No progress

Hello!

 I  wonder if  there  is  anyone  have any advice for  me  to get some  progress  on a  cat.  

We  are  foster home  for  a  cat protection  center,  and  taking in  the  stray cats  that need to  be tamed before they can be  adopted.  Now we have  an  adult  cat who  is  very  afraid.  She  has  been here  for almost  a month,  and she  shows  little  progress.  In  the beginning  we had  her in  the bathroom,where  she  was consistently  on a shelf.  After a while  I  touch her  gently  on the tail  with one finger,but once  I try  something  more  then  she becomes  aggressive  and attack.  Now we have  moved her into  a  bedroom that  is located  next door to the  the living room  so she  will have  to get used to the sounds  in the house.  She  both  eat well  and  go to  the litterbox, and  she  does  not look sick.  I have  3 cats  that I  adopted  after I  tamed  them.  I've tried  to  put  2 of  them in the room whit  this cat.  One of them  hissed quite  gently to  her and  calmly walked  out of the  room again.  The other is  actually  the son of  this cat.  (it's  the little  white one  in  my avatar) He  walked right  up to her  to  lay down  beside her.  But then she became  aggressive  towards  humans  again.  she  wanted to  protect  her son.  The son  came  in to this house  at the same time  as  his mother,  and he  is 98%  tame  now.  And the fact that  she was aggravated  by the fact that  her son  came in  was very  sad,  so we're not going to  let  him  go to her  again until  she  is  ready to  enter the  livingroom  with  the others. Now  she lies  only  in one  corner under  the  couch,  and  just at  that spot  she has  been in  almost two  weeks now.  I've tried  to  sit in  the room to  let her  get to know  me.  I also  left  my  clothes  in there  so she has the change   to know  my  smell.  None of  it has  led to  much  progress  ..  I also have allsow been doing some singing  for her and  then she has  become  calmer,  but as soon as  I move   she is  scared  again  ..

Does anyone  have  any advice  to some  methods I  can try  to help  her to  not  be so  afraid?  Should I  let one of my  bigger  cats  come in to  her  more often?

In advance  thank you!

Hello there and welcome to TCS. It is a great thing to bring ferals/strays into your home and wonderful when they begin to trust you after possibly a lot of bad experiences regarding humans. But some are just more difficult than others to socialise, depending on what they have been through. The last one that I took in, my Biscotte, took six months before she would let me near her, and now, four years later, she is the most affectionate cat you can imagine, though she still hides from strangers.

It sounds like you are doing all the right things with this momcat. But I am sure some of our feral cat experts will have further advice. Meanwhile, you might like to read the thread about Lucky, the feral taken in by one of our members some time ago. It is an inspiration to anyone near to despair over what to do when a cat simply cannot respond to you.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/11395/socializing-a-feral-the-story-of-lucky

Good luck

AWWWW What a huge heart you have to do what you are for the Cat Protection Center . One month is not long at all....... oh my goodness.... Even young feral kitten's can take longer than a month's time to socialize. It sound's like she is an older feral cat, and unfortunately, there are a few cases that will never, ever socialize or feel safe/trusting of a human. BUT having said that, I think you just need to give her a lot more time. Definitely do not put her son in there with her - you are right - that would just add another level of stress on to her right now. If one of your other cat's is very, very friendly and loving with you, bring that cat in for a little bit each day and pet and love on that cat. Your feral girl WILL be watching and this will at least get her thinking that you are not SO horribly scary and a huge mean monster :lol3:. But don't leave the other cat in there alone. Just bring this cat in with you a couple of times a day for a short session.

