Please Help!

I have a 1 year old female Siamese that has been neutered and front declawed, her name is Easter, she was given to my husband and I, it's been two weeks now and she's hiding from us, she is so afraid, I keep talking to her and telling her she's beautiful but so far she is keeping her distance, she is eating and using her litter box and she does this while we are both at work. her previous owner had her for only 5 months and says she hide from her for 2 of those months. Is there anything I can do or am I doing right by giving her space and waiting for her to come to me?

First, declawed kitties are very sensitive and even sometimes in pain because of the declawing. You can make sure she has litter that does not hurt her pads, even if it means going to shredded newspaper. Then just give her time, let her hide if she wants to, sit down near her hiding place and read a book aloud to her (softly) Take some pounce treats or other goodies and set them in a circle around you and just see how long it is before she comes up to you. Let her come up to you, if she starts towards you don't make any sudden moves, don't look her in the eyes, just keep reading, or talking or whatever you are doing quietly. It may take some time for her to trust again, but my thinking is she is distrustful of humans because she has been hurt by them (declawing is so unneccessary and painful for cats) It is like someone ripping off all your fingernails under anesthesia but when you wake up it still hurts. I know you did not declaw her, but I am just letting you know how it might be for her. Just give her time, give her lots of good food, a soft place to sleep at night, see to her needs and change her litterbox contents. One declawed kitty I rescued years ago was so sore, I had to resort to using packing bubbles in her litter box. It was the only thing she could use and not feel pain. She would use the regular litter at first, but she also would cower and hide, and until I caught on that the litter was bothering her, she was as elusive as a ghost.

Hissy,
Thank you sooooo much for the reply, I'll try anything at this point, she is such a beautiful cat, this is my first experience with a cat at all, my husband has had several, I've always been a dog person, but when these gorgeous blue eyes looked at me I fell totally in love! Thank you again,
Easter's Mom

Think of it this way, you have just had all your fingernails yanked out then are asked to walk on your fingers bearing weight- would it hurt? You bet it would. Give her time, and Siamese are wonderful if sometimes aloof kitties anyway.

Here is one very thorough website about declawing if you want to try and understand more. Many cat lovers are so anti-declawing and this site will tell you why


declawing issues

My little Easter is still in hiding, I got her on September the 16th, and she still isn't ready to trust me yet, is this going to take much longer?

Hippity hoppity Easter's on it's way!!!!

Originally posted by Rockette

My little Easter is still in hiding, I got her on September the 16th, and she still isn't ready to trust me yet, is this going to take much longer?

Click to expand...

• [/list=a]

So, she's coming to you now? Yippee!