fostering a "difficult cat"

I dropped into animalaide today, to see if they needed any volunteers. they told me that what they need are foster homes, and there is a cat there who is in need of socializing. She's a 3yr old...very timid, and bites any hand that comes near. They'd like her socialized, and brought out of her shell. 

Now I have 2 cats, a former feral baby, tamed over the course of the summer and then rescued and vetted...and another animalaide cat who came to us with no manners at all. He was also a biter, though with him it was rough play.  

What do I need to know   to handle a  fearful biter?  

I'm assuming that she'll need her own room, with no other cats. We used my bathroom when we brought the kitten in, and then moved him to our son's room after he tamed up a bit.(but he was already fairly friendly by the time he came in) I think my son's room might be more appropriate to start this cat, being bigger and having a bed and a desk with cubby holes for her to hide in.  He likes to hang out in his room watching videos, and I feel like that would be good for her.

I'm open to all suggestions with this one, as she's a beauty with potential for a lovely personality.

Thanks ahead of time, 

                                   Michelle

Just noticed your thread!  How are you getting on?  Have you said to the shelter that you would like to foster this timid cat?   Have you 'met' her and shared space with her at the shelter to see how she reacts with people in her space?  Good luck to you anyway, it sounds like you have the start of a safe place for her worked out already, and lots of patience to allow her to take her own time to relax a little.

 I presume your son is happy to have a cat in his space which he should not approach, or if he does to do so slowly and with care?   If it is going to be his room this cat will move in to, at least to start her stay, it may be best for her to meet your son before she moves in if she hasn't done so already, just in case there is some particular reaction to him.  Hopefully she will not have had any negative experiences with men before which might result in her feeling more anxious in his room.

Is your son in this room at night?  You may want the option of a different space if there is any chance of her getting anxious at night and biting if she does not get some time without him there.  Also best if he is not in to noisy games / videos or where there are sudden noises as this may not be helpful for this cat.  Otherwise I generally think bedrooms are a nice choice of space as long as you are happy for your cat to hide away and only peek out to find food or litter when she chooses:  quiet most of the time, beds and cupboards to hide in and maybe shelves to climb, space for at least one litter tray as well as food and water somewhere, and maybe some radio or sound system that can play spoken word material if no one is there so get her used to human voices, and calm classical music which often helps cats to relax.   Who knows, once sharing a room perhaps she will sneak up on to your son's bed when he is asleep to share a little warmth.

I'm working on socializing a 14 year old and the thing that I found was that he had a spot that he could"hide" when he felt that he needed it.  He's gradually coming out and I just let him do it his way.  I keep the radio on when I'm not home so that he grows accustomed to other voices.  Floor level for touching or petting.  Doesn't like it when you towering over him.  Good luck.

MServant said:

 
Just noticed your thread!  How are you getting on?  Have you said to the shelter that you would like to foster this timid cat?   Have you 'met' her and shared space with her at the shelter to see how she reacts with people in her space?  Good luck to you anyway, it sounds like you have the start of a safe place for her worked out already, and lots of patience to allow her to take her own time to relax a little.

 I presume your son is happy to have a cat in his space which he should not approach, or if he does to do so slowly and with care?   If it is going to be his room this cat will move in to, at least to start her stay, it may be best for her to meet your son before she moves in if she hasn't done so already, just in case there is some particular reaction to him.  Hopefully she will not have had any negative experiences with men before which might result in her feeling more anxious in his room.

Is your son in this room at night?  You may want the option of a different space if there is any chance of her getting anxious at night and biting if she does not get some time without him there.  Also best if he is not in to noisy games / videos or where there are sudden noises as this may not be helpful for this cat.  Otherwise I generally think bedrooms are a nice choice of space as long as you are happy for your cat to hide away and only peek out to find food or litter when she chooses:  quiet most of the time, beds and cupboards to hide in and maybe shelves to climb, space for at least one litter tray as well as food and water somewhere, and maybe some radio or sound system that can play spoken word material if no one is there so get her used to human voices, and calm classical music which often helps cats to relax.   Who knows, once sharing a room perhaps she will sneak up on to your son's bed when he is asleep to share a little warmth.