Play classical, quiet music. Read in there with her. Work on your computer in that room. Plug in a Feliway diffuser. Don't look her directly in her eye and keep you head a bit lower. And putting some of your worn t-shirt's in her bed is a very good idea. You could even sleep in that room . Sleeping human's are so non- threatening to feral's and this could give her a chance to take a closer look at you without you knowing :nod:..... :cross: I am sure you already know all of this stuff anyway - because you are experienced at this. You will just have to wait and see over the next couple of month's. If this female is not making any progress at all - then it get's to the point of being cruel to keep her in and confined and in close proximity of human's. I would then suggest you try to find a feral colony caretaker who could incorporate her into her colony. OR a horse barn where they have caring, experienced feral caretakers and will know the steps involved as to how to make her transition to living at the barn and permanently staying at the barn.

I just think she will require much more time. It can sometimes take an adult feral cat many, many month's to even make the smallest step toward trusting you. BUT then it will start all over with a new person . Usually, adjusting to a new person won't be as long as the first person. Best of luck to you and again - you are a real cat champion

I agree with my collegues. Esp Feralvr  had said much and well.  

I want to repeat:   Using friendly residents is often a good help. But not necessarly by letting them be with her.   Especielly not her son, as you yourself saw and tells us..

Letting her see you interact with them, is the trick in the first stadies.  Letting them meet may come next, when she isnt so afraid of you any longer.

Welcome to the TCS site and the Forums!

Tx a lot for helping these our small brethrens and sisters!

Good luck!  *vibes*

To add to the excellent advice above, I would suggest getting some super-tasty treats and seeing if that will help bring this girl out of her shell. Temptations seem to work well, but you could also try something like freeze-dried salmon chunks (nice 'n stinky). At first I would just leave a few in the spot that you were sitting in and let her discover them. If they're gone the next time you go in, then maybe try gently tossing her a few (but without making any sudden movements). She may wait until you leave to eat them, but if she does like them she'll eventually start to associate you with the treats and look forward to your arrival.

Not sure what/how you feed her right now but I would try to get her used to regular mealtimes instead of a bottomless bowl of dry food. That would further help her to associate you with good things like food (especially if it's yummy wet food).

And then there's always play therapy. If you have a fishing rod or wand style toy you can calmly (again, no crazy movement) swish around (far away at first to make sure she doesn't get scared of it) and if she's interested, gradually move it a little closer. This will help her forget about you and the imagined threat you pose, and will hopefully reinforce the association of good or fun things occurring while you're around.

Good luck!!

I concur with all the advice.

You can also add Rescue Remedy to food or water.

Definite feed her according to a schedule; don't free-fed her.  Let her associate you with food. You can buy raw meat and lightly cook it; that really worked with the four semi-ferals we trapped two years ago.  In took around five weeks for two of the cats (black and white DSH) to be ready to be adopted; six months for the remaining two (part Maine Coon). Same litter.

Sit down as much as possible, you are King Kong to her.

You can even ignore her (a little) if you want. 

I'd proceed with caution about introducing a new cat, even one you know well.  Dynamics can be really strange, different, and unexpect.

Play therapy is good, too.  Don't try touching her with your hand; depending on her progress, try first touching her with a feather.

And Feralr has a good (though sad) point:  some ferals just will not adjust to being indoors or to being with humans.  "Mystique" has shown little progress since March 2010, when we trapped her.  She was about six months old and pregnant.  We can walk all around her and over her, but hisses if we accidentally touch her. 

I would definitely try a Feliway plug in.  You can also get the spray.  Try to spend time in the room with her.  I used to sit with Shadow and just talk away.  I would tell him everything I was doing and get him used to my voice.  I found harp music to be very soothing.  He loved it.  I also used Feral Cat Rehab from Spirit Essences   http://www.spiritessences.com/products/Feral-Cat-Rehabilitation.html and Safe Space for Cats   http://www.spiritessences.com/products/Safe-Space-for-Cats.html   Both were extremely helpful. 

If you want to try and interact and engage with her, try a laser or a feather wand.  You can also interact with her by using really yummy treats.  I used to use cooked chicken/turkey, salmon, tuna or sticky smelly treats.  They also love canned chicken or turkey baby food in the stage one variety. 

