In a quandary about cat in Shelter

Hi Everyone!

I am at a loss as to where to post this, Behavior or Health, so I am leaving it up to the moderators. I chose this thread because it is a general thread. 

I am concerned about one cat in the shelter. The shelter is at PetSmart. In case no one knows what it looks like, it is a small room, with an ante-room, the small room houses cubbies for the cats. The walls facing the store are glass, while the rest of the room is just a small enclosed space with some cabinets, a couple folding chair, litter bin, dry food bin. The anteroom is just a small desk, a bench, and a hamper for soiled laundry. 

We have a 2.5 yr old cat named, Angel. Well, Angel is far from her name--the complete opposite. We do not know much about her. All we know is that she showed up here from a foster's home. The guy placing her in PetSmart said that the foster loved her. She was quiet, lovable. 

Angel has been with us for at least 3 weeks now..She just cannot adjust to the environment. She is totally, and completely aggressive!!! To the point that even a look at her, or just standing near her will elicit a round of really scary growls, hisses,--full anger with ears back, thrashing out with claws, bites, etc..

She had a quick Vet exam (please do not ask what that was like--I do not care for the inexpensive Vet)...She does have a notched ear--wonder if she was feral??  we have no clue.

She is small and beautiful--orange and white, spayed before we got her. 

What is really bothering to all of us is her eyes! They are constantly fully dilated!! I have never seen that before.

Angel does better when it is quiet, and one on one. She hates dogs. and I think kids...

We all know she will do better in a foster home, one-on-one; but we do not have anyone for that. No fosters are available..we are full up..

It has been going back and forth whether this is a behavioral vs a medical issue. or emotional.....

She gave me a couple of brief seconds of normalcy yesterday, when I had her out and tried to play with her, but the minute I even slowly moved or talked to her, or she heard a noise, she was back to being a 'Devilish" cat...You cannot touch her. We have to wear gloves. We are afraid of even getting in there to clean her litter box, if she is in that area.. We are at a loss as to what is wrong with her. She gets overstimulated, frighteningly fast--in a split second. 

One potential foster's came in to see her yesterday. While Angel did seem to take to her, there is a 3 yr old toddler in the house. No Way..that foster is out. However she did notice Angel's vision not focusing on the string toy..not following it around. If there is a vision issue, then that could be the answer to her behavior. 

She was able to follow the trail of treat I put in front of her...However, she never went after any ball I threw to her.. She actually spit at it. 

I went in today, just to see her. I took one of Artie's laser toys. Angel was able to follow it, while she was in the cubby. I saw her head moving and her trying to catch it. 

Her eyes are really frightening. They are constantly dilated, no matter what type of lighting she is in. 

She will be going to a different Vet for another full check-up with a different volunteer. One who is just as concerned as I am, and a few others are, about her....Angel will be seeing the head Vet at the office where I take my guy..

Does anyone have any ideas, thoughts on what this could be...

We are all thinking, feral, hypertension blindness, brain injury, severe anxiety,  etc....

I did spray some Feliway on her pillow today. 

She supposedly was sweet in her foster mom's home. She gives seconds of that behavior and then it is back to being a devil cat....

Personally, I think it is going to be a long time before we find out what is going on with her....  poor thing...

Thanks for reading this and thanks to any who respond. 

I think the full dilation of the eyes is a symptom of severe anxiety. If she was once feral, she may be extremely stressed out by being in a cage. At the shelter where I got Mingo, they told me that he didn't like to be caged, so they had him and a number of other cats roaming free in the lobby. They had a double set of doors so no one could sneak out, but the door to the kennels was single, and there was a sign posted on it to be careful about letting a cat get through the door. The staff said the sign was for Mingo. 

Once I got him home, he was like any other cat until I went away for the weekend about a month later and had to board him. After I brought him home from the boarding, he ran around the house like a banshee for several hours, and I'm not exaggerating - from 5 pm to 8 pm. 

Your shelter cat seems to be very similar - fine at the foster's and terrified in the cage. Since it's a PetSmart shelter, I don't have much of a suggestion, except to let her out of the cage as much as possible.

My local Petco has a little moveable fence they use to let the cats out to show to possible adopters. It's about 8 feet in diameter. Could something like that work for you?

