Impossible Cat

[msaimee]

Mia is very fortunate that when I took her into my home that I did not have stipulations for keeping her. She had a bad reaction to the spay surgery and anesthesia, and had temporary organ damage. I had to hand feed her with a syringe for about a month. Then I took her back to the vet and they discovered there was a bullet lodged in her pelvis, and that her leg had shattered and healed from the gun shot wound, but had healed crooked, so she would always be a little lame. She is not an outwardly affectionate cat, nor does she easily allow me to touch her or pick her up. However, she loves to play with the wand toy with me. She seems happy to be alive and to be cared for and have a safe home. And I am able to get her to a vet when I need to, but it is not easily done because she is very skittish. But had I not taken her into my home four years ago, she would have died by now. She would not have survived in the wild with her injury. Loving Mia has made me a better person because I have learned to let go of expectations and just love freely and give freely. With both cats and people, sometimes we need to just love and accept them even with their limitations and hope they do the same for us.

With regard to sometimes speaking above a whisper, you need to understand that the relationship I have with my five rescued cats is very deep and strong, and they do in fact view me as a human mother. So when my alpha male cat tries to pick on one of the others and I raise my voice and say his name, he retreats. Then he jumps on my lap and 6 positive attention and all is well. Relationship is everything.

 

[susieqz]

can cats learn 'no''?
dogs do n it's very convenient.

for that matter, can they learn much of a vocabulary?
i've known dogs that knew dozens of words.

drifter comes to call, but i don't know if she comes to ''suppertime, kitty''
or just me shouting loud.
i can't say that quietly, because she isn't always close.

i know drifter understands stuff.
she has observed my actions n understands i'm no threat.
yeah, she runs when i'm walking at her, but there is no fear in her run.
she knows my touch is nice, but that doesn't mean she will decide to let me
do any specific thing.
that study they did about dogs was hilarious.
they wanted to find out if dogs make decisions.
talk about a stupid waste of taxpayer money.

i bet she will decide to let me pick her up, sooner or later.
i guess scientists won't believe me, but i know what i have is a happy cat.

 

[orange&white]

Yes, I think there is genetic memory. There is quite a bit written about how cats were tamed.

Here's an excerpt from an interesting article:

"The ordinary house cat, best-known for its sleeping habits and hunting prowess, is smarter than its feral peers, according to scientists who have mapped the cat's genome. An analysis of the domestic cat genome suggests changes in genes associated with memory, fear-conditioning, and learning. Those genetic changes may reflect cat owners breeding tame animals over our 9,000 years of coexistence." Source: How the cat went domestic: by working smarter, not harder, genes suggest

I'd say that as quickly as yours and my ferals went from wild to fairly affectionate, they are two smart cookies.

 

[orange&white]

Cats do learn "no" and other words and phrases. Kit Kit took swipes at me with her claws out the first couple of times she let me pet her. I'm not one to raise my voice with my pets either, so I just looked at her and said, "Owwwohh, Kit Kit. That hurts me," in a soft 'you hurt my feelings' tone of voice. Within a couple days she stopped swiping at me. She'll put a paw up in the air and look me in the eyes, but not swipe. I just say, "No, Kit," and she puts her paw back down. Instead of swiping, she walks away if she's through with petting. She is a smart one.

 

[susieqz]

msa, you misunderstand my position.
there are no requirements that she must fulfill for me to tend her.
her very presence deters vermin.
that's why she is on the payroll.
shared affection is a big plus, but i do not demand this of her.
there are only requirements for her to come in my house.
if she can't fulfill those, she can have a good life outside,
i'm determined to keep her alive, but living in the house is not included in our
contract.
as i said, she is one happy cat, so eventually she will fit in.

 

[susieqz]

drifter once raised her paw, as if to swipe at me, but her claws were retracted.
i've decided never to play with her.
for both of us, all our touching is gentle.
play might make correction necessary n i prefer to avoid it.
my theory is, if 100% of our touching is gentle, at some point anything else will be unthinkable.

 

[susieqz]

orange, thanks for the fun article.
since i'm involved with a cat for the first time, i need to know everything there is to know about them.

 

[orange&white]

Yeah, I thought the line about cats and dogs was funny. Domesticating cats made them smarter; domesticating dogs made them dumber.

 

[orange&white]

orange, thanks for the fun article.
since i'm involved with a cat for the first time, i need to know everything there is to know about them.

I've always owned a cat or three, but I'm just learning about older feral cats this year, so I've been doing lots of reading.

 

[susieqz]

i consider us in the debt of both species.
dogs raised an alarm so our ancestors didn't get killed in their sleep.
cats made sure we had enow grain to live thru the winter.
city people are too far removed from the real world.
otherwise, they would understand that feral cats are valuable livestock.
they should be protected under law.
that's why i'm not a fan of tnr.
i don't think their number should be diminshed unless they outgrow the food supply.

 

[LeiLana80]

As to correction - and this strictly anecdotal - I've never found the need to raise my voice. Once they learn the word, "no," there's no reason ever to speak above a whisper.

I do think it also depends on the intelligence of the kitty! I have a big dumb cat (I talk about him often, as he is so very sweet), but he hardly even knows his name. When he is attempting to escape to the outdoors (or something else that is a
no-no), telling him "no" won't cut it. We have to stomp and be loud to scatter him away. The others know the tone of voice that goes along with the "no" and respond fairly well accordingly.

susieqz, have you ever even attempted to pick her up? You could always just try, from a sitting position. She may be weirdly okay with it. Some of mine prefer to be held upright (back legs on the arm, front legs on the other arm, in a kind of upright position), but two of mine love to be held on their back like big fat babies. My youngest won't allow anyone to hold him either, and we've had him since he was a kitten. He just refuses to be contained, haha!

