Feline autism?

We have a nearly 3 year old cat that we adopted from outside as a kitten who has always been odd. She spends her entire days dwelling in the basement hiding in a crawl space, can not be touched or pet and seems to have repetitive ticks. I know this sounds unusual but is there a possibility of her having something of that nature? I'm wondering how to help her as she seems so miserable with life, she is also overweight (despite attempts to keep her weight down)

This is her

Hi there.

Her hiding in the basement crawl space sounds like she was not socialized at a very young kitten age.

When this occurs a cat will always stay this way unless it is worked with to gain confidence around people and trusts you.

She's also not able to really burn the extra calories and must be fed well, which is not a bad thing but she should get some exercise too.

Her picture is sweet, is one of her eyes smaller like it appears or is it the angle of the photo?

What kind of repetitious ticks?

catwoman707 said:

Hi there.
Her hiding in the basement crawl space sounds like she was not socialized at a very young kitten age.
When this occurs a cat will always stay this way unless it is worked with to gain confidence around people and trusts you.

She's also not able to really burn the extra calories and must be fed well, which is not a bad thing but she should get some exercise too.

Her picture is sweet, is one of her eyes smaller like it appears or is it the angle of the photo?

What kind of repetitious ticks?

Click to expand...

Lol it's the angle. We found her in our back yard as a kitten and took her in , her mother as well. Her mother passed from FIV complications in late 2013 and after that she shut down emotionally even more. But she herself is AIDS free (she's been tested many times) and otherwise healthy except her weight (she's around 16 pounds)

Her ticks are mostly twitching her head back and forth.

We got a little kitten to keep her company in November which has perked her up a little bit (she cleans and cuddles the kitten) but she's otherwise still an extremely shy animal.

She will likely always be fairly shy, it's simply due to a lack of very early socialization with humans.

Glad she has the kitten for a companion!

FIV isx not passed by moms to their babies so just because mom was pos wouldn't mean she would be, and is very likely not since she hasn't been living outdoors for much of her life.

Glad she is inside!

^ We were honestly surprised how much the kitten drew out her mothering instinct. We didn't think she had such a trait. The kitten will sometimes go downstairs and sit with her in the crawl space and they'll cuddle. But she's still terribly shy.

It starts VERY early, they learn by watching how mom reacts to humans and mimic.

How funny it is to see a 5-6 week old kitten hissing, like we should be scared/intimidated!

At that age they are tamed simply by holding them, in just a day or two.

By 6 -7 weeks it becomes alot more work and takes longer.

By 8 weeks they have a feral's mentality and will take vigilant, constant work to tame them well.

By 10 weeks they will always fear humans/strangers, but will usually become trusting and able to be in the presence of members of the home.

She will continue this way for life as long as she is able to isolate herself from the rest of the house.

If you were to take the basement access away, in time she will come around much better than staying down there mostly.

If you want more interactions with her in the future you might consider keeping her out of the basement.

catwoman707 said:

It starts VERY early, they learn by watching how mom reacts to humans and mimic.
How funny it is to see a 5-6 week old kitten hissing, like we should be scared/intimidated!

At that age they are tamed simply by holding them, in just a day or two.
By 6 -7 weeks it becomes alot more work and takes longer.
By 8 weeks they have a feral's mentality and will take vigilant, constant work to tame them well.
By 10 weeks they will always fear humans/strangers, but will usually become trusting and able to be in the presence of members of the home.

She will continue this way for life as long as she is able to isolate herself from the rest of the house.

If you were to take the basement access away, in time she will come around much better than staying down there mostly.

If you want more interactions with her in the future you might consider keeping her out of the basement.

Click to expand...

The thing about Anastasia (that's her name) is she'll hide almost anywhere. Under the chairs or furniture. We sometimes shut the basement door put she'll still hide under the cabinet.

It's a shame she can't be more social. The only time she comes out of hiding is when the kitten cries and she'll come to tend to it.

Oh well. She is what she is.