Constant full dilated pupils could also be a sign of high blood pressure in cats. A second vet opinion is definitley needed.

Poor baby. I hope the second vet can find out what's (if anything) going on with her eyes. 

Have you really sat down with the foster woman, the person who had fostered Angel to see what all was happening there? Was she afraid of cages at the foster's house? How did the foster get her to and from the vet when necessary? And how long did Angel stay at the foster? Sorry, I'm not telling you how to do your job, honest I'm not. Just trying to think of things. 

We do not know anything about her history. It is kind of a mix-up without communication between the guy who found her, whoever he found for the foster and the rest of the volunteers... it is a real mix up. I wish one of us, who are now involved in her care, could find out more information; however that is an impossibility.. it is very frustrating..

The big problem is while this humane society has an excellent reputation, it does not have a physical site. There are a lot of fosters; and we display the cats at PetSmart. It is a very small group of people who are doing the best we can to care for the kitties. A huge amount of the volunteers work; including the rescue/adoption people. We are trying to get that issue eased up a bit.. 

Angel has an appointment with the second opinion Vet on Friday afternoon. This Vet is clinic where I take Artie. The Vet is the head of it. There will be another person and myself at the appointment. I volunteered to tag along because I am so concerned and interested in what this could be. I probably have questions to ask the Vet also. It does not hurt for me to go because I am familiar with all the staff there..and they all know me.. Not all the Vets, but the staff does. 

It will also take 2 people to get Angel into the carrier.. complete with heavy duty gloves and towel wrapped..man I hate doing this to her...poor thing...My gut is telling me that she is a total Feral ~~~ with an Alpha personality..in addition to whatever possible medical problem is present.. The eyes are really scary looking. If it is just from "cage rage", and her constant aggression, then I do not see how we can, in all honestly re-home her. I think we may just have to allow her to be a barn cat, at a different location and humane society. But we really have to have all possibilities checked out before we get to that conclusion. 

She shows seconds of being a good kitty, but those seconds are few and far between. 

Thanks for everyone for responding. 

Good luck to you, @Artiemom. This is a really difficult situation, and you are doing a good job dealing with it.

DreamerRose said:

 
Good luck to you, @Artiemom. This is a really difficult situation, and you are doing a good job dealing with it.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I kind of feel I am stepping on toes because I am pretty new to this organization. 

I just feel bad for the cats..It gives me something to do which I enjoy, and I am giving something back in return..

I think I am kind of branding myself as a trouble-maker with the guys because I have been finding errors in the way they are handling the adoptions and Vets... It seems I am the whistle-blower...but, someone has to be, and I have a big mouth.. While I may not know much about cats, I try to help..

Perhaps I should just keep my mouth shut and just do what I am supposed to: clean, feed, play, and answer peoples questions.. and nothing more.. but I am too noisy...

thanks for listening to me...

Did you get a second vet opinion on Angel? I was reading up on the causes of pupil dialation and can't help but think that Angel is very feral and scared out of her brains in there. She's probably a very nice kitty but when cats get scared, they growl and hiss and act like they're mean, but they're just so scared. I hope things work out for her. She just needs more time to understand all that she's going through. What do you think? Did you find out anything more about her?

poor kitty!

i don't think you're handling it wrong - you really care.  whether the other volunteers take your pointing out real issues as criticism could happy, but seems like you're doing the right thing.

Angel has her 2nd opinion tomorrow, Friday afternoon. I do not know why the delay.. but who knows..we shall see then. I have not heard anything else about her..

I will definitely find out a lot tomorrow..

My gut feeling is that she is feral, but her wild eyes are really scary--something is going on.. If she is just under constant stress, than we have to do something for her. It cannot go on like this.. 

Well, Today was a long, long day!

I got to PetSmart early, played and brushed a couple of sweet cats.. I ignored Angel.

Another Volunteer--really board member, arrived. We tried spraying Feliway in the carrier, her bed in the cubby.. thinking it may calm her a bit.. no such luck! We even waited 20 minutes. 

We opened the door to her cubby, she usually comes right out. She refused to come out!! She stayed cornered in the cubby! We tried bribing her with treats.. no go... We ended up closing off the connecting side. No.. We tried the "Go Catcher" mouse toy--no way... We took her bed out, and tried to coax her out... no go..

