Hi,
I've just adopted a shelter cat, and I have some questions about the cat's behavioiur.
I'll tell you about both the cat and I, so that you can help me to modify any of my behavior that might be contributing to our problems.
I brought it home two days ago. I'm a guy, and live alone in a 2100' house. The cat has free access to everything but the master closet and back bedrooms (I keep the doors closed to reduce heat/air costs). The flooring in that part of the house that the cat can get to is entirely tile and wood. I placed a litter box in the laundry room, and food/water bowls in the kitchen. I left her in the laundry room while I was at work on day two but, when I came home, I found her crouched down in the litter box (it's the type with a roof) as though she was frightened. I was worried that the confinement may have bothered her, so today I left her out, and she had the run of the house. I can tell she did some exploring.
I haven't had a cat since I was a kid, but I've spoken of adoption with friends that are cat lovers, and have considered adoption for 6 months or so. I'm definitely a novice.
I'd rather have a dog, but a cat is more appropriate at the moment. I have no other pets.
BTW, I understand the differences between cats and dogs. I have different expectations of a cat than I would of a dog. I'm looking for a companion that has minimal potential for destruction, is at least occasionally affectionate, and somewhat animated (which must be weighed against the potential for destruction that animation can create). I'd like a mellow cat, one that likes to play and hang-out on occasion, but I understand that cat's are generally much more independant than dogs. I accept that a cat will follow it's own timetable: it will hang out when it wants to, and then might wander off to do it's own thing for awhile. No problem with that.
On to the cat: It was in the shelter for quite some time, at least since January of this year. I found out accidentally that it had been adopted beginnning in early February of this year (I found the adoption paperwork among the documentation the shelter gave me). The folks at the shelter didn't mention the adoption, or the reason for the return. I'm a bit bothered by that, and wonder if they were trying to hide something, but it's a reputeable place and I think they would do their best to be honest about a potential pet. One person at the shelter told me it was about 18 months old but the paperwork specifies 4 years.
The Good:
It's a very nice and sweet-tempered cat: it doesn't bite or nip at all. It's a female, and has been spayed and declawed (it came declawed from the shelter). It loves to sit on my lap or chest while being petted and is content to stay for as long as I'm sitting/reclining, purring away all the while. Her coat appears to be in good shape: it's not ragged at all. She took to the litterbox right away and has used it exclusively. She seems to be eating fine, although I'm not sure how much a cat should be eating. She is definitely eating regularly, as her stool attests (I'm trying to keep the litterbox as clean as possible so she will feel comfortable using it). She also jumps up on the bed at night and sleeps next to me, and is there in the morning when I awake.
The (Possible) Mistakes:
I made two, both right away:
First, I decided I didn't want her to lay on the couch. She almost immediately did so, while I was sitting in my chair watching TV. I had a spray bottle ready, and gave her a small spray while firmly, but not loudly, saying "no!", It took three or four iterations (the last time I merely said "No!" while reaching for the bottle and she jetted off to the bedroom). I don't believe that she has been back on the couch, at least not while I've been home.
Second, she has a curious habit of standing on my chest and poking her head into my face while I pet her. I didn't care for the behaviour, so I began to say firmly, but not loudly, "No!" when she did it. I also stopped petting her for 30-60 seconds. I'm concerned that this has somehow bothered her, so I've stopped.
Now the problems:
Keep in mind that the following describes her behaviour after I made the mistakes I mentioned above. I wasn't really around her long enough to establish just what her intial behaviour patterns were. Yes, I've put the water bottle away: I'm not convinced, as some here preach, that a spraying is inapproprite for every cat, but I do suspect that the spray bottle somehow traumatized my cat. If so, I won't use it on her again.
