Hello All,
I'm looking for some advice regarding socialising a young female cat.
First some background. My wife and I have had cats living with us for the last 20 years, we don't have children (by choice) and so they and our dog are our family. We currently have 5 cats which over the years seems to be the best number for us in terms of being able to give each of them the attention they deserve. We have 2 older cats, one male (17), one female (15) and 3 younger cats, 2 males and a female all about 3 years old.
About 2 years ago we lost a young female cat. We had acquired her and a young tom cat from the same rescue organisation as kittens and they had really bonded. The young tom took the loss of his "sister" badly and drove us and the 2 older cats to distraction; yowling through the night and wanting to play with the older cats who were not very impressed. So, we went to a rescue shelter and found another young tomcat about his age. The new arrival bonded well with his new "brother" and with the rest of the family and has been a great success.
All was well, except that when I went to the shelter I saw a young tabby female who was hiding at the back of an igloo type cat bed. The woman running the shelter explained she had been rescued from a house with a large number of other cats and had never been socialized. This meant that she was very wary of strangers and would hiss and lash out at anyone who went near her. The woman explained that the best she could do for her was place her on a farm and that she was arranging for this once she had recovered from being spayed. Well, this little cat was on my mind for most of the following month and so eventually we decided that maybe we could give her a better life and found she was still available.
Nearly two years on I think we made the right decision in that she has bonded with the other cats and the dog, and is almost inseperable from one of the young toms; they go everywhere together, play with toys together and even sleep together on a little hammock with their paws wrapped around each other... cute or what?
The only thing that worries us is that she still is very wary of us. She will appear as if by magic if the fridge door is opened and will accept treats like pieces of cooked chicken from our hands, but usually tries to make you drop it by batting your hand with her paw (she does keep her claws sheathed though), and always remembers to hiss after she has the treat. If we try to touch her she hisses and backs off. The only way we can get hold of her to take to the vets or replace a collar etc. is to corner her and cover her with a blanket. We try to keep this to a minimum because it obviously stresses her a lot.
We're happy that she has a better life than what she might have had and we wouldn't be without her for anything, but I was wondering if there is anything you can suggest that might help her to accept us a little more? I often wonder what is going on in her little head when she the other cats jumping on our laps and wanting petting?
Sorry for the rambling post, but all advice and suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Thanks, S
I'm looking for some advice regarding socialising a young female cat.
First some background. My wife and I have had cats living with us for the last 20 years, we don't have children (by choice) and so they and our dog are our family. We currently have 5 cats which over the years seems to be the best number for us in terms of being able to give each of them the attention they deserve. We have 2 older cats, one male (17), one female (15) and 3 younger cats, 2 males and a female all about 3 years old.
About 2 years ago we lost a young female cat. We had acquired her and a young tom cat from the same rescue organisation as kittens and they had really bonded. The young tom took the loss of his "sister" badly and drove us and the 2 older cats to distraction; yowling through the night and wanting to play with the older cats who were not very impressed. So, we went to a rescue shelter and found another young tomcat about his age. The new arrival bonded well with his new "brother" and with the rest of the family and has been a great success.
All was well, except that when I went to the shelter I saw a young tabby female who was hiding at the back of an igloo type cat bed. The woman running the shelter explained she had been rescued from a house with a large number of other cats and had never been socialized. This meant that she was very wary of strangers and would hiss and lash out at anyone who went near her. The woman explained that the best she could do for her was place her on a farm and that she was arranging for this once she had recovered from being spayed. Well, this little cat was on my mind for most of the following month and so eventually we decided that maybe we could give her a better life and found she was still available.
Nearly two years on I think we made the right decision in that she has bonded with the other cats and the dog, and is almost inseperable from one of the young toms; they go everywhere together, play with toys together and even sleep together on a little hammock with their paws wrapped around each other... cute or what?
The only thing that worries us is that she still is very wary of us. She will appear as if by magic if the fridge door is opened and will accept treats like pieces of cooked chicken from our hands, but usually tries to make you drop it by batting your hand with her paw (she does keep her claws sheathed though), and always remembers to hiss after she has the treat. If we try to touch her she hisses and backs off. The only way we can get hold of her to take to the vets or replace a collar etc. is to corner her and cover her with a blanket. We try to keep this to a minimum because it obviously stresses her a lot.
We're happy that she has a better life than what she might have had and we wouldn't be without her for anything, but I was wondering if there is anything you can suggest that might help her to accept us a little more? I often wonder what is going on in her little head when she the other cats jumping on our laps and wanting petting?
Sorry for the rambling post, but all advice and suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Thanks, S