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Thank you Mservant for your extenisve reply. I'll reply in sequence:

We are due to pick her up today, and have met her twice. The whole family will go down today to meet her.  The first time she was not willing to meet us(my husband and I), but the second time, she came tot he front of her cage and let us pet her. She even let the staff member pull her out of her cage for about 30sec. They were quite impressed that after about a 1/2 hour of me at her open cage, Little Helen actually got up the nerve to leave her cage(for about 10seconds lol)

       At first my son was not sure about having a timid cat in his room, but we made it clear that this was entirely his choice and that we would make no move without his agreement. It was also agreed that if it came down to it, we can use the bathroom, as it's big enough to house a litter box and cat bed, and we have a clawed tub so she could hide under it. When he saw her ad on animalaide's facebook page, and learned that she's been rescued from a hoarder, and has sat in a cage since April, he wanted to help.

          Yes, my son is in his room at night....he also likes to spend time on his bed watching minecraft mod showcase videos(mostly talking)-but he can hang out on my bed if his videos bother the cat. The bathroom is an althernative, just less comfortable and higher traffic. I can't be sure that the youngest child would stay away from her in the bathroom, so I sort of thought that that would be a last resort. Also, his bedroom has an open closet and she can hide in his clothes shelves, as Midnight likes to do. There are four deep cubbies in his desk, and under the bed for her to hide, and a fish tank to amuse her. I plan on putting the cat tower in there, too in case she needs to scratch something-my cats rarely use it anymore, since it's the smallest size, and they're pretty big. 

Oh, I forgot to mention, part of the reason that I thought my son would be perfect for Little Helen is that the young man at the shelter has bonded well with her, while she remains wary of many of the female staffers.

That sounds really postive @Matts mom         Good vibes for the home-coming, may Little Helen not be too traumatised by the carrier and journey and sense the warmth and love in your home once she is there.   I think you are right, getting used to the noises of computer games is likely to be preferable and easier than a young child.      Esp when she will have a clothes closet to go hide in!  I like @keyes  tip about the radio to hear different voices.

I look forward to hearing how Little Helen copes as she meets her new family and starts to familiarise with her new home.  You are wonderful for giving her this oportunity for a new life outside a shelter.

Well, we have a slight hitch. The shelter didn't have a volunteer to take Little Helen to the vet on Friday, so she'd not been given her shots. I wish that they's told us, because we could have taken her ourselves if they'd just made the appointment(when fostering, they cover vet bills but they use specific vets)  Given that she's not even had her rabies shot, we decided to wait and go back for her tomorrow. No point putting our own cats at risk for the sake of a day, so we stayed and helped to feed the cats in their cages. We'll head back into town in the morning, and find out what's up...I can always help clean cages while we wait for her.

So sorry to hear that, bringing a new cat in to the family is such an event and even one day's delay feels huge never mind all the distruption to normal routine - making sure you around and space is ready.  Good vibes for tomorrow.

Well, we got there around 11am this morning....we wanted to give them some time to vet her so we didn't show up at open. When we got there, the staff there at the time put her into our carrier, and we filled out the necessary paperwork....and just as we were about to leave the supervisor comes in and groans....she's not vetted yet. We told her we'd do it if she made the arrangements, as we could just pop her into the vet on our way out of town. So now she's vetted, on revolution, and hiding under the bed 

The first thing she did was hide in the closet, but she came out and moved to under the bed after a couple of hours, so I figure that bodes well. I put her box near the bed, under the desk(I thought that coming out a cage she might not feel secure using the box in a wide open room)and filled it with the paper pellet stuff that they use at the shelter. I also offered her some tuna, but it's under the bed, so I don't know if she ate it. 

All in all, I'm thinking that it's a good first day. My own cats are behaving normally, and Little Helen doesn't look any more stressed than I'd expect. She came out of a hoarding situation, so I expect more issues getting used to humans than other cats......My only concern now is  whether she uses her box(or not).....Matt didn't use the box until the end of his first day here, and he was a much bolder cat, so it's probably not time for her yet....she messed the carrier on the way home, and I'm thinking that she's holding so that she can hide.

I'll introduce her on her own thread once I have a photo of her.

Good for you taking her today and getting the vetting sorted -  otherwise it sounds like she'd be there another day.   Aw, poor baby, it always feels so hard when they are hiding but it sounds like she is in very good hands and I'm sure she will venture out when ever she feels ready.   Fingers crossed for 'in the box' behaviour.  I will be looking out for that new thread!  

Horay...she ventured out to settle in the closet last night, which is about the size of her cage, so I set it up with her box and a blanket. I got some good photos, and introduced her in the 'cat's meow' forum. 

This morning she's eaten last night's food and is on the next shelf up. She hasn't bitten anyone who came near her since she came home, which is a good sign, because she bit any hand that came into her cage at the shelter.

Great start with her venturing out, AND no biting so far.  That's me, I'm off to see her Meow intro'.