Hi Everyone! Firstly, thank you for having such a wonderful place to learn and teach others about our wonderful furry family members...
Now hopefully I can keep this pretty brief. However, I will have to leave out a lot! Basically, I adopted a beautiful little ginger girl, Winifred, several months ago from a shelter. The vet had determined her to be closer to a year old than the two years old I was told. I don't know about other places, but here if an animal hasn't been fixed, a trip to the vet has to be made before your little one can come home to live with you. I already have an 8-year-old, cute little male Bombay, Salem, so separation for surgery and new introductions were warranted. We went thru all of the slow introduction processes I know of. For the most part, Salem didn't seem to have to much of a problem meeting Winifred, up close and personal, except one little glitch.
While Winifred was getting to know me, I first noticed how (for a lack of a better term) "unemotional" she was. She didn't seem to know how to take treats from my hand. I mean she didn't seem to understand to open her mouth and take a nip or bite she just sat there and looked at it. I slowly started pushing it in her mouth, forcing her to react. After a while she got the hang of it. Now she doesn't have a problem taking it from me. It wasn't like she was scared, just that she didn't know what to do. She never had a problem letting me touch her and loves being petted and scratched. We have all kinds of toys, but the only thing, so far, she has reacted to more than a half second is the laser light, and a live cricket she found one day. She actually got emotional and reacted to the cricket, practically bouncing off the walls. The cricket disappeared and it was like it had never happened. When I first started brushing her, she reacted like I was shocking her, and she squirmed all over the place. It scared me, but when I stopped, she nudged the glove and my hand. I had to take it easy, but slowly she has calmed down after a couple of weeks. I think because of lack of interaction, it was overwhelming to her nervous system or something. I recently bought a food puzzle and had to keep putting my hand and and her's in it to teach her what to do. After several days, she started doing it. I'm teaching her some tricks and we rub and butt heads, She's trying to learn how to say "I love you" and is so adorable because she's only got as far as a half-squint so far. She isn't a lap cat and doesn't like to be held long, but otherwise, extremely affectionate with me.
The problem I find is trying to get her to "live" in her home. I constantly take her all over the house so she can feel and smell everything, high and low. I even let her get on the kitchen table and counters. From the beginning, she's always either wanted to go back to where her room is or in the living room on the cat tower and sleep. A couple of times, she actually has went exploring in my bedroom, getting on the TV stand and walking around. A lot of the time if she's down on the floor, she will go hide under a couch or the TV stand in the living room. Even when she knows Salem is locked up and isn't going to bother her, she goes back to her door. When Salem first met her, I noticed he was sneaky. He would look her in the eye and asked her how she was doing, see if I was watching and if he thought I wasn't looking, he would lunge at her. Then he would walk or run away happily like he hadn't done anything. A lot of the time, she hisses and growls at him if he comes near her. However, he isn't put off by her threats. I think a lot of it is because she doesn't know how to interact with him. If she knew how big of a sissy-scaredy cat he is, she could own him easily. How they react to each other is really odd because they have both laid down next to me at the same time, although not next to each other. When I get out the treats, they both change. They have even touched each other without a reaction at all. I only give them a couple of treats a week so I can't use treats as a tool. Every once in a while, he will get in her face and she won't hiss and growl and after a couple of minutes of him staring at her, he just walks away. And if she's on the tower, she just goes back to sleep. Once in a while after an altercation or almost altercation, she runs to her door or under something. It's odd to me because none of their behavior is routine or consistent. I do think part of it may be because he may think of her as prey when she runs, so he runs after her. I know she needs to gain confidence which is supposed to help stop it, but I haven't got a clue what to do for them. And then to add to it, when she's in her room, we have a plastic gate covering a hole and both of them are nose to nose on either side like they are friends. They even stick their arms through the holes to each other. Slowly it does seem like he may be getting bored with her. Either that or it's just wishful thinking. I really don't know what to do or even think since nothing they do is anything I've seen on My Cat From Hell or read anywhere online.
It bothers me because I haven't been able to find an example of any kind or anything similar to their behavior. I know there has to be a solution because as I've mentioned, their behavior is not consistent and when they get the treats, they can touch each other without a reaction. Have any of you went through a similar situation or have any ideas what to do or try? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you so much!