Finally, the other volunteer, T, had to resort to the gloves. Angel was pretty much right against the wall--kind of cornered.. not a good position to be in.. T tried, and Angel somehow got the divider to slide open and hid behind her litter box... 

We decided it to bring another cat and swap appointments. 

After Brittany's exam, we went back to PetSmart. We tried again.. This time, I was alone with her for a few minutes. She jumped down from her cubby, and was investigating the carrier.. getting closer.. I was also luring her with the mouse 'Go Catcher" Toy...When T returned, Angel ran back to her cubby, but came out....

Again she was investigating the carrier. I put a treat in there. She sniffed the treat, but was 'wise' to us. Finally, T put the gloves on, pushed her into the carrier, while I immediately closed it shut... We did need 2 people...

I did notice that her pupils closed when in the sunlight. So she is not completely blind. 

The Vet took her out back, and used a couple of techs to try to examine her. They have gloves up the entire arm. They took the top of the carrier off, to try to get her out. The Vet was able to get a pupil response, so she is not blind. 

She also followed the light.. 

They were completely unable to exam her, without sedation. They did not want to attempt it.. 

As far as BP goes. They could not do that either. The Vet pointed out that her BP would be high, just from the aggression. 

We discussed her when the Vet brought her back to us. The Vet said that she absolutely cannot be in PetSmart. She cannot be adopted.. She needs a quiet foster, being carefully observed in her own room. 

The Vet did say that being in PetSmart was a living "he!!" for her. 

We do have a potential foster for her.. a husband and wife, who will take the time to observe and work with her.. no other cats, but have just had a loss of their own cat... They understand the situation. They will not be ready until early next week. 

I asked the Vet if there was possibly something we could try to calm her down a bit while she was still in PetSmart. We do not have any place else to place her. The Vet said that anything over the counter, like Composer Treats would not be strong enough to help her. She needs the heavy duty drugs.... like Prozac, or Gabapentin...

I asked if we could perhaps try it for a few days, just to calm her down.. until she gets to the foster home. He agreed. 

He gave us some gabapentin to try. Angel will get 1/2 capsule once a day. We should know almost the next day or 2 if it is working.. we are hoping we can cut back or eliminate the drug completely once she gets to the foster.. And we are hoping she can become calm enough for a through exam. 

I really do not know why the Vet did not sedate her a bit, just to examine her. He was kind of a snob, attitude, that he is doing this for us, so her will not put himself out... I do not care for this Vet, but he is the head guy.. He has a lot of experience, and this is his clinic; and he is the advisor to the other Vets there. He knows me because I have been very vocal with him. I see a different Vet there, however he has been an advisor when Artie was so sick..

Since I am very familiar with dealing with medicines, capsules, etc.. I volunteered to go up there this week-end and medicate her. I am familiar with opening and closing capsules...I mixed the capsule powder with just a bit of food. She gobbled it up.. She is food motivated..thank goodness. 

T and I will keep in touch about Angel. We will work closely together...

Angel was a lot more relaxed when we got back and it was one on one with me.. It was quiet there in PetSmart. I took out the Wand toy mouse. She was underneath a chair, and was starting to play with it.. growling and hissing occasionally, but I ignored that. I was able to sit in the chair and play with her under it. When she walked around a bit or the other cats were hissing at her, I stepped in between the sight line and tried to distract her with the toy.. This did work---- a Jackson Galaxy move... 

We finally had to pick her up to get her in her cubby. One time she was spooked again and got me in a bite.. 2 teeth marks--fangs, one user and one lower. I wiped the area with Purell. When I got in my car, I used a baby wipe, came home and jumped in the shower.. peroxide also...so I am hoping..fingers crossed. 

That is it for now....poor cat..

It's great you're placing her in a foster home! I've seen that type of "cage rage" several times in our shelter's quarantine section, and not necessarily just with feral cats. The permanently dilated eyes and/or flattened ears are common. We had a 7-year-old intake about a month ago who sliced my hands so badly I had to wear gloves for a couple of days just to be able to use them. Once we got her out of quarantine and into a cat room there was a complete personality change- she was a total lap cat and was quickly adopted.

