Confusion About Penny

[bobbie sue]

 

I find myself in a quandary presently.  Prior to 3 months and 2 days ago, I had made the decision that it would not be good idea to have any cats at this time.  Of course, that was before my son saw Penny being dropped off by car right near him when he was taking a walk one late evening exactly 3 months and 2 days ago.  When my son told us I went out to look at her and immediately, almost without thinking, scooped her up and brought her into our apartment.  The rest is history.
 
The next day when we brought her to the vet, he treated a bad wound on her hip .... a bite he said... as well as scratches on her nose.  She had slimy gook on both ears which he thoroughly treated and her white fur (she is black and white and my avatar) was nearly grey from dirt.  She suffered from severe anemia and he could not perform the spay since it would jeopardize her health so we had to build her up and we waited a month until the surgery could be performed.   Since I had not wanted a cat at this time we immediately contact ONLY "no kill" shelters but hey were completely full (no surprise actually) and could not take her.  We did find one, however, but they said they would prefer it if she would be spayed and given all the necessary shots.  
 
My uncertainty/confusion/hesitation now is whether to have her adopted through this shelter who has been in touch with me since they are caring people.  After all the necessary research, I am 100 per cent certain they are a "no kill" shelter whose primary goal is adoption to appropriate homes.   She is a bit snappish at times and tonight for no apparent reason when I was petting her, she quickly turned around,  jumped at me and scratched my hand which bled.  The reason she behaves like this is not that difficult to determine since when we first took her to a vet, he surmised that she is "semi-feral" and that someone most likely was feeding her when she happened in front of their door (a private home) but when they sold their home or for some similar reason, they didn't want her appearing there from time to time.  He guesses that someone must have placed her in a car to drive her several miles away and then let her off.  Sounds plausible to me.  Then again, perhaps it is because she was bitten and the people were fearful of having her around.  She follows me around all the time and when she appears to be needy, she is affectionate and welcomes petting there are other times when her mood can quickly turn and she can swat you with some degree of aggression and snap at you if you pet her too much or try to remove her from an area she doesn't wish to be removed from.  She is certainly not vicious but there are times whe she seems not to welcome attention and clearly demonstrates this and for some unknown reason, she seems to want to snap and reach out to scratch my son and this, understandably, disturbs me.  If anything... one day he might have to be her guardian.  I am sooooo confused as to what to do since she is not really a "perfect fit" shall we say for our apartment. We have an apartment and she does have a limited amount of space in which to go.  I can imagine that having been a former street cat and having access to the great outdoors (and not faring at all well outside as was demonstrated by her scratched up nose and bad wound on her hip)  she would thrive and be happy ideally in a home with a back yard where she can expend all her energy.  We do use the cat wand and another such wand and she does love that.  However, she knows what closet we keep that in and is constantly looking for it so much that she has forsaken all her other toys for the time being.  It seems she gets bored easily (and I do have a lot of toys for her) and she does climb on some of the furniture which is OK but entertaining her at times seems endless.  

 

If and when I make the determination to keep Penny with us permanently I will continue to consider adopting another cat (kitten preferably)  so hopefully they will in time become friends and she will not be lonely as I feel she may possibly be.  She must have had a group of cats she interacted with as well so that is why this entire situation is so difficult for me at this point.  Over the period of these past 3 months, I have become very fond and attached to her and that is what makes the decision so very difficult.  I want the very best for her and so often the thought of giving her up is too difficult to comprehend but I don't understand her unpredictability at times and since she has sharp claws, I do not want to be at the receiving end nor do I want my husband and son to either.  

 

I just wonder why she becomes so snappish at times and will scratch when my husband, son and I have given her no reason at all to be defensive??  I think it has much to do with the period of time in which socialization occurs which she missed out on.... that wonderful bonding period between humans and felines.... and also coupled with the fact that she most likely spent most of her approximately 10 months or more roaming the mean streets.  The phrase "you have to watch your back" certainly rang true when we saw that nasty bite on her hip from another animal.  I just wonder whether it is possible for her not to be so unpredictable, defensive at times and strike out at us for no apparent reason.  I try to do my best with Penny and am certainly no stranger to living with cats as we had our others for 20 and 15 years respectively.   When will she learn to develop trust?  Will she ever?  

Do other here have cats who strike and scratch at them for no apparent reason.  Of course, many here have adopted their cats very early on and so they were socialized but I suppose I am putting this question to those who have adopted semi-feral cats?  Do they also experience episodes of their cats suddenly scratching and/or attempting to nip (not love nip) for no apparent reason at that moment?

 

Thank you for having the patience to read this lengthy post and I welcome any comments you wish to make.    

 

[banbury]

Does Penny's aggression come out mainly when people are giving her attention? Or is she lashing out when people pass her by or sit by her without trying to touch her?

I've seen a lot of cats that are considered "high arousal" and generally like people but just get so overstimulated that they react by biting, scratching, or just generally lashing out at the person giving them attention. With these cats, the most important thing is to understand what their threshold is but also understanding that it change; maybe three pats at a time one day, maybe three minutes at a time the next day. These cats can usually be managed very well in a home, but they usually want attention on their terms and let you know whether or not they find being petted at that moment acceptable. 

 

[margd]

It is hard to know if Penny scratches because of her history, or just because scratching when they don't want attention is what cats do.  Perhaps it is a combination of the two.  Some cats are easily stimulated and will suddenly push out the claws and give a warning swipe when they have had enough.  They usually do give some warning signs that they are uncomfortable before swiping, although sometimes the warnings are extremely brief.  Watch out for a slight tightening of muscles, a slowly twitching tail tip, and the eyes dilating.  With time, it is possible to internalize these warning signals so that the person irritating the cat stops doing so without even really thinking about it.  It does take awhile, though, and since every cat doesn't provide warning signals, this isn't always a solution. 

Are you finding that she sometimes lunges at you even when you are not paying any attention to her at all?  That is a much more difficult situation to control.  She may remain defensive for her entire life or become less so as she grows older and as she grows more accustomed to your home. 

When you worry about her need for entertainment being a problem, I can understand what you are experiencing.  My own Chula is constantly begging for me to play with her, and like Penny, she's after wand toy interaction.  Despite playing with her several times a day, there are still times when she prowls about the apartment, obviously bored.  Chula even has her brother Paul to play with but he is a lazy bone who would rather lie in the sun and who rejects her efforts to get him up and moving.  It is only natural to watch an obviously bored kitty and wonder if he or she is a good fit in your home.  You must evaluate all the other aspects of your kitty's home with you to really decide that.

There are things you can do to help with the boredom.  Bird feeders outside the window are an excellent form of entertainment.  A good cat tree with multiple levels and hidey holes combined with dangling ropes can help with boredom.   Showing nature videos on the TV keeps many a cat glued to the screen.  Look at your apartment and consider how you can make it more interesting from a cat's point of view.  Be sure your kitty has plenty of vertical space (like a cat tree), places to lurk and explore (little covered spaces around the apartment), interesting surfaces to scratch and touch (scratching posts) and interesting things to watch (like the above mentioned bird feeders and nature videos.) 

It is really hard to know what to advise with respect to the no-kill rescue.  You are very lucky to have found one that will take Penny and it sounds like they will indeed find Penny a good home.   That might take time, however, so in the meantime, Penny will need to be fostered.  You might consider signing up as a foster parent and taking Penny on as your first foster.  That will give you more time to decide while keeping the option of finding her a home that fits her a bit better.

Good luck.  I don't envy you your decision.  It is so easy to fall in love with these rascals even when they cause trouble.  I hope you find a good solution.