Today me and my girlfriend went down to the rescue shelter and found a really special kitten who we are told has a "vision problem" , and may be partially blind. The vet has not diagnosed her with this officially, but the shelter people are convinced she is because of the way she interacts with things, and we believe she may be too. This didn't bother us because she was such a loving girl when we spent an hour or so with her at the shelter (my girlfriend had seen her a few days earlier and spent some time with her also), she was very cuddly and playful, affectionate licking our hands and such and was always in our arms.
Things changed however when we brought her home... We have two other cats who are EXTREMELY friendly and get along with other cats incredibly well, they are both young at 1 and 2 years old. As soon as we let her out in our apartment she was running around and checking things out, the cats were following around, they were playing around a bit... The usual. She refused to get picked up though, or touched. Then all of a sudden she started hissing and attacking anything and everything that comes near her, the cats, a toy, our hands. She's growling, and always hissing and will claw you when you attempt to make contact with her. This is a complete turn around how she was at the shelter. She's been camped out in our room for 10 hours or so now, still hissing and growling.
We've been around lots of cats and kittens in our life and never seen this type of behavior before. Of course we have never had a "partially blind" kitten before, so maybe things are a little different, and I guess that's what I'm seeking advice about. I'm thinking maybe being around the 2 cats stressed her out or scared her somehow, and we're hoping she'll turn around soon. It's odd though, from across the room you can move your hand around and she will follow it with her head, I think she has some vision and can make things out, just not very well.
We're wondering if anyone has had experience with a kitten like this before, or had a kitten come into their house and have a complete behavior turn around like this. Any help or advice would be appreciated... We're hoping to give her a nice loving home.
Things changed however when we brought her home... We have two other cats who are EXTREMELY friendly and get along with other cats incredibly well, they are both young at 1 and 2 years old. As soon as we let her out in our apartment she was running around and checking things out, the cats were following around, they were playing around a bit... The usual. She refused to get picked up though, or touched. Then all of a sudden she started hissing and attacking anything and everything that comes near her, the cats, a toy, our hands. She's growling, and always hissing and will claw you when you attempt to make contact with her. This is a complete turn around how she was at the shelter. She's been camped out in our room for 10 hours or so now, still hissing and growling.
We've been around lots of cats and kittens in our life and never seen this type of behavior before. Of course we have never had a "partially blind" kitten before, so maybe things are a little different, and I guess that's what I'm seeking advice about. I'm thinking maybe being around the 2 cats stressed her out or scared her somehow, and we're hoping she'll turn around soon. It's odd though, from across the room you can move your hand around and she will follow it with her head, I think she has some vision and can make things out, just not very well.
We're wondering if anyone has had experience with a kitten like this before, or had a kitten come into their house and have a complete behavior turn around like this. Any help or advice would be appreciated... We're hoping to give her a nice loving home.