Thank you all for the welcome greetings and very good advice! Now I have just returned home from having been working on cat protection center It was very nice to come home to several great answers!

I'll make a cd for her with quiet music that she can have on repeat

And you're absolutely right, some will not get as you want to. When this mother and son came here there was also an adult cat that we believe is the sister of the mother. She had to just let be spared the harassment of being indoors ... She was not only scared, but simply extremely aggressive, as bad as she attacks like a big jungle cat only we came into the room .. : (

And I'm going to take the cat that is the most cuddly ib to the room a couple of times each day And to leave a treat I will asolutt try!

That to lure her with treat, I'm going to use after some more time.. )

I have never heard of Feliway plug-in .. What is that??  

Do you think it might be a good plan to allow the door to the room she is in a little open so she can look at the other cats when they are playing?

I am very fond of pictures, and thought I'd share a picture of mom cat. Her name is Perle, which means pearl in Norwegian

kattehviskeren said:

I have never heard of Feliway plug-in .. What is that??  

Click to expand...

google on it if you want!  Feliway diffuser or Feliway plug-in is the same.  You set in permanently in an electrical contact. A container is for 5-6 weeks.

There is also Feliway spray which you can use where you are.

It is essentially the same pheromones as cats have in their face, touching everything so they spread the feeling of being friendly, harmonic and safe...

Your vet can have it. You can almost surely buy it from Apothece, Pharmacia. Although they must perhaps deliver it from their central.

Well equipped pet stores may have it.  So it is here in Sweden. So it is probably also in Norway.

The only drawback is is rather pricey.  If you need much of it, you can buy next time from Ebay or Amazon. Should be cheaper.

One more thing.  You did mentioned you did sing to the Perle?

This is not a bad idea, if you can sing in a soft voice. 

But even better:

Talking much in a soft, friendly voice, like you talk to babies, does often wonders.

It is  natural language which she will understand.  It is like courting toms do.

Some dominant toms do take what they want.  Friendly toms do court instead, and they use their voices. Soft and nice. Often surprising many sorts of sounds. 

These wise toms or studs do mount up firstly when they see she is ready now.

And she knows of course which tom is a dominant rapist, and which tom is friendly and gentle, such as you can be pal with.

Use this trick!

Good luck! 

Here is a quick link to Feliway. http://www.feliway.com/us

Stefan explained it well and hopefully you can find Feliway where you live at a pet store, Norway ??? . My husband is Norwegian and I am Swedish. We have family in Oslo and Orsta. His family name in Norway is Oyehaug. Perle is just a gorgeous black beauty :love: :love:

You certainly could leave the door open a little bit at this point - but only if you are home and supervising :nod:. Every feral I have ever taken in ALWAYS knows the way back to their safe room. And usually at first, they only venture out a foot or two and then run back in their room. So hopefully if Perle does venture out and get's stressed she will :dash: run back to her safe room and not the other way :lol3:

GOOD LUCK

'''Thank you for good information! I will of course see if I can find it anywhere! But Norway is a very poor country when it comes to selection of cat stuff But if I don't find it I can order one online to try it)

And so unnatural to write English with Sweedish people! My sister has lived 13 years in Sweden, and I have been very much in sweden)) My sister lived around Östersund

I have tried to give the treat to Perle, but it was obviously not something tempting .. But I have several types that I can try

I have not made ​​a cd for her yet, but maybe I should put on a meditation CD on for her? Or what do you think about that?

And maybe I'll record myself talking and singing, so she can have it standing on when I'm not there

And I must say that I am always talking to her when I'm in there .. Tells what I'm doing, and what kind of food she gets, and that she is a beautiful cat and so on. And when I sing I'll allways sing  just quiet songs with a low calm voice))

And I have to tell that I use to lie down on the floor when I talk to new cats And I never see a cat in the eyes, and if it should happend I will be lax in his eyes, blinking clearly and turning the head This was what saved me from being attacked too much of the other adult cat)