Is there Hope?

I've posted a story about my little kitten Stormie, We've had her for alomost 4 month's now and she still is showing barely any improvement. She still hides she still runs, the only improvement at all is now after 4 months I can finally get her to purr, but first I have to catch her which stress's her, then I have to calm her down. our first approach was to leave her be and let her come out on her own, but that didn't work. She only came out at night's and the rest of the time she was like a ghost. How can I tame her down? Even cat nip won't soothe her.

Seriously you ignore her. Put her in a room make sure she has distractions in the room. You set up a schedule and you stick to it. There are no surprise visits to her, she knows when you will be there and she knows when it is her time. Food, water, litter pan scooping all on a schedule- IGNORE her when you go in, don't chase her, don't grab at her, don't make eye contact. If she catches your eye, blink several times slowly and back away.

Go in on a scheduled time and sit on the floor. Take out a book and read out loud to her. Once you have read a few pages, or a chapter, slowly get up and leave some tasty treats where your imprint is on the carpet.

Go in and lay down on your back again on a schedule- empty your head and close your eyes. Keep your arms flat at your side. Take a 20 minute nap. When she comes up to investigate (and she will) stay completely still, she will climb all over you, she may just curl up on your chest.Resist the temptation to pet her and just lie still. After, get up slowly and leave.

My latest rescues, the 7 month olds, I have been doing this with them for two weeks now. This afternoon, Chaplain- the one who always hides, came and slept on my chest. When I got up slowly he scampered off. But when I went (on my knees) over to him and reached out my hand, he head-bumped me. I left right after that.

I know what YOU want, you want this kitty to be a purring, wonderful lap kitty and she will in time. But it is HER time you work with, not YOURS. You have no inkling what horrors she might have seen or been through in her short life, so you take it slow, and you put away what you want, and you take your cues from her-


Also very important, do not confine her behind a solid door- use a screen door, or several baby gates, but she needs to be able to see, smell and get used to all activity in your home and she can't do that behind wooden doors.
These are my latest rescues

Hissy,
It's a bit hard not to mess with her at all, I understand she has to be willing, but right now she has big open sores on her and they need to be seen about. That means I have to be able to catch her and take care of her, but that's hard when she's under my bed all the time. This evening we are taking her to the vet for a cortizone shot and we hope that stop's her from tearing her skin open like she has been lately. She has to learn to put up with me, I need to figure out how to speed her up.

I apologize, I didn't realize she was wounded. Are you putting ointment on her? Perhaps in this case, investing in a large (and I mean large) dog cage is in order. I have one here that is large enough for two full grown shepherds to lie down and turn around in.

You put her in the cage with food, water (attached to the sides of the cage, and her litterpan way back in the back. Put in soft bedding then cover the cage and this is now her home. I would also invest in a snugglekittie and give her something inside the cage to hide in- a small box, a small cat perch, something.

hows things going with Stormie?

I'm beginning to wonder if she is bi polar or schizophrenic, lol one minute she seems perfectly fine, purring, rubbing against my hand, she even sleeps in my bed with me sometimes, lol. the major problem is her neck still, my aunt (she did some vet assistance once upon a time) mixed up some kinda wierd paste I've been putting on her neck and it is helping alot, one place is almost completly healed, but the other is just scabbing, She is seeming better, but the one place she keeps digging at. I'm wondering if it's possible she has a mental problem though bc she will be little miss lovey dovey one minute and the next she want's to run and hide. I can't find anything different I'm doing to scare her away, but all of a sudden it's like she thinks "OMG what I'm I doing? I'm letting a human pet me?!? And I'm purring?!? Help!!!! Get me outta here!!!!" and about then she makes a big leap and hides under my bed for a few hours. I don't know what to do with her, lol. Maybe she'll come around, Mom still can't hold her without her bolting and giving Mom a few scratches along the way, lol. Sux for her, lol.

I'm wondering if it's possible she has a mental problem though bc she will be little miss lovey dovey one minute and the next she want's to run and hide. I can't find anything different I'm doing to scare her away, but all of a sudden it's like she thinks "OMG what I'm I doing? I'm letting a human pet me?!? And I'm purring?!? Help!!!! Get me outta here!!!!" and about then she makes a big leap and hides under my bed for a few hours

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Wouldn't it be great if we could interpret our cat's behavior to correspond to our own behavior. Actually it sounds like you are making great progress with her.

Katie

Thanx! She actually seems to have almost made a complete 180 except her little bi-polar fit's lol. at least I'm gonna call them bi-polar, lol. I don't know what to do with her sometime, but she is just weird. People keep telling me I need to ignore her, but that is the opposite of what i want and she is finally making progress, I don't think it's right to switch on her now