Social Dynamics Before and After Trauma

boxergrrl

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Not sure if that's the most accurate subject, but it will do...

BTW - what's the correct term for a herd of cats?

So, we currently have 6 cats, 4 of which have been added to the home in the last 6 months. Ages range from -6 months up to about 6 years. Everyone over 6 months is altered.

Our newest, Kimmy, was added 2 weeks ago.
Here is a portion of my intro post, ( http://thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146936 ) that sums her up:

The day I took Kitty Too to be neutered I noticed a scraggly gray tabby wandering around the road near our house. On the way home that evening after picking KT up from his neuter, I saw the cat again in the road and realized something was wrong. I stopped and called "kitty?" out the window and when she turned around, I could see she had one eye completely blown. It was bulging from the socket and the whole side of her face was a swollen, bloody mess. I parked, and followed her up the hill a bit and finally she just lay down and let me walk up to her. She was so thin you could see the vertebrae of her tail and covered with burrs and mats.

I picked her up - she was limp and listless - and put her in a small duffel bag in the car. Took her home and stuck her in a dog crate with some food and water and a small litter box and left her alone for a few hours.
Over the next few days, she ate well, gained some strength, began urinating (after some 50 ccs of sub-Q fluids) and having bowel movements. I brushed her fur out, bought her an e-collar and just sort of nursed her along, with steady improvement.

After about a week, we took her in to the vet, who insisted she either had to have the eye removed or be put down. Apparently such an injury is not only very painful and prone to infection, but if they *do* heal on their own, with the eye left in, tumors frequently develop.
Surgery however, was $450.

We could afford $200 tops (I have other cats to S/N, a rescue mare with melanoma and a geriatric boxer). We told the vet as much and asked to be sent home with some antibiotics and pain meds. We thought that would give us time to brainstorm with some of my boxer rescue and boxer community folks to see if there was something we could do. Kimmy is a very sweet and affectionate kitty who definitely deserved a chance!
As we were getting ready to leave the vet, the head vet came out. Seems a mad had brought an injured stray cat in earlier that day. The cat had to be PTS, but the man wanted to help a cat so he gave the hospital a $200 donation and asked that they use it to help a stray cat should one come in. The staff all agreed that Kimmy fit the bill, so between our money and the donation, Kimmy had her surgery last Wed. The vet also spayed her for free, as we were afraid she might be pregnant.
Kimmy is named after a dear boxer rescue friend who passed away suddenly in Sept. She is a gray tabby DSH, obviously indoor only.
When we first took Kimmy in, she was outgoing, affectionate and willing to socialize with both the cats and the dogs - even while wearing the e-collar.
My dogs are good with all critters and willingly accepted her.
The cats all showed concern for her eye and Kimmy felt comfy meandering the house when we let her out of the bedroom.

Our bedroom has a screen door on it because we have introduced so many new cats lately and we find it a good way to allow interaction without the risk of fights.

Since coming home from the surgery in which Kimmy's eye was removed and she was spayed, the dynamic has changed on both sides. Kimmy is no longer as forthcoming with affection, though eventually she will warm up and even play. She is a real people kitty and loves humans. I understand that she may be adjusting to the loss of her eye, emotionally and physically, though when it was at its most gruesome, she was more social.

Also before surgery, the other cats all seemed to understand that she needed to be treated with kid gloves, and simply treated her with curiosity.
Many of them shared our be with Kimmy and us at night.

Since the surgery (7 days ago), they are more tentative. The Gimp is outright aggressive. Kimmy lays her ears back and growls at the sight of Kitty Too and the Gimp, though she does not seem bothered by Thomasina or Tubby. Splatter does not really venture up to the second story, so they have not interacted.

Our cats have a Litter Robot automated cat pan, are free fed both an adult and kitten dry food and get "special" (wet) cat food each evening.
Kimmy has her own cat pan and food in our bedroom, and has had so both before and after surgery.

While Kitty Too is curious and does on occasion growl at Kimmy, there's been no aggression on his part, while the Gimp seems bent on terrorizing her.

At some point everyone needs to be able to coexist.
I sure could use some insight on why the dynamic has shifted and how to handle it. Kimmy is beyond the danger of another cat tearing out sutures or causing damage to a surgical site, and is eating dry food well now, so I think she need to graduate to general house kitty, especially as the dogs want their bed back


Any thoughts or suggestions are very much appreciated!
 

werebear

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Ahh, I think it's poetic.

The dynamic changed because the cat she was went away, and a similar cat, stressed out, smelling different, and even looking differently, appeared.

Who is this cat? the other cats wonder, and respond to her familiar overtures with suspicion.

This cat thought she was secure in her home, and then suddenly did a stretch in the penitentiary.

When we look at it that way, it's no wonder.

Relieve stress with nip parties and play sessions in which all the cats are invited. Yay! the cats say, and think kindly of everyone when they are having fun.

Also, the cat probably wasn't seeing out of the eye, so it's not that big a difference, but she feels differently, even if it's feeling better, which I do not doubt. So she will act a little differently, and the other cats pick up on it.

Try rubbing around the injured area, once it's healed. It will feel good and help the cat to feel good about their new configuration.
 
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boxergrrl

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Thanks WereBear.
What a fresh pair of eyes you have!

Tomorrow we will cage the dogs, break out the nip, bubble blower, fur mice and laser pointer and have a party! I also have a 10 yo girl (my niece) coming for the weekend - she is wonderful and sensitive with animals (in ways only children can be), and has made great strides with the kittens when adults were snubbed.
Perhaps she will bring some good energy to the party...

Thanks for the insight!
Feel free to tune in tomorrow night!

Originally Posted by Werebear

Ahh, I think it's poetic.

The dynamic changed because the cat she was went away, and a similar cat, stressed out, smelling different, and even looking differently, appeared.

Who is this cat? the other cats wonder, and respond to her familiar overtures with suspicion.

This cat thought she was secure in her home, and then suddenly did a stretch in the penitentiary.

When we look at it that way, it's no wonder.

Relieve stress with nip parties and play sessions in which all the cats are invited. Yay! the cats say, and think kindly of everyone when they are having fun.

Also, the cat probably wasn't seeing out of the eye, so it's not that big a difference, but she feels differently, even if it's feeling better, which I do not doubt. So she will act a little differently, and the other cats pick up on it.

Try rubbing around the injured area, once it's healed. It will feel good and help the cat to feel good about their new configuration.
 
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boxergrrl

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I think maybe "a flurry of cats" might be nice.
or "a confetti of cats"!

Something more descriptive...

Originally Posted by catcaregiver

LOL Ya, it always makes me think of clam chowder.
 

cat52

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Originally Posted by BoxerGrrl

I think maybe "a flurry of cats" might be nice.
or "a confetti of cats"!

Something more descriptive...
Ah, that would be "a riot"?
 
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