to her hiding place.
She's still petrified!
Anyone seen this kind of behaviour before? I know there's nothing the people
in her enviroment is doing or has been doing (except from taking her out to
the cabin) that should make her this scared. And even an experience like
this shouldn't have made her so terribly scared.... Lasting for 3 weeks in
her home of 3 years! She's still not back to normal after three weeks.
Anyone known anything similar? Anybody know what might be wrong? Anyone know what we can do to help her? She's also extremely sensitive to sounds, always has been, but but even more now.
Much appreciated for any feedback.
The life story of our cat is relevant regarding what's happening to her now,
so I'll start at the beginning.
We got her from an SPCA organization (not spca but similar) at the age of 12
weeks. The most adorable kitten, still especially beautiful, but she showed
behaviour problems from the word go.
The first three days we had she had her face firmly pressed up against a
corner in our bedroom. She didn't show any signs of her recognizing our
attempts of getting in touch with her. After three days she started looking
around, and immediately fell for my husband. She managed to get up in our
bed and lay there licking his forehead all night. No need to mention he was
pretty sore in his forehead, but allowed her to do it as she was so scared,
and it seemed to comfort her.
stay with me.
After this intitial week she was more and more outgoing, playing with me,
but always seeking comfort and petting from my husband. We assumed that
whatever happened to her before we got her was done to her by a female, as
she never cuddled with me, and if we got a female vistor she would be gone,
as compared to when we got a male visitor she always came out after a while
to say hello.
Three years went by, she was always skittish. if we came into the same room
as where she was we always had to get down and say hello, letting her come
to us, before proceeding into the room, or she would run panicked. We were
always considering her needs and reactions before doing anything really, as
we felt so sad scaring her.
I know it's long post, but please be patient
She was fine really. She loved my husband and son, especially after he went
through the from child to adult voice. They both would hold their hands up
in knee height, and she would jump up to get stroked by the hand, litterally
stroking herself against the hand. She was happy, as long as we were careful
with what we exposed her to. Me - she accepted, but never got attached to.
Now, please stay with me, a month ago we bought a cottage out in the country
side. Our other cat took to the new enviroment like he's never done anything
else, exploring and enjoying the nature (they both had been inndoor cats in
the city earlier). But poor Susie...... she was just petrified. She would
hide under a blanket, with her nose firmly lodged into a corner in the
bedroom. Like we were back to stage one when she was a kitten.
Nothing we could do seem to get through to her, any comfort seemed like an
intrusion, she was just litterally stiff with fear. After three days we took
her back to the apartment as we couldn't stand seeing her like that.
Now almost three weeks later she hasn't improved. She's hiding in one of the
bedrooms, occationally coming out for food and potty, occationally coming
out to cuddle with my husband, as she always used to do, but now only for
short periods of time before going back to her hiding place.
She's still petrified!
Anyone seen this kind of behaviour before? I know there's nothing the people
in her enviroment is doing or has been doing (except from taking her out to
the cabin) that should make her this scared. And even an experience like
this shouldn't have made her so terribly scared.... Lasting for 3 weeks in
her home of 3 years! She's still not back to normal after three weeks.
Anyone known anything similar? Anybody know what might be wrong? Anyone know what we can do to help her? She's also extremely sensitive to sounds, always has been, but but even more now.
Much appreciated for any feedback.