Older Cat Dumped at Shelter, Adopted, Terrified

I know this cat isn't stray/feral, but I thought y'all might be able to help me with him...

Sharkey is 8 years old, declawed, male, medium hair, was an only cat until dumped at a shelter in North Carolina. I am in a rescue group that was networking him, and fell in love. Labor Day weekend we transported him here to Mississippi to live with us.

He growls, hisses, fusses, is easily startled, sleeps at my feet, has got to the point where he will occasionally let us touch his nose or top of his head with an outstretched finger.

Anything more than that, and he gets very defensive.

He will play with toys I've made of strips of fleece, as I want to be careful of his paws...never had a declawed cat before...he can grab the fabric fairly easily because of its texture, yet it's still soft.

We don't know if he was abused or not...we do know that the shelter had to call the previous owner to get him out of the kennel, as they were going to have to use gloves or a catch pole otherwise.

Where do I do from here in teaching him that we are safe? I want to take the touch he does allow and take it to the next level. I have leather gloves just in case he bites...did I mention that this is a 15 pound Maine Coon mix? He is a LARGE KITTY with some ferocious canine teeth...

I'm an experienced cat owner...48 years old...have fostered special needs/behavioral/feral before, but I've never had to undo damage with an older cat before.

I want to get him to trust us, but I don't want to be too aggressive with him. His eyes look like those of a lost soul...haunted...yet with that question of "Why?" He is so confused as to why his little world got turned upside down. (Mom's new boyfriend was allergic to cats...don't EVEN get me started on what a lame excuse that is for dumping him...)

Anyway, thanks in advance.

Maggie

That is wonderful that you adopted Sharkey. A lot of people wouldn't consider living with a cat who wasn't a lover from the start. My sister took in a cat who just shook and drooled, but with time she opened up to be one of the most wonderful cats I've met.

Unfortunately I don't have advice for you on helping him open up, but I have a little on the toys. Almost all my cats have been declawed including my 17 lb cat Peanut. (I didn't know it was bad at the time. I feel bad I had it done now.) Peanut does great with toys. He loves mice, chasing ribbons, scratching posts, & his kickeroo. He jumps off high places with no problems. He acts just like he had claws. I wouldn't worry too much about his toys. He's a cat so if it bothers him you will know.

Good luck and I'm sure someone will have some advice for you soon.

Thank you...I was concerned his paws might be sensitive even after what I assume to be years...

I second Petcrazy on the paws. Sassy was front-declawed before we got her, and acted as normal as Matt and Midnight.. Though I did notice she liked to "scratch" the mattress. I think it made her paws feel nice. They can use their feet as well as any normal cat, as long as they healed well after the amputation back when it was done. You'd know if he hadn't, because by his age, it would have damaged him.

He sounds very scared and confused, but obvoiusly thankful to you because he's sleeping at your feet. If you go about your daily business, and talk to him occasionally, he should recognize your permanence and see that you're non-threatening. And of course, you're the food-bringer, so you have that going for you too Treats are always handy for coaxing close contact, as well.

Good luck!

That's so wonderful that you adopted this kitty.  Taking it easy is the best approach.  His world has vanished and he simply does not understand that all these terrible things that have happened to him won't be repeated.  I would just leave him alone for the time being.  Does he have all his needs in one area?  A room of his own is ideal, with litter box, food, a bed and some toys.

It will give him some territory to call his own, while minimizing him having to get used to new things.  The less new things he has to deal with in a day, the better.  He needs to be introduced slowly to those.

I agree with PetCrazy76.  If he has been declawed for a bit, he will probably be able to play with most toys.  Do be on the lookout, though, for declaw related problems.  They can include things you might not associate with declawing - like inappropriate potty use.  For instance, the litter may hurt his paws and he will pee and poop somewhere other than the litter box.

Don't rush him, don't be aggressive with him, don't make him do anything he seems hesitant about.  It will take some time but if your give him the time he needs, he will reward you.  He's a lucky kitty!

