My rescued cat is now scared of me

[leshelby]

Hello, I'm extremely new here, I only made my profile a few minutes ago so I could get some advice on my cat. About three weeks ago, I adopted a 3 year old spayed Siamese cat and named her Sansa. She is super affectionate and small for a full grown cat and adjusted to having to share her new home with my 8 month old Firetip Thor pretty well. So she's made herself at home and is always coming to greet me or lay with me during the day but today was different...I was doing some housework and noticed she was laying inside her cat carrier...I figured she was just tired and let her be, left to go pick up my son from school and had dinner and returned a few hours later to find she was still in her carrier...I let her sniff my hand and tried to coax her out and she just growled at me. She has NEVER growled at me before. I asked my son if he did anything to her before school (he has Aspergers and doesn't always play with the cats very well) but he told me she was in her carrier this morning and left her alone. So I went to give them their wet food for dinner but she didn't come out, even though wet food is like her FAVORITE thing. Thor ate his plate and afterwards, I pulled her out of her carrier and showed her her food, to which she freaked out, growled, and hid under the table. When I went to go pet her to see if she was okay, she flinched like I was going to hurt her...I've checked all around the house and there's no way she could have gotten into any chemicals. I haven't changed their food, they both eat Wellness dry food and the Whiska's gravy sensations packets (not the healthiest I know but I'm a single mom and college student). I've only recently heard of FHS but I don't think this is it...it's been an hour since she's hid under the table and still hasn't come out. Any idea what's going on with my baby?

 

[msbedelia]

I would guess she's sick or hurt and needs to be seen by a vet.

If she's avoiding everyone all day, laying in the same hidden and safe space, refusing food, and doesn't want contact or to be touched, that screams illness to me. I would take her to the vet ASAP, or even emergency care if you notice her deteriorating.

If vet rules out health issues (and I think that's a BIG IF), maybe she had some traumatic experience that you may or may not be able to deduce? If so, time, patience, some food, and maybe an interactive toy might help her recover... But time and patience will be the most important of those things!

Sorry you had to come to TCS under these circumstances. I hope everything turns out well. I am also in my third week with a three year-old rescue. Sansa is such a pretty name!

 

[leshelby]

Smallish update, she let me pet her and I saw she ate some of her food but she normally licks the plate clean (literally). When I pet her she rubbed against my hand but when I stood up, she growled and hid under the table again...the third night I had her home, she knocked over a candle and cut her paw on the broken glass, so she does tend to get into things but I haven't noticed anything broken or knocked over and she hasn't tried to climb since the broken candle thing. I've seen poisoned cats before, my cat Mittens at my parents house ate a mouse that had been poisoned and somehow miraculously lived but he was deathly ill, she's not acting like that, just like she's in the same place because she's almost scared to come out. I'll call my vet first thing in the morning though, thank you!

 

[msbedelia]

Just want to point out that cats can be sick without having been poisoned.

But it sounds like you are a very attentive owner who knows her kitties very well! How lucky they are. Since she's a shelter cat, we don't know her history, or her threshold for what she finds traumatizing. I'm sure you didn do anything to cause her to behave this way- if it is behavioral- and that she will get over it eventually. But if she is easily traumatized, this may not be the last time this occurs! Hopefully she'll get less frightful with time and experience with you guys. Do respect any wishes she has not to be touched (expect toget her to the vet ), that will help her feel safe.

I'm glad she's doing a little better, and good luck tomorrow both calling vet and at home!

 

[leshelby]

That's true, poisoned is just what I automatically think of when I think of sick cat, my poisoned Mittens sorta traumatised me lol. And yes, my cats are my furbabies, they're like my own child, but with fur, they worry me when they act funny!

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I am glad you are going to call your vet.  Last summer Noodles gave me quite a fright when she got violently ill; her behaviors were similar to what you've described with hiding, flinching and not wanting to be touched.  But she also had vomited and was drooling like crazy.  Our vet thinks she ate a bug that didn't agree with her.  Noodles is my one to watch with any string, ribbon, even the tulle on my DD's dress up costumes! She will gnaw it right off.  She also sits under my son's high chair looking for scraps.  I've seen her tummy reject those and that all with what you've said makes me think the vet really should be your first stop.  

  It's definitely what I would do.

Please update us and let us know how she is! 

 

[leshelby]

Another update, and now it seems I have another problem. I found her hiding under my bed this morning and I let her be. I called my vet and have an appointment in about two hours from now. While I was outside watering my plants, she pushed open the screen door and came outside with me! She let me pet her and rubbed against me and stayed close to me the whole time I was outside. When I went in, I tried to bring her in with me and she flipped out. As soon as she saw me heading for the door, she dug her claws into me and squirmed and jumped out of my arms and back onto the grass. She didn't run though, she just rolled on her back for belly pets. I still can't get her to come back inside willingly. I finally just now brought her back in and now she's CRYING to get back out. My yard isn't fenced at all and I'm worried about losing her. Now what?

 

[ondine]

She may be used to being outside. Or she may not like the smell of something inside your house. Either way, see what the vet says. It will be difficult but she will need to get used to her new home. That may take months of patience on your part.

Thank you for helping her.