:cross: that that's the case with Angel.

yeah, I am just not so sure about the gabapentin for aggression. Does anyone know if it is faster working than prozac?  

I am not versed in this area of veterinary stuff.. so I have to rely on this Vet...

Wow! You are absolutely amazing. I wish more people cared about animals the way you do. It seems to me that poor Angel has been traumatized in the past and may have some ptsd. The poor thing. Don't give up on her. I am sure she has trust issues. I know that once she feels safe in someone's home she'll calm down. She sounds a lot like my girl. Mine was found in a parking lot at 4 months, and she is one feisty gal. She absolutely loves me now and I love her, but it was a tough road. I hope and pray that Angel finds a wonderful, patient owner who will give her the love she needs. Please keep us posted.

I hope your situation with Angel turned out better than mine 30 years ago. A woman at a rescue was looking for a home for two "friendly" cats. They turned out to be traumatized due to severe abuse. My vet had to euthanize them. The woman from the rescue never returned my calls. In her eyes, she had gotten rid of two unadoptable cats by dumping them on someone else. I hope Angel can be helped. Thanks for going to bat for her. She has no one else.

Wow, I would have to say that your Angel has found her guardian Angel in you.

Not to be rude, but why can't you keep her? You two are already bonding. It sounds as if you two were made for each other. She definitely needs someone like you in her life permanently. You're doing a great thing.

Thank you all for your compliments. I really do not deserve them. I am just trying to help a poor little animal; and I must admit to having a big curiosity as to how everything turns out. 

Update on Angel:

She seems to be somewhat subdued from the medication. She still has the aggression, but I am thinking it is not as bad; hopefully I am not kidding myself. 

Late yesterday afternoon I went in. It was fairly quiet in PetSmart. All the other cats had eaten their supper, except for Angel, who was waiting for me and the meds. I opened her door. She hesitated coming out. 

I went over to purchase a laser toy, for my own purposes. 

Angel really responded to the laser red dot. She was hesitant to come out, but she did. We played for a bit. When one of the other cats, hissed at her, she of course got a bit aggressive. I got right into her sight line, and started play. I swear I am watching too much Jackson Galaxy. She did hiss at me a couple of times. 

Angel hissed and tried to swipe at the laser toy. I was holding it by the end. What a surprise she got when her claws met resistance!! The look on her face ~~ priceless! She just stared at it and turned away!! I also let her wander around a bit, until she had enough, and went to her "place".

I think I got a bit of progress. She jumped back in her cubby, on her own. She did allow me to give her a bit of food mixed with the medicine, without growling or swipping.  When I took the food dish away, in order to add more food to it, she did not argue.. I did it twice. She actually stood over it and watched me. I was slow, deliberate, calm, cautious,  

 but fast. 

I was shocked!!

She had a nice full belly, and wanted to curl up in her cubby and sleep. 

I did notice that she reacts badly to straight on looks. You cannot look directly at her. It causes aggression. 

I also spoke to her very softly.. no high pitched baby talk.. just a soft voice and tone.. She was responding to it. 

She needs quite.. she needs to be alone in her own territory. 

@ericsmom1000  We are not going to adopt her out. We want to see how she does in a foster home, on a one on one situation; without any other cats. A quiet environment. 

@BabyHuffman  I cannot foster or adopt her. My guy, Artie is here with me. He does not need any more stress. He has been through enough in the 4.5 years that I have had him. He is 12 yrs old. He is super sensitive to change. Angel needs a home where she is the ONLY cat ~~ and a quiet environment. No kids, no other cats. I live in an apartment building which is getting noisier by the day... 

I am just doing what I can to help her. 

I hope you find a loving home for Angel.

You're doing great with Angel. You're preparing her to trust a new owner. Thank you for being there for her. I am anxious to hear updates.

Thanks guys...

I was not able to go in today, due to stuff of my own, which I had to do. 

I am in touch with the board member who is in charge of this. We are working together on Angel. She was going in late this afternoon to medicate her. She is the person working on the foster home for Angel. She wants to do a site visit there today. She will keep me updated. 

I kind of miss not going in to see Angel today.. It takes me 30 minutes to get to PetSmart; so it is not as if I can just pop in for a quick visit. It is not just around the corner. 

I will be anxiously awaiting an update from her.