He has everything in one place, food, water, litter, on an antique low-boy dresser about a foot  from the bed. 

He has a roommate in my 8 year old Kimmie who chooses to live in my bedroom away from cats in the other part of the house; she has chronic stomatitis, has always been solitary, and leaves him alone. Emma comes in and out, and is playful but keeps her distance from him. I have noticed one good thing...usually when she plays with me, he becomes more playful, so she's letting him know it's safe, I think.

The only people who go in the room are me and my husband, for the most part. No small children.

It's quiet and we keep pretty consistent in our reactions.

I did pick up a pair of leather gloves today, to start testing the waters with him on touch, as well as because I need to take him in to the vet within the next couple of weeks. I'm concerned about some pawing at his cheek and ear, and his urine smells stronger than I'd expect in a neutered male.

But as he has had a few VERY BAD experiences with being handled and crated, I need to get him as used to being handled as possible with the vet trip pending (have also talked to the vet about the possibility of getting him meds to calm him down in order to get him to the vet). I've waited, because he had to be sedated for vetting prior to adoption, and I wanted that to get out of his system

Thanks for the advice so far. 

Its wonderful that you've taken this boy in.

I'll second the others in that he's likely very confused. He'll open up in his own time. Our Wendel is/was like this. It was almost a year begore he sat on a lap and he can still be touchy about being touched, we've just gotten better about reading him. We found we had to let him come to us, in his own time, but its been worth it.

For the vet visit, we found a top-loading carrier was fantastic for Wendel (who we can still only pick up for a moment) as the bigger openning worked well for his size. Also, we recntly brought in a scared stray who won't let us pick him up. We pop a large pillowcase over his head and he goes limp, them cat an pillowcase ho into the carrier. Sounds silly, but its saved us tons of scratches.

I am a huge believer in pillow cases! A vet actually put me on to that trick when we were dealing with a semi feral cat who was hard to manage! Magic!

Have you tried the Gerber stage 1 chicken or turkey trick?  Cats just love this.  You can try to coax him with some on a spoon or on your fingers.  i would also make sure he has his own space away from your other cats.  He needs a place of his own.   To help calm him, you can try feliway diffusers, feliway spray, playing soft music and also you can try flower essences.  Spirit Essence has a large supply of all different kinds of remedies for cats.  I have had good luck with many of them.

What a wonderful thing you did in rescuing this boy.  He will now get to live out his senior years in a loving home.

I haven't tried the Gerber. I have tried several canned cat foods, from Fancy Feast to Science Diet. He refuses them, which he also did with his foster after he left the shelter. He has also refused freshly baked tilapia...baked just for him so no seasonings or spices.

I use the Feliway diffuser and the spray as needed. Also lace his water with Rescue Remedy.

He pretty well had taken ownership of the bed, as well as the dresser. Kimmie lives in the top of the closet when she's not on my pillow at night, and I really think he kinda likes Emma when she comes to visit in here.

We did get more head scratches in today. Just a few seconds at a time, but progress.

He came unglued when my husband used a broom on the carpet prior to using the vacuum. (We use pine shavings in most of our litter boxes.) And when my ex came over this evening and peeked in on him, he came unglued when he saw his came. So we're thinking he has been hit with a stick before, or someone used a broom handle to shoo him from hiding places. He has also gone bonkers when I brought in a reacher/grabber one day to move things, so that I want using my hands in his space when he first got here. That immediately got taken back outside.

Have noticed in the past 24 hours, what look more like signs of grieving and depression than anything else. Which would make sense since he was with one family for 8 years.

I think many cats are troubled by brooms - mine are.  Maybe something that big coming silently at them can be a little disconcerting.  Glad you discovered this early on.  I use one of those dust brushes and dust pans to clean up around my litter boxes.  Takes a little more bending but it doesn't freak the cats out.

