My 3 months old stray (been with me almost 2 months) is giving me headaches and I don't understand what I am doing wrong. She's actually behaving pretty well towards the house, but aside of that she's some sort of ghost running around the house.
She's CONSTANTLY hiding in places and running. We have a balcony and she'll run outside every single time she can. She'll go as far as bashing her head against the windowpane in the attempt to slip through (and that's kind of unavoidable since you won't see her coming). Mind that she has freedom around the house, she can go anywhere except the bathroom so she isn't constrained in any way.
She's been recently developing this habit of jumping into the WC or the bidet. She won't drink the water, she just sits there. Today I yelled at her trying to make her understand she can't go there, but she ignores anything I try to do. She ignores praise, she ignores me raising my voice (which happens VERY rarely since I speak calmly to her all the time), she ignores treats.
As if her constant hiding wasn't enough, she spends 80% of the day walking sideways with her fur and tail puffed up. I thought it was just play but at this point I think it's legit fearful / feral behavior. She'll bite HARD on my hands (doesn't bite anyone else like that) and she's drawn blood several times. And no I don't play with my hands... Sometimes she just runs at me and bites me then runs away. Getting close to her is almost impossible and if one tries to pet her while she's resting she'll get up, move a meter away and sit down again.
It's like the hates the place and the people in the house, but everyone's been really calm with her and she's been treated nicely all the time. Nobody in the house is abusive or harsh with her. What puzzles me the most is that there's a moment every morning where she's the cuddliest kitten in the world, then a few minutes later she's skittish and fearful again.
As of late she has developed the habit of laying down on the pavement (which she never did before) which makes me wonder if she's ill. Sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk she'll meow at me and paw at my leg and as soon as I look at her she zooms away. As I'm typing this she's chasing her tail knocking herself against a wooden case... Now she just jumped on my back and clawed me over the shoulders. I don't know what to do.
I promised myself not to raise my voice again (it's useless anyway) but I don't know how else I can discipline her. And I don't even care about that at this point, I just want her to not be scared all the time
Please help
She's CONSTANTLY hiding in places and running. We have a balcony and she'll run outside every single time she can. She'll go as far as bashing her head against the windowpane in the attempt to slip through (and that's kind of unavoidable since you won't see her coming). Mind that she has freedom around the house, she can go anywhere except the bathroom so she isn't constrained in any way.
She's been recently developing this habit of jumping into the WC or the bidet. She won't drink the water, she just sits there. Today I yelled at her trying to make her understand she can't go there, but she ignores anything I try to do. She ignores praise, she ignores me raising my voice (which happens VERY rarely since I speak calmly to her all the time), she ignores treats.
As if her constant hiding wasn't enough, she spends 80% of the day walking sideways with her fur and tail puffed up. I thought it was just play but at this point I think it's legit fearful / feral behavior. She'll bite HARD on my hands (doesn't bite anyone else like that) and she's drawn blood several times. And no I don't play with my hands... Sometimes she just runs at me and bites me then runs away. Getting close to her is almost impossible and if one tries to pet her while she's resting she'll get up, move a meter away and sit down again.
It's like the hates the place and the people in the house, but everyone's been really calm with her and she's been treated nicely all the time. Nobody in the house is abusive or harsh with her. What puzzles me the most is that there's a moment every morning where she's the cuddliest kitten in the world, then a few minutes later she's skittish and fearful again.
As of late she has developed the habit of laying down on the pavement (which she never did before) which makes me wonder if she's ill. Sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk she'll meow at me and paw at my leg and as soon as I look at her she zooms away. As I'm typing this she's chasing her tail knocking herself against a wooden case... Now she just jumped on my back and clawed me over the shoulders. I don't know what to do.
I promised myself not to raise my voice again (it's useless anyway) but I don't know how else I can discipline her. And I don't even care about that at this point, I just want her to not be scared all the time
Please help