i adopted Sassy about 2 1/2 yrs ago. she was 7 months old at the time. she lived with an older couple during that time.
since the day i brought her home, she seems to dislike my daughter, Lana. for 3+ months i did what i could to get Lana to do things that i know she should do to gain Sassy's trust. nothing seemed to work. when i say NOTHING, i mean it. Sassy wanted NOTHING to do with Lana. she didn't want to play with Lana. she didn't want Lana to even be in the same room. she didn't want Lana around her food. etc.. i ended up just telling Lana to stop paying attention to Sassy at all. i told her that the only way Sassy would START bring nice was when she was ready to do the things i knew would help Sassy feel better around her...but you can only tell a 7-8 yr old so many times before giving up.
i think that one thing may be key here....Lana has ADHD, and does not have the patience to do the things i tell her Sassy needs from her. she is not a consistent type of child. she is wild herself and yells a lot and gets in trouble a lot. i am sure those things have a lot to do with how Sassy reacts to Lana. it still isn't fair to Lana to have to get scratched for no reason. since it has been so long since i brought her home. although, Sassy doesn't do hurt Lana everyday like before. it happens randomly, maybe 1-2 times a week, but still it's not right.
let me just add that i did NOT know the correct way of introducing animals into a new home with another animal living there already. i am not sure if that may have anything to do with Sassy's behavior STILL. She and Bella still do not get along. they pretty much stay clear of each other.
Sassy DID swat at my face at first too. and my husbands. randomly too. i could be sitting there doing nothing while cuddling with Sassy and all of a sudden i would get a claw in my face. of course it pissed us off. she did stop swatting my face maybe after about 2-4 months. she stopped doing it to my husband a couple months after that.
i actually was so upset about it at one point that i was ready to give Sassy away. my husband KNEW how attached i was to Sassy, and vice versa, even after the first couple of weeks of bringing Sassy home. my husband talked me out of it. he said that it will take more than a few months for her to adjust to us. I KNEW THAT! i was just looking at the safety of our daughter and her face. i didn't want Sassy to stay if she was not going to be able to stop hurting our child.
sometimes Sassy would only hiss and run. mostly swat and run (sometimes with claws out and sometimes retracted). either way...it still drives me nuts that my daughter gets swatted and bleeds and cries because of Sassy's unknown reasoning.
examples.......
when Sassy first came into our home....Lana would be sitting on the couch watching tv..minding her own business..then comes along a Sassy who quickly sat beside her and smacked her in the face with her claws out.
Lana has had multiple scratches from Sassy in the same day even.
a few months after having Sassy....Lana was getting dry food to put in the cats bowls. she bent down to scoop the food from the bag and Sassy quickly swatted and scratched Lana in the face.
and just about 30 minutes ago.....Lana was playing with Ivee in the living room. Sassy was sitting with me. when Lana got up from the floor to walk out of the living room, Sassy jumped up and swatted Lana's leg. she did draw blood too.
in the beginning it was always in Lana's face. then it was anywhere Sassy could make contact, but still in the face too. now, as of 6+ months, it seems to be anywhere she can make contact.
i would love to try any new way/s to possibly resolve this. for both Sassy and Lana's sake.
like i mentioned above. i can't get Lana to be consistent. so maybe this is just not going to be a battle worth fighting?
honestly, I WANT to try more things so that possibly Sassy will STOP feeling that she needs to hurt Lana..but i know Lana wouldn't care if Sassy played with her or not. Lana has Bella, and Ivee now. BUT....is there a way to get Sassy to just leave Lana alone?
since the day i brought her home, she seems to dislike my daughter, Lana. for 3+ months i did what i could to get Lana to do things that i know she should do to gain Sassy's trust. nothing seemed to work. when i say NOTHING, i mean it. Sassy wanted NOTHING to do with Lana. she didn't want to play with Lana. she didn't want Lana to even be in the same room. she didn't want Lana around her food. etc.. i ended up just telling Lana to stop paying attention to Sassy at all. i told her that the only way Sassy would START bring nice was when she was ready to do the things i knew would help Sassy feel better around her...but you can only tell a 7-8 yr old so many times before giving up.
i think that one thing may be key here....Lana has ADHD, and does not have the patience to do the things i tell her Sassy needs from her. she is not a consistent type of child. she is wild herself and yells a lot and gets in trouble a lot. i am sure those things have a lot to do with how Sassy reacts to Lana. it still isn't fair to Lana to have to get scratched for no reason. since it has been so long since i brought her home. although, Sassy doesn't do hurt Lana everyday like before. it happens randomly, maybe 1-2 times a week, but still it's not right.
let me just add that i did NOT know the correct way of introducing animals into a new home with another animal living there already. i am not sure if that may have anything to do with Sassy's behavior STILL. She and Bella still do not get along. they pretty much stay clear of each other.
Sassy DID swat at my face at first too. and my husbands. randomly too. i could be sitting there doing nothing while cuddling with Sassy and all of a sudden i would get a claw in my face. of course it pissed us off. she did stop swatting my face maybe after about 2-4 months. she stopped doing it to my husband a couple months after that.
i actually was so upset about it at one point that i was ready to give Sassy away. my husband KNEW how attached i was to Sassy, and vice versa, even after the first couple of weeks of bringing Sassy home. my husband talked me out of it. he said that it will take more than a few months for her to adjust to us. I KNEW THAT! i was just looking at the safety of our daughter and her face. i didn't want Sassy to stay if she was not going to be able to stop hurting our child.
sometimes Sassy would only hiss and run. mostly swat and run (sometimes with claws out and sometimes retracted). either way...it still drives me nuts that my daughter gets swatted and bleeds and cries because of Sassy's unknown reasoning.
examples.......
when Sassy first came into our home....Lana would be sitting on the couch watching tv..minding her own business..then comes along a Sassy who quickly sat beside her and smacked her in the face with her claws out.
Lana has had multiple scratches from Sassy in the same day even.
a few months after having Sassy....Lana was getting dry food to put in the cats bowls. she bent down to scoop the food from the bag and Sassy quickly swatted and scratched Lana in the face.
and just about 30 minutes ago.....Lana was playing with Ivee in the living room. Sassy was sitting with me. when Lana got up from the floor to walk out of the living room, Sassy jumped up and swatted Lana's leg. she did draw blood too.
in the beginning it was always in Lana's face. then it was anywhere Sassy could make contact, but still in the face too. now, as of 6+ months, it seems to be anywhere she can make contact.
i would love to try any new way/s to possibly resolve this. for both Sassy and Lana's sake.
like i mentioned above. i can't get Lana to be consistent. so maybe this is just not going to be a battle worth fighting?
honestly, I WANT to try more things so that possibly Sassy will STOP feeling that she needs to hurt Lana..but i know Lana wouldn't care if Sassy played with her or not. Lana has Bella, and Ivee now. BUT....is there a way to get Sassy to just leave Lana alone?
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