As far as her eye... is the actual discharge red, or the eye skin itself? Is her third eyelid showing? One or both eyes?

 

[orange&white]

i consider us in the debt of both species.
dogs raised an alarm so our ancestors didn't get killed in their sleep.
cats made sure we had enow grain to live thru the winter.
city people are too far removed from the real world.
otherwise, they would understand that feral cats are valuable livestock.
they should be protected under law.
that's why i'm not a fan of tnr.
i don't think their number should be diminshed unless they outgrow the food supply.

You do have a very different perspective than urban people. When they built an apartment complex on a forest on one side of my back fence, then built condos on the open field on the other side, the feral problem exploded. People letting their intact cats in and out and the cats mated with the few ferals that were around. Now there are more cats than people who want to care for cats. Dozens more cats. Every year. Most of the kittens get killed before they're grown, but a few make it through to the next mating season. None seem to survive but a few short years. I never see "old familiar" ferals around.

That's a different scenario from your situation where you think you have the only cat within at least a one mile radius.

My parents were both raised farm/ranch and had similar views to yours. We would get a kitten, but mom didn't want animals in the house and dad didn't believe in spay/neuter. Most of our family cats disappeared within a year in the suburbs of a small city. They went roaming to find a mate, and/or someone else found them and raised them indoors.

From a rural, country standpoint, I understand your views. My grandmother had a cat who lived 22 years who went out and hunted all night and came inside during the day to sleep. She brought a dead prey "gift" to the doorstep for my grandmother every single day.

 

[maggiedemi]

My former ferals know several words. They know their names, dinner, treat. I use the word dinner for all their meals. Saying No and clapping my hands usually works when they are being bad. If they are doing something really dangerous, like biting electrical cords, then I use a bicycle type horn. They learn really quickly. They hate being picked up, but sometimes it has to be done, so I just use a blanket, towel, or shirt.

 

[susieqz]

the discharge from drifter's eyes is red n worrying.
i wish someone knew about that.

i sure won't have to trick her inside.
she knows when she is supposed to be fed n gets upset if i'm late.
a few days ago, after getting my stuff out for my morning reading, i was getting her food n she was right next to me, paws on the door sill.
i was late again this morn.
as i poured food into her bowl, there she was, inside the house, eating as i poured.
she would still be there if i hadn't moved the bowl to her regular place.
she isn't afraid of the house.
she sure isn't afraid of me.

 

[orange&white]

I may have missed it in an earlier post. I didn't see that Drifter's eyes were running.

Could be serious, but I have no personal experience with it. This article lists several possible causes: Reddish Brown Tears in Cats' Eyes

 

[maggiedemi]

If her eyes run clear, but then dry to a brownish crust, it could be feline herpes. My former feral cat has it. You could use Lysine powder for it in her food.

 

[susieqz]

thanks, guys. i worry about her, but she needs to calm down before she sees a vet.

I PICKED HER UP TODAY!
sorta.
see, our evening routine, after her getting caressed while eating, is for her to come close n stand or sit while i stroke her.
then she moves a few feet away to lie down, stretch, scratch, or groom. then i say something n she comes back for more petting.
well, it seemed silly that she had to move away to lie down.
this is our relaxing time.
i lie on some old couch cushions covered by a washable fleece.

so, as she walked by. i lifted her up a couple inches n moved her a foot or so. til she was touching me n shoved her down, so we could lie together, like she was a normal cat.
as soon as i had her there i let her go, so she knew she could leave instantly.
she decided this was nice n stayed for at least 10 minutes.
then, after a brief walk about, she came right back n plopped herself down in the exact same position.
we had fun.
she was unsure about getting moved, but i have spent hours n hours just gently stroking her n she just didn't believe that i was gonna hurt her.
i think the trick here is that i let her go, quickly.
had i tried to hold her down, she would have fought.
this was our first actual cuddle.
i'm kicking myself for never trying this with barn cats.
i've had many, but all i did was feed them.

 

[orange&white]

That's really terrific that you were able to move her...and that she snuggled! What super news.

I thought I had made progress with picking Kit Kit up yesterday, but after reading your report, it seems not so much. All I did was curl my hand under her ribs while petting and lifted her front legs about 1 inch off the ground, then set her back on all four. She walked a foot away and looked at me like, "What the heck did you just do?"

The red gunk in Drifter's eyes may need quicker medical attention than you'd prefer. Do you have a vet you can call and consult with over the phone? Perhaps they could give you some eye drops or some antibiotics to mix into her food.

 

[susieqz]

that's perfect, orange. that ''what did you just do'' look tells you she knew you weren't gonna hurt her. she now knows that you do strange things but they don't hurt.
i got the exact same look.
i bet we both are able to pick these critters up in a week or two.
.i won't try for a while.
if she decides to continue cuddling, she will train herself.
i'm a bit behind you in the trust while standing department.
if i was erect , no way would she let me get hands on her.she trusts me only when i'm flat.

 

[orange&white]

I picked Kit Kit up a few times this morning...lifted her very quickly onto a table that's out on the patio and let her go. I think she wasn't quite sure how she got there, but that it had something to do with me. She jumped down quickly since it wasn't her idea to get on the table.

It started raining overnight (Hurricane Harvey rain) and she slept under the small area of the patio that stays dry. This morning, I needed to let my dog out to potty, but he is a cat chaser. I need Kit to learn to jump up instead of running out of the yard so I can leash-train the dog that she's part of the family and to leave her alone.

Bad weather made picking the cat up a little more urgent.