How does he react to just having a carrier out and about? One way to help normalize the carrier is to just put it in the room with the door open (or taken off if that's easy) with a soft blanket inside. The cat can get used to seeing it, and often they'll find it a nice cozy nap spot. Then when you go to put them in there, they aren't associating it with "oh no VET!" but rather with "oh, this familiar place." It helps when you get to that point, because then you aren't trying to shove a reluctant cat in the carrier - you just have to figure out how to get them pointed at the door so they go in. 

I also agree with others that this is just going to take time. Being consistent and respectful of when he's had enough will help him gain confidence. Over time, he'll realize that you're trustworthy. When I'm working with the cats at the shelter where I volunteer (or the frightened fosters I have at the moment), I avoid pushing their boundaries too much. When they tell me they've had enough, I listen. After a few sessions, they realize I'm paying attention to that boundary and they allow me to do more with them. When you're trying to protect yourself, and you don't believe that others will respect your boundaries, you tend to set the boundary further out to mitigate potential harm from the other even if the boundary is crossed. But when you can trust the other to respect your space when you ask for it, you can set the boundary closer and closer. 

He may also feel better after seeing the vet... if something's bugging him, he might be spending extra energy trying to hide that/deal with it. 

It sounds like you're already making great progress with him! Yay! 

I take care of a colony of cats. Some have been very feral. Most of them respond to toys and food. I say I use TLC on them. That means toys love and chicken. Plus patience.

Tigergrrl, looks like you've already got lots of great advice, Sharkey is one lucky cat!   My advice is based on my experience with Patches my indoor semi-feral.   She actually did belong to some people (verified by a neighbor) before she was abandoned and reverted to feral.    Once I had her inside it was clear she'd been abused because she reacted to certain actions that revealed her past.   Like I couldn't throw a toy for her, she believed I was throwing it AT her.   I couldn't ever have my hands come toward her body where she could see them - she flinched as if she expected to be hit, but my feet did not scare her.   So I just kept a mental list of all the "forbidden" actions and didn't do them though she saw my interacting normally with  my other cats.    Now after eight years, she's lost much of her hand fear, isn't afraid of me throwing toys at all.    I'll still likely never be able to pick her up or forcibly handle her, but the signs of abuse that were so strong in her have mostly faded now.    You are doing a great thing, just give Sharkey time - he'll learn that it is okay.

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted. Sorry. Have been sick with sinus stuff and "female stuff"..

We have gotten Sharkey to the point of letting us stroke his forehead and chin/jaw. A few seconds at a time, but I'm happy with progress.

Today is one month since we got him, and it has been a landmark day.

I had the day off to take my mom to a funeral, and when we got home I checked a spot on Sharkey's chin that I had noticed last night. By this time, it appears to be an abscess. So I had no choice but to throw on the leather gloves, scruff him, and put him in the carrier before he could get a grip on what was going on enough to bite me. THANK GOD FOR WHOEVER INVENTED TOP OPENING CARRIERS!

The vet and tech got to see him in action, and hear his "cougar scream", while they were treating him. I didn't let myself get out of Sharkey's sight, so he wouldn't feel like I was abandoning him like people have in the past, and I was pretty serious with the vet that if they had to sedate him, I was not going to leave him, and certainly not overnight, just because he would be so traumatized.

Ended up with an antibiotic shot, and she thought it was either an abscess that had started draining on its own, or one that hadn't come to a head yet. We discussed his behavior, and she agreed that while his behavior wasn't atypical of what they see in the office, that the constant growling, the hissing every time someone moves suddenly, and other things, were not indicating good mental health, and it has been enough time that this shouldn't be as severe as it is.

So we started him on amitriptyline, to see how that works. And if he either doesn't respond, or responds badly, then we will look at Prozac. She said it may take a couple of weeks before we see any changes.

I'm hoping that if we can get the serotonin leveled out in his system, that he will have a fighting chance to be a happy cat, not so stressed out.

He deserves everything I can give him.

Good luck to you and Sharkey, I hope the good drugs help him to mellow out some - he's very luck to have such a dedicated human.   How on earth will you get the amitriptyline in him?