When she is laying on me she seems supremely content, and does not attempt to move away, however she seems afraid of me when I try to collect her to put her somewhere, or even when I'm walking around the house. She lays on top of the bed and only seems to come out of the bedroom to go to the litterbox or the food bowl. She doesn't even come out when I return home after being gone all day. I thought that I'd try to enliven her so I put her in the living room and shut the bedroom door. That might have been another mistake: she didn't want to be in the living room, or anwhere else out in the open, I suppose: she found the tightest cracks to fit into, and stayed there. Keep in mind that the floors are tile and hardwood, relatively undesireable by cat standards. When I finally went to collect her, to remind her of where some padding was (I bought her a pillow and put it in the Living Room) she ran away from me. I finally caught her, and was as gentle as I could be, but it seemed that she was fairly frightened. She mewled a bit, like a kitten. I gave up and opened the door to the bedroom and put her back on the bed, where she has been ever since. I mean that literally: besides the afore-mentioned litterbox/food/water visits, she hasn't left the bed. What's so incongruous is that she will run away from me and will seem frightened when I finally collect her (which I can understand) but will immediately revert to a perfectly contented animal if I sit down with her and begin to pet her. What is she afraid of? How can she be so afraid one second and perfectly content the next, all becuase of the same person?
Another oddity: if I approach her while she's laying on the bed she seems fine. She doesn't try to run away.
Here are some other behaviours:
When being petted she almost always 'kneads' with her front paws. It almost reminds me of a nervous habit, but she's purring, and seems completely content, and makes absolutely no attempt to move away. If I stop petting her she actually nudges/rubs to get it started again.
She hasn't jumped up onto things much, beyond the intial exploration of the house, which she really seemed to enjoy. She seems healthy to me, but there are some rough spots on her skin, beneather her coat. I have no idea what they are, but I can tell that her skin isn't completely smooth, although whatever it is doesn't seem to affect her coat in that area.
She's only really meowed once, although she purrs all the time during petting, and occasinally mewls. For instance, I heard her walking from the bedroom to the litterbox while writing this in the study. I called to her and she mewled and went right back to the bedroom.
She doesn't seem playfull at all, not even with one of those catnip toys. She will bat at my hand when I put it under the covers and grab at her paw, but I'm not sure if that's playing or if she's irritated, and I don't want to stress her, so I've stopped doing that.
I attribute some of these issues to the stress of her time at the shelter and the newness of her surroundings and me. Perhaps that's the cause of all of these issues? Maybe she'll be fine in a week or so, and all I need to do is leave her alone and let her find her own way (which is what I'm doing now)
BTW, she had her battery of shots in January.
I really want to keep this cat. I hope that you can help the two of us out.
Thanks
I've just adopted a shelter cat, and I have some questions about the cat's behavioiur.
I'll tell you about both the cat and I, so that you can help me to modify any of my behavior that might be contributing to our problems.
I brought it home two days ago. I'm a guy, and live alone in a 2100' house. The cat has free access to everything but the master closet and back bedrooms (I keep the doors closed to reduce heat/air costs). The flooring in that part of the house that the cat can get to is entirely tile and wood. I placed a litter box in the laundry room, and food/water bowls in the kitchen. I left her in the laundry room while I was at work on day two but, when I came home, I found her crouched down in the litter box (it's the type with a roof) as though she was frightened. I was worried that the confinement may have bothered her, so today I left her out, and she had the run of the house. I can tell she did some exploring.
I haven't had a cat since I was a kid, but I've spoken of adoption with friends that are cat lovers, and have considered adoption for 6 months or so. I'm definitely a novice.
I'd rather have a dog, but a cat is more appropriate at the moment. I have no other pets.
BTW, I understand the differences between cats and dogs. I have different expectations of a cat than I would of a dog. I'm looking for a companion that has minimal potential for destruction, is at least occasionally affectionate, and somewhat animated (which must be weighed against the potential for destruction that animation can create). I'd like a mellow cat, one that likes to play and hang-out on occasion, but I understand that cat's are generally much more independant than dogs. I accept that a cat will follow it's own timetable: it will hang out when it wants to, and then might wander off to do it's own thing for awhile. No problem with that.
On to the cat: It was in the shelter for quite some time, at least since January of this year. I found out accidentally that it had been adopted beginnning in early February of this year (I found the adoption paperwork among the documentation the shelter gave me). The folks at the shelter didn't mention the adoption, or the reason for the return. I'm a bit bothered by that, and wonder if they were trying to hide something, but it's a reputeable place and I think they would do their best to be honest about a potential pet. One person at the shelter told me it was about 18 months old but the paperwork specifies 4 years.
