- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #21
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back to fostering
- Thread starter raeharris
- Start Date
This is good news! Baby steps, some forward and some back. But sooner or later, she'll be integrated.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #23
Yeah, she's not that interested in petting today. We did some play and I got her to look up with the toy, at which point you could see the discovery in her eyes, her posture, the sniffing... she discovered that there are cool things up that cat tree, she didn't venture, but she REALLY thought about it.
She's a sweetheart. You're doing really well with her.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #25
What are the next steps? I'm partly ranting, because the shelter gave me 30 days. I'm ten days in and she's come along pretty well. Yes, some regression, she won't let us pet her and is not so interested in playing with toys. She isn't hiding in a hole even though she has one available.
We got her comfortable in going up 2/3 levels of the cat tree, but she gets lower when we enter. She did in the window and has ventured to sleep on the bed.
I've discovered she likes plastic cups, so I put her food in it and let her roll it around so she's at least getting movement even though the play had stopped.
Any suggestions? Do you think she's still moving forward even though she's moved back a little?
Our pets could kinda care less that shes here, is there a point where we should give her more space? There are lots of places to hide if I did and that could make any one on one time hard. How would I know when to give her more space?
We got her comfortable in going up 2/3 levels of the cat tree, but she gets lower when we enter. She did in the window and has ventured to sleep on the bed.
I've discovered she likes plastic cups, so I put her food in it and let her roll it around so she's at least getting movement even though the play had stopped.
Any suggestions? Do you think she's still moving forward even though she's moved back a little?
Our pets could kinda care less that shes here, is there a point where we should give her more space? There are lots of places to hide if I did and that could make any one on one time hard. How would I know when to give her more space?
I think you should keep her in one room for now. It's her safe place, when she feels really confident there and doesn't hide when you come into the room you can think about letting her explore the rest of the house. If you let her out now and she found a hiding place that you couldn't get her out of you'd be stuck.
Maybe some different toys would help. What about one of those puzzle feeders if she like playing with her plastic cups. Have you tried toys with catnip in them? My cats all go crazy for toys made from real feathers, have you tried anything like that?
Maybe some different toys would help. What about one of those puzzle feeders if she like playing with her plastic cups. Have you tried toys with catnip in them? My cats all go crazy for toys made from real feathers, have you tried anything like that?
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- #27
She could definitely use a puzzle feeder. As far as the other toys, feather wands, soft mice, balls (silent and noisy) we even have ones that make natural animal sound. And I bought fresh cat nip thinking ours was getting a little less stinky.
I'm going to try a dog training trick and store some toys with her dry cat food instead of cat nip.
I'm going to try a dog training trick and store some toys with her dry cat food instead of cat nip.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #28
Well... there is progress. She began greeting at the door, so I leave open now most of the time. She plays like a fiend. She still reverts to staying at the bottom of the cat tree most of the time. As friendly and sweet as she seems, greeting, talking, playing, her new found freedom and adventure means we can't touch her. She seems to be afraid of hands now. No trauma on our part and we're not forcing the issue, but she backs off and moves away from our hands with a serious body language of don't touch me. She's not hissing or swatting. (Not afraid of feet, faces, full body movement, just the hand) so if you recall she allowed petting at the shelter and when she first arrived. any thoughts?
Some cats don't like hands if they can see them coming. To a cat, an outstretched human hand looks like a paw with claws extended, coming to scratch them. There are two things you could try.
Keep your hand balled up loosely into a fist close to your side. This looks more like another cats head, coming for a friendly head but.
When she is close to your fist extend your arms slowly in her direction, just about 10 cm at first and see how she reacts. She might not respond at first, but with a bit of patience she should eventually start rubbing against it.
Don't pet her unless she's looking at something else. A wand toy or a treat are good ways of distracting her. I give them a treat with one hand and then when they put their head down to eat I gently stroke their back from the shoulders to the base of their tail. Keep it brief at first. Is she looks worried or backs away stop, give her a few minutes to forget about it then try again.
My cat Albert still only lets me pet him this way. I've had him for over a year but he was a very skittish feral and this is as much as he is comfortable with.
Glad to hear she is making progress
Keep your hand balled up loosely into a fist close to your side. This looks more like another cats head, coming for a friendly head but.
Don't pet her unless she's looking at something else. A wand toy or a treat are good ways of distracting her. I give them a treat with one hand and then when they put their head down to eat I gently stroke their back from the shoulders to the base of their tail. Keep it brief at first. Is she looks worried or backs away stop, give her a few minutes to forget about it then try again.
My cat Albert still only lets me pet him this way. I've had him for over a year but he was a very skittish feral and this is as much as he is comfortable with.
Glad to hear she is making progress