CJ
Now hopefully I can keep this pretty brief. However, I will have to leave out a lot! Basically, I adopted a beautiful little ginger girl, Winifred, several months ago from a shelter. The vet had determined her to be closer to a year old than the two years old I was told. I don't know about other places, but here if an animal hasn't been fixed, a trip to the vet has to be made before your little one can come home to live with you. I already have an 8-year-old, cute little male Bombay, Salem, so separation for surgery and new introductions were warranted. We went thru all of the slow introduction processes I know of. For the most part, Salem didn't seem to have to much of a problem meeting Winifred, up close and personal, except one little glitch.
While Winifred was getting to know me, I first noticed how (for a lack of a better term) "unemotional" she was. She didn't seem to know how to take treats from my hand. I mean she didn't seem to understand to open her mouth and take a nip or bite she just sat there and looked at it. I slowly started pushing it in her mouth, forcing her to react. After a while she got the hang of it. Now she doesn't have a problem taking it from me. It wasn't like she was scared, just that she didn't know what to do. She never had a problem letting me touch her and loves being petted and scratched. We have all kinds of toys, but the only thing, so far, she has reacted to more than a half second is the laser light, and a live cricket she found one day. She actually got emotional and reacted to the cricket, practically bouncing off the walls. The cricket disappeared and it was like it had never happened. When I first started brushing her, she reacted like I was shocking her, and she squirmed all over the place. It scared me, but when I stopped, she nudged the glove and my hand. I had to take it easy, but slowly she has calmed down after a couple of weeks. I think because of lack of interaction, it was overwhelming to her nervous system or something. I recently bought a food puzzle and had to keep putting my hand and and her's in it to teach her what to do. After several days, she started doing it. I'm teaching her some tricks and we rub and butt heads, She's trying to learn how to say "I love you" and is so adorable because she's only got as far as a half-squint so far. She isn't a lap cat and doesn't like to be held long, but otherwise, extremely affectionate with me.
The problem I find is trying to get her to "live" in her home. I constantly take her all over the house so she can feel and smell everything, high and low. I even let her get on the kitchen table and counters. From the beginning, she's always either wanted to go back to where her room is or in the living room on the cat tower and sleep. A couple of times, she actually has went exploring in my bedroom, getting on the TV stand and walking around. A lot of the time if she's down on the floor, she will go hide under a couch or the TV stand in the living room. Even when she knows Salem is locked up and isn't going to bother her, she goes back to her door. When Salem first met her, I noticed he was sneaky. He would look her in the eye and asked her how she was doing, see if I was watching and if he thought I wasn't looking, he would lunge at her. Then he would walk or run away happily like he hadn't done anything. A lot of the time, she hisses and growls at him if he comes near her. However, he isn't put off by her threats. I think a lot of it is because she doesn't know how to interact with him. If she knew how big of a sissy-scaredy cat he is, she could own him easily. How they react to each other is really odd because they have both laid down next to me at the same time, although not next to each other. When I get out the treats, they both change. They have even touched each other without a reaction at all. I only give them a couple of treats a week so I can't use treats as a tool. Every once in a while, he will get in her face and she won't hiss and growl and after a couple of minutes of him staring at her, he just walks away. And if she's on the tower, she just goes back to sleep. Once in a while after an altercation or almost altercation, she runs to her door or under something. It's odd to me because none of their behavior is routine or consistent. I do think part of it may be because he may think of her as prey when she runs, so he runs after her. I know she needs to gain confidence which is supposed to help stop it, but I haven't got a clue what to do for them. And then to add to it, when she's in her room, we have a plastic gate covering a hole and both of them are nose to nose on either side like they are friends. They even stick their arms through the holes to each other. Slowly it does seem like he may be getting bored with her. Either that or it's just wishful thinking. I really don't know what to do or even think since nothing they do is anything I've seen on My Cat From Hell or read anywhere online.
It bothers me because I haven't been able to find an example of any kind or anything similar to their behavior. I know there has to be a solution because as I've mentioned, their behavior is not consistent and when they get the treats, they can touch each other without a reaction. Have any of you went through a similar situation or have any ideas what to do or try? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you so much!
CJ
