- Joined
- Mar 28, 2022
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I have rescued a 3 year old cat named Marisa that has been through a heck of a time.
This is her background.
She is a suffolk brown that was raised by her parent cat in the care of a breeder. She was most definitely handled until she was the age of 5 months old. She then went to live with a lady along with a sister cat. The lady that took her on clearly has mental heath problems and could not care responsibly for the girls. I found out that Maria's sister had been taken into a rescue centre and re-homed.
Poor Marisa had not been spade and had already had two litters of kittens. When my partner and i arrived to pick her up, there were tom cats in the garden waiting for Marisa and she was clearly very nervous. She had obviously been pursued a lot and was living in a state of stress.
I believe that Marisa and her owner had not bonded for some reason and it would appear that she hadn't really been handled since she had lived with her breeder. When the owner picked her up to put her in the carrier she hissed at her and I sensed little affection between them.
The suffolk brown breed is an off shoot of the Havana brown and this breed is usually incredibly affectionate so I knew that poor Marisa had been neglected.
We took Marisa home and she had her own room with a cardboard box hide out. I have put a Feliway diffuser in her room, which I believe is helping.
She eats well and uses her litter tray marvelously. She has obvious issues surrounding food as she eats all her food within a couple of minutes, which I think is down to the fact that Marisa has had to scavenge often for her food. She is such a scavenger that we have to hide our bins in our conservatory when we go out or she tips them over to scavenge! It's an ingrained habit!
Marisa hides all day long in her safe box in her room but comes downstairs every evening when my 6 year old goes to bed. Initially she would play with me using the wand but now no longer seems to want to.
I cannot touch Marisa but she has taken treats from my hand (although this has stopped now and she prefers to use her paw to knock them out my hand!). She explores the house fully and plays when we have all gone to bed. She comes into our bedroom at night to check on us but doesn't stay and leaves. One night however I felt her tip toe across me and sniff my face! I was quite scared at the time but so pleased she felt confident enough to do that.
I guess I'm looking for encouragement really. I feel like Marisa made some real progress in gaining confidence in us over the last few weeks but recently I feel like she has gone backwards.
I must add the poor girl has been through a lot since we've had her ( nearly 5 weeks now). We had her spade, she's had blood tests and her inoculations. She had to wear one of those horrible cones on her head which must have been awful for her. She also knocked her eye on one of our cacti, that has healed now but can't have been pleasant for her!
I have had havanas since I was a child and know that they can be so sensitive but by the same token are ridiculously affectionate! When we took on Marisa, I knew that I was taking on a wait and see approach as I knew that she would be nervous, I just didn't know how nervous and traumatised she really was.
I worry that we are not the right family for her with a 6 year old child. She previously lived with a quiet older lady.
I'm just looking for a bit of reassurance that there is hope with Marisa. I'm not too sure which approach to take with her. I read advice saying let her come to you but by the same token when reading about ferals it would seem that you need a more structured approach.
Any advice would be welcomed! Thank you all so much.
I know Marisa isn't feral but feel like she has lost a lot of her 'social' skills having been neglected since she was 5 months old.
She is a hisser and hisses if I get too close to her or she gets too close to me!
Only one time did I feel she may 'attack' me. I was playing with her with the wand and giving her treats after. Like I said she is quite obsessed with food and tried to bully me into giving her more treats. I felt the mood change and she stalked me and her eyes fixed on my hands then ankles. I calmly said 'I won't play if you don't behave Marisa' and left the room. Since I've stopped giving treats after play, she won't play anymore.
Anyhow, I hope you get the gist of where I'm coming from and give me a bit of encouragement.
I so loved both my havanas, we were best buddies. It took me 5 years to get another cat after the loss of my last fella and I feel quite sad that I may never have that close relationship with Marisa.
Thank you everybody
This is her background.
She is a suffolk brown that was raised by her parent cat in the care of a breeder. She was most definitely handled until she was the age of 5 months old. She then went to live with a lady along with a sister cat. The lady that took her on clearly has mental heath problems and could not care responsibly for the girls. I found out that Maria's sister had been taken into a rescue centre and re-homed.
Poor Marisa had not been spade and had already had two litters of kittens. When my partner and i arrived to pick her up, there were tom cats in the garden waiting for Marisa and she was clearly very nervous. She had obviously been pursued a lot and was living in a state of stress.
I believe that Marisa and her owner had not bonded for some reason and it would appear that she hadn't really been handled since she had lived with her breeder. When the owner picked her up to put her in the carrier she hissed at her and I sensed little affection between them.
The suffolk brown breed is an off shoot of the Havana brown and this breed is usually incredibly affectionate so I knew that poor Marisa had been neglected.
We took Marisa home and she had her own room with a cardboard box hide out. I have put a Feliway diffuser in her room, which I believe is helping.
She eats well and uses her litter tray marvelously. She has obvious issues surrounding food as she eats all her food within a couple of minutes, which I think is down to the fact that Marisa has had to scavenge often for her food. She is such a scavenger that we have to hide our bins in our conservatory when we go out or she tips them over to scavenge! It's an ingrained habit!
Marisa hides all day long in her safe box in her room but comes downstairs every evening when my 6 year old goes to bed. Initially she would play with me using the wand but now no longer seems to want to.
I cannot touch Marisa but she has taken treats from my hand (although this has stopped now and she prefers to use her paw to knock them out my hand!). She explores the house fully and plays when we have all gone to bed. She comes into our bedroom at night to check on us but doesn't stay and leaves. One night however I felt her tip toe across me and sniff my face! I was quite scared at the time but so pleased she felt confident enough to do that.
I guess I'm looking for encouragement really. I feel like Marisa made some real progress in gaining confidence in us over the last few weeks but recently I feel like she has gone backwards.
I must add the poor girl has been through a lot since we've had her ( nearly 5 weeks now). We had her spade, she's had blood tests and her inoculations. She had to wear one of those horrible cones on her head which must have been awful for her. She also knocked her eye on one of our cacti, that has healed now but can't have been pleasant for her!
I have had havanas since I was a child and know that they can be so sensitive but by the same token are ridiculously affectionate! When we took on Marisa, I knew that I was taking on a wait and see approach as I knew that she would be nervous, I just didn't know how nervous and traumatised she really was.
I worry that we are not the right family for her with a 6 year old child. She previously lived with a quiet older lady.
I'm just looking for a bit of reassurance that there is hope with Marisa. I'm not too sure which approach to take with her. I read advice saying let her come to you but by the same token when reading about ferals it would seem that you need a more structured approach.
Any advice would be welcomed! Thank you all so much.
I know Marisa isn't feral but feel like she has lost a lot of her 'social' skills having been neglected since she was 5 months old.
She is a hisser and hisses if I get too close to her or she gets too close to me!
Only one time did I feel she may 'attack' me. I was playing with her with the wand and giving her treats after. Like I said she is quite obsessed with food and tried to bully me into giving her more treats. I felt the mood change and she stalked me and her eyes fixed on my hands then ankles. I calmly said 'I won't play if you don't behave Marisa' and left the room. Since I've stopped giving treats after play, she won't play anymore.
Anyhow, I hope you get the gist of where I'm coming from and give me a bit of encouragement.
I so loved both my havanas, we were best buddies. It took me 5 years to get another cat after the loss of my last fella and I feel quite sad that I may never have that close relationship with Marisa.
Thank you everybody
Roll on tomorrow morning! 
but I'm so looking forward to tomorrow and am going to try and get another scritch in with her today if I can! 
