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- Jun 7, 2006
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Hi all and thank you for letting me be apart of this community and taking the time to read this post.
I first want to tell you a little bit about our pets. My family and I love animals and have had many. We have four dogs (2 beagles, 1 dalmatian and 1 golden), 6 birds and four cats (we had two up until 2 weeks ago and I found a little kitten that I and my girlfriend are taking care of and the stray that I have a question about). All of the animals (aside from the stray and one cat that is jealous of my kitten) get along very well.
My mom had been taking care of some strays that would come to our house and eat. One was male and the other female. The female was very scared always but she would eat. One day we noticed she had her nipples coming out and we thought she was pregnant. We were able to catch her and we took her to the vet where he determined that she was a little under a year old and just in heat not pregnant. We spayed her and brought her home (this was about two weeks ago). She was terrified at first and made a mess in the bathroom we left her in so we bought her a pretty big cage (one used for very large dogs) where her litter, a carrier she sleeps in, and some toys could fit. After about a week or so, she was doing pretty well, she's very sweet and loves my mom. She constantly seeks her affection and though she's a bit scared of me she lets me pet her and hold her a little.
We had let the other animals around her cage and after a while she stopped hissing at them and understood she was safe. We had been taking her out alone and so we started to take her out with the other animals one by one. She did fine but lately (the last few days) she has become very aggressive. She has chased one of our cats and one of the beagles and hissed at pretty much all the animals. We can tell she hated to be in the cage because it has become harder to put her back in. We thought she was becoming territorial of the room she was in and so we moved her cage to the living room (we had to disassemble it because it wasn't big enough to fit through the door) and that is where we are at now.
I understand it takes a while to socialize her and we think she's never been in a house before. But my mom is becoming a little disheartened because she had been improving every day and the last few days has taken steps back. I'm afraid that the cage may be doing her more harm than good but it's the only way we know she can be safe (my dogs are gentle but if the golden gets attacked she might retaliate).
What can we do to make her stop hissing and swatting at the dogs? She seems okay when our dalmatian is next to her lying down but if he gets up she becomes scared and aggressive. She has a sweet demeanor but is just very scared. Sorry for the long post and any help would be greatly appreciated!
I first want to tell you a little bit about our pets. My family and I love animals and have had many. We have four dogs (2 beagles, 1 dalmatian and 1 golden), 6 birds and four cats (we had two up until 2 weeks ago and I found a little kitten that I and my girlfriend are taking care of and the stray that I have a question about). All of the animals (aside from the stray and one cat that is jealous of my kitten) get along very well.
My mom had been taking care of some strays that would come to our house and eat. One was male and the other female. The female was very scared always but she would eat. One day we noticed she had her nipples coming out and we thought she was pregnant. We were able to catch her and we took her to the vet where he determined that she was a little under a year old and just in heat not pregnant. We spayed her and brought her home (this was about two weeks ago). She was terrified at first and made a mess in the bathroom we left her in so we bought her a pretty big cage (one used for very large dogs) where her litter, a carrier she sleeps in, and some toys could fit. After about a week or so, she was doing pretty well, she's very sweet and loves my mom. She constantly seeks her affection and though she's a bit scared of me she lets me pet her and hold her a little.
We had let the other animals around her cage and after a while she stopped hissing at them and understood she was safe. We had been taking her out alone and so we started to take her out with the other animals one by one. She did fine but lately (the last few days) she has become very aggressive. She has chased one of our cats and one of the beagles and hissed at pretty much all the animals. We can tell she hated to be in the cage because it has become harder to put her back in. We thought she was becoming territorial of the room she was in and so we moved her cage to the living room (we had to disassemble it because it wasn't big enough to fit through the door) and that is where we are at now.
I understand it takes a while to socialize her and we think she's never been in a house before. But my mom is becoming a little disheartened because she had been improving every day and the last few days has taken steps back. I'm afraid that the cage may be doing her more harm than good but it's the only way we know she can be safe (my dogs are gentle but if the golden gets attacked she might retaliate).
What can we do to make her stop hissing and swatting at the dogs? She seems okay when our dalmatian is next to her lying down but if he gets up she becomes scared and aggressive. She has a sweet demeanor but is just very scared. Sorry for the long post and any help would be greatly appreciated!