The Good:
It's a very nice and sweet-tempered cat: it doesn't bite or nip at all. It's a female, and has been spayed and declawed (it came declawed from the shelter). It loves to sit on my lap or chest while being petted and is content to stay for as long as I'm sitting/reclining, purring away all the while. Her coat appears to be in good shape: it's not ragged at all. She took to the litterbox right away and has used it exclusively. She seems to be eating fine, although I'm not sure how much a cat should be eating. She is definitely eating regularly, as her stool attests (I'm trying to keep the litterbox as clean as possible so she will feel comfortable using it). She also jumps up on the bed at night and sleeps next to me, and is there in the morning when I awake.
The (Possible) Mistakes:
I made two, both right away:
First, I decided I didn't want her to lay on the couch. She almost immediately did so, while I was sitting in my chair watching TV. I had a spray bottle ready, and gave her a small spray while firmly, but not loudly, saying "no!", It took three or four iterations (the last time I merely said "No!" while reaching for the bottle and she jetted off to the bedroom). I don't believe that she has been back on the couch, at least not while I've been home.
Second, she has a curious habit of standing on my chest and poking her head into my face while I pet her. I didn't care for the behaviour, so I began to say firmly, but not loudly, "No!" when she did it. I also stopped petting her for 30-60 seconds. I'm concerned that this has somehow bothered her, so I've stopped.
Now the problems:
Keep in mind that the following describes her behaviour after I made the mistakes I mentioned above. I wasn't really around her long enough to establish just what her intial behaviour patterns were. Yes, I've put the water bottle away: I'm not convinced, as some here preach, that a spraying is inapproprite for every cat, but I do suspect that the spray bottle somehow traumatized my cat. If so, I won't use it on her again.
When she is laying on me she seems supremely content, and does not attempt to move away, however she seems afraid of me when I try to collect her to put her somewhere, or even when I'm walking around the house. She lays on top of the bed and only seems to come out of the bedroom to go to the litterbox or the food bowl. She doesn't even come out when I return home after being gone all day. I thought that I'd try to enliven her so I put her in the living room and shut the bedroom door. That might have been another mistake: she didn't want to be in the living room, or anwhere else out in the open, I suppose: she found the tightest cracks to fit into, and stayed there. Keep in mind that the floors are tile and hardwood, relatively undesireable by cat standards. When I finally went to collect her, to remind her of where some padding was (I bought her a pillow and put it in the Living Room) she ran away from me. I finally caught her, and was as gentle as I could be, but it seemed that she was fairly frightened. She mewled a bit, like a kitten. I gave up and opened the door to the bedroom and put her back on the bed, where she has been ever since. I mean that literally: besides the afore-mentioned litterbox/food/water visits, she hasn't left the bed. What's so incongruous is that she will run away from me and will seem frightened when I finally collect her (which I can understand) but will immediately revert to a perfectly contented animal if I sit down with her and begin to pet her. What is she afraid of? How can she be so afraid one second and perfectly content the next, all becuase of the same person?
Another oddity: if I approach her while she's laying on the bed she seems fine. She doesn't try to run away.
Here are some other behaviours:
When being petted she almost always 'kneads' with her front paws. It almost reminds me of a nervous habit, but she's purring, and seems completely content, and makes absolutely no attempt to move away. If I stop petting her she actually nudges/rubs to get it started again.
She hasn't jumped up onto things much, beyond the intial exploration of the house, which she really seemed to enjoy. She seems healthy to me, but there are some rough spots on her skin, beneather her coat. I have no idea what they are, but I can tell that her skin isn't completely smooth, although whatever it is doesn't seem to affect her coat in that area.
She's only really meowed once, although she purrs all the time during petting, and occasinally mewls. For instance, I heard her walking from the bedroom to the litterbox while writing this in the study. I called to her and she mewled and went right back to the bedroom.
She doesn't seem playfull at all, not even with one of those catnip toys. She will bat at my hand when I put it under the covers and grab at her paw, but I'm not sure if that's playing or if she's irritated, and I don't want to stress her, so I've stopped doing that.
I attribute some of these issues to the stress of her time at the shelter and the newness of her surroundings and me. Perhaps that's the cause of all of these issues? Maybe she'll be fine in a week or so, and all I need to do is leave her alone and let her find her own way (which is what I'm doing now)
BTW, she had her battery of shots in January.
I really want to keep this cat. I hope that you can help the two of us out.
Thanks
