Help with 15wo please

As per this thread
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...86#post1392986

my latest foster is a 15wo who needs socialising. She is caged in the front room so she can see things going on and can't hide, but she cries pitifully everytime she is left - even if all I am doing is walking into the kitchen to give her food etc. She has a radio on all the time, am working on a light all the time for her, does anyone have any tips?

She's caged in a usually busy area, but can't come out (why?) to 'participate'. She can't get any privacy for herself either (though I don't think that's the main problem). Why don't you let her out, play with her, make some toys (foil balls, knotted cords to drag, a cardboard box - cats are cheap dates :-), and help her 'socialize' - it won't happen the way things are now.

I wouldn't class my front room as a busy area as i live by myself. I dont normally have fosters in the front room, but the rescue said I had to in her case to get her used to normal household noises (the cat room is a spare bedroom). If you look at the pics on the other thread, she does have privacy due to the activity centre in there. The main reason for her not having time out of the cage is that she is so shy that she may end up hiding somewhere and I will have real difficulties getting her back in the cage - two differnet rescue people have warned me of lettting her have freedom too soon.

forgive me for expressing my concern that "rescuing" a cat to only keep it in a cage and never give it the chance to explore, hide, stalk toys, or choose where it wants to lounge is doing the cat a favor. and of course she cries when youleave the room, she wants to be with you. yet they are afraid she will disappear from you? Isn't the point to help her develop a social bond thus making her more adoptable? Forgiven my confusion. this cat either needs to have a little leeway or another foster home should be found. or why not hekp her get adopted immediately? maybe i dont understand the situation.

Bit of background in case you didn't read my link. Shadow was born outside, and spent the first 9 weeks of her life living outside. She then spent the next 6 weeks being allowed to hide if she felt like it, no one pushed her to have any attention, so now she is 15 weeks old, and these habits have to be broken, which is the main reason she is caged and not loose in my cat room, as she needs to know that humans aren't bad, and that fusses are nice. I have had lots of breakthroughs with her though, as I 'broke the rules' and gave her fusses and cuddles cos she was crying - but 3 days of being here, and she has just been nuzzling my head so much she nearly fell off the platform 3 times!! She prefers fussing heads to hands though, but hopefully now she will butt me for attention, it wont be long till she can have time out of the cage - the biggest concern is letting her have the freedom too soon, and her going back to her hiding ways, as then it will require catching her, which will wipe out all my work. I know it sounds cruel, and I hate caging cats, but she is very small (and thin) for her age, so there are too many risks to letting her have access too soon. Do need to get her eating sorted, and then get her to play - she has toys in there, but doesn't seem to know what to do - and when the manic 9 week old kittens went near her, she looked quite scared. I will be putting her on the rehoming page this week, as hopefully I will get an interest before she is fully ready, and they can be part of the socialisation process.

Thanks for explaining. have any photos of her?

There should be three on that link, one from when she was at the rescue, and 2 from since she was here. She has had a good night, I hardly heard her cry, and she is letting me leave her now and not crying, so hopefully it is just a settling in issue. But she is getting better with fusses, so as long as she continues to actively ask for them, she will have some time out by the end of the week. I also got her playing last night - catnip does wonders!! Just need to get her eating properly now, I will be getting some wormer for her this week, that might help.

Glad to hear she is begining to settle, I don't know if you have an Asda near you? They have this wind up cat toy,
http://www.hartz.com/Our Products/Browse.asp called Birds of a tether
when you wind it up the feathers go round they are only £2 Chloe thinks it great and most kittens can't resist chasing a feather.

I tell you what, I'll bring over some of my super duper organic cat nip and toys for Shadow when I come, I'd appreciate the tester and I'm sure she'll enjoy them as much as my crew do!

You know, Anne! I have been looking for that in my Asda and both Walmarts without any avail!

In our Asda they are hang up near the cat litter

Originally Posted by Anakat

In our Asda they are hang up near the cat litter

Click to expand...

Don't you just love their display methods? I'll have to have a look round the litter then next time I'm in!

Knowing my luck, ours will have it displayed round the freezer section or something!

Cheers guys - might not need it though!! She has had a proper play tonight, pics will be posted at some point this week - she has played with the sponge ball, the dangly toy, the hair clip, the mouse, the feather, climbing up the cage (despite the door being open!!). I have had the door to the cage open, but she was a tad too interested in my tea, so I gently moved her head, and she went back into the cage, but then had a good play. I was going to Tesco again this week (pesky returns), but I prefer Asda, so will have a look, dont normally look at their toys etc, but will do this week - could do it when you are over if you like Sarah?? Am not going to get a chance to get there before anyway, and then you can actually have some meat for your dinner!!

Awww, I'm glad she's playing - might be able to have some good play with her when I'm over! I'll still bring her a new toy though and if she doesn't like it, one of the others will!

Yeah sounds good if we go to Tesco or Asda when I'm over! Don't worry about meat, I'm happy with anything!

She has been to the vet - they think that look wise, she looks like a 12 week old, which confirms what I thought, but teeth wise, anything from 14 weeks on, as apparently all her kitten teeth are through. I was right with a wormy belly, so the vet gave her a tablet - didnt' realise they did Milbemax for such young kittens, but certainly easier than granules seeing as she only seems to eat dry. Vet thinks her poo should be fine by tomorrow, but she couldn't see anything else wrong with her, and hopefully she will start eating better now. She did express surprise at me having a kitten though!!! Dont know why it is a surprise, my fosters have been all different ages, and out of 19, only 7 have been oldies!! And 2 were 10, so not old in my book.

Yeah, we did come to the good conclusion about the worms, her little belly was quite pudged! I hope her poo is all better tomorrow! (should have got you to get a few wormers for me actually! )

She does certainly seem more towards the 12 week age - funny about her teeth though, maybe she's an early developer?

After a long sniffing from my lot, I think I'm now forgiven for snuggling with Shadow! Hopefully I'll find tome for some more snuggles tomorrow!

Forgot to add, she weighs 1.16kg, bless her. I do hope so, she has had another really smelly poo after her visit, but not as runny. I have 1 Drontal in the cupboard that you are welcome to, and if you like Drontal, you can buy it online - £1.73 a tab.
She does, the only way she can be is if she was only 5/6 weeks when she came in, and the rescue or the vet misaged them then. The vet said she could have been the runt of the litter though, and as she is so shy, she could have been pushed out of hte way of the food in the rescue. At least she is here now and being monitored - still not eaten her tea, but she has forgiven me again and given me lots of head rubs, which is fab - although it meant my tea is now slightly cold!!
Aww, bless them. Well hopefully we will race through the decorating, and can then enjoy spending time with her!!

She has had a couple of times out of her cage - she met PEbbles this morning, and they had a couple of nose sniffs (no camera to hand sadly), but she wont allow me to touch her when she is out of hte cage, and gets a bit confused as to how to get back in it, so I think it is too early to do it too much. She only seems to care if I either have food or if she sees a cat though.

Try carrying her around out of the cage, maybe in places she is not familiar with. This will help a trust/bond between you and hopefully for her with people, even if it is just you at first. Heck, Maia only lets me pick her up, and she was far from abandoned or stray!

i sort of did earlier, I had pulled her out for a cuddle, and decided she needed to be brushed, so took her with me to find the brush, and introduced her to the mirror!! She looked more curious than frightened, so I might start doing that.

Some more pics - she had been here a week and a day when these were taken.