 

[sydthekid]

Sorry this is going to be lengthy - I obviously am not a candidate to use Twitter. 

Our kitty has been with us now since October 2011. She did her initial "feel" for a few months and then after our dog Honey, her big sister, passed away from cancer in March 2012, she was more of a presence in our living room. She was never one to be held. She hates it but she likes to be near us, particularly resting on the back of the couch behind our heads or on the floor. We naturally became spoiled seeing her so much. For the last few weeks, we noticed her going under the bed when we were leaving for work. We thought, OK, she doesn't want to be alone without us because she would come out when I came home for lunch and at the end of the day. Besides, she can hear better than both of us. She used to love being in the living room with us. However, two things happened in the living room recently when we were all together...one, we had to administer ear drops for a few days. Of course, she immediately ran away and hid under the bed for a while after that. Two, an extremely loud sound, almost like a sonic boom that literally shook the floor under our feet. Since those events she has been limiting her time in the living room, preferring to be under the bed. To make matters worse, around the same time, our neighbors started to remodel their entire home.

When she is with us in the living room every time she hears a car drive by she freaks. Every time the wind blows the front door "creaks" a little and she jumps. She is so skittish in the living room now when she used to love it. We had to disable the door bell last year because she would hide when it rang. Also, whenever someone came to the door and knocked, she would run. I imagine people are doing that while I'm at work and she would just rather not be out there alone. Anyway, we let her rest under the bed and she will come out for catnip and treats. It seems like she is most at peace now when it is nighttime. I guess that is when all the noise stops. She will come to bed and crawl under the bed instead of going on her cat tree but when I wake up, like I do a dozen times a night, she is sleeping on the pillows behind my head, or next to me, or licking my arm, or taking my hand and pulling it into her tummy, or meowing and purring in my face. I know she is not sick, other than her usual allergies and folliculitis.

Of course we are terribly upset that she is not out with us more because we love her and don't want to miss one minute with her but we don't know the past trauma of her life. She was a Hurricane Katrina rescue cat. She lived with someone that loved her very much but she had to give up all of her animals. LuLu was living at the vet's office in a cage when two people wanted to adopt her, only to bring her back saying that she didn't fit. She bonded with our dog Honey the minute they saw each other during Honey's vet visit. They put them in a room together that day and LuLu and Honey were not going to be without each other. We took LuLu home after Honey's appointment and have never once thought she didn't fit. I know she misses Honey. She will sometimes sit under her ashes or she smells her things. We just have to patient with her and let her work out her fears with these new noises. She is, without question, scared out of her mind right now hearing noises in the living room. I think whatever the neighbors are doing and whatever caused that ridiculous house shaking explosion (nothing was reported, no damage or anything odd around our house or neighbors) caused her to remember things. I think animals can have PTSD similar to humans. If they can have the same diseases, like diabetes, cancer and the like, I believe they can have the same mental stresses as well. 

After all of that, maybe something happened that triggered a memory or a reaction in your kitty similar to ours recently. I try not to take it personally but when you love them so much it is hard. We are going to try and build her a kitty kave in the living room. She does go under the coffee table but she can still see and be seen so we are going to cover that up with something that hangs down to the floor. We are also going to get her something else but we are not sure what yet, to make a separate kitty kave. I hope all is well with your kitty. 

 

[vail]

I am not so sure this is illness, this sudden change in personality sounds more like something really traumatic happened to her. Of course illness can always change a cat's personality as well. A vet visit would not be a bad idea at all. But the fact she seemed so reluctant to go inside seems to me something bad happened to her inside that house. You mentioned your son not always being nice to her,  see how she reacts if he goes near her? (Just dont let her scratch him)  If she is physically healthy I would leave her alone for now, don't force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. Let her come to you more, always try to end all your interactments with her on a good note. 

 

[ondine]

I would definitely take her to the vet to rule out any health issue but my money is on the remodeling noise. That and the boom have probably shaken her up. I believe you are correct about the PTSD. We have had our Gracie since she was five weeks old. We found her being abused by the neighborhood kids. She does not like pets but will lay next to us on the sofa. If she hears kids outside, she's under the bed for the next day and a half.

 

[leshelby]

update: we took her to the vet and they ruled out any illnesses. Her gums and ears were healthy looking and she ate whatever the vet would give her! And she purred and rubbed against everyone that touched her. She is still sitting on the back enclosed porch but doesn't throw a fit to get outside. I think she was mad at me for not paying enough attention to her recently...I've been on short term disability and am about to go back to work so I've been running around getting papers signed and faxed to my HR department and going back and forth to work to get updates on new procedures and whatnot...I say I think that's it because she's happy and loving on me again! This morning she especially wanted lots of attention, she would get up on her hind legs and put her paws on my knees for pets. I guess if she acts the same way when I go back to work, we will know for sure.

About my son and the cats: yes, he's pet them the wrong way before and gotten in their face when they didn't want him too, but I've never seen him pull their tail, hit, or hurt them in any way...he mostly just annoys them. Sansa (the adopted cat) has to get used to is but Thor just lays there and gives me the "I hate this look" and lets Ashton keep on petting him lol.

 

[msbedelia]

Well, I'm glad all is well!

Cats. What mysteries.