New cat hasn't eaten in a week, has made zero progress!

[molly92]

I never realised that about the hissing! Thank you for pointing it out. It does feel a bit bad when she hisses, but if that means she is feeling better that is great! I can't wait until this is over and she starts to come around.

One worrying thing is that the bed she was in before i lifted her into the carrier she will now refuse to go in. I set it where she likes to sit and she will hide behind rather than in it, whereas before she seemed very comfy inside it. I think she has made a negative connection between being in the bed and going to the vet. Do you have any tips to get around that or should I ignore this until she is more comfortable in general then try to get her to like the bed again? 

I think you're right about the negative association with the bed. She's a very vigilant kitty. She's where she feels most comfortable right now, so I wouldn't worry too much about it. You can put down a towel or blanket for her in the meantime and she might take you up on that, and you can leave the bed out as an option and one day she might surprise you and hop right in.

I think your safety has to come first. If there's any way you can call in an anonymous tip or post an online review it might help just put these people on the radar, but maybe wait some time and keep it vague so they don't know it's you. But if they you don't feel comfortable with that then don't.

 

[blackcatfan]

Our cat has began to change a bit, and we're both looking for some answers about how to read her behaviour.

Whenever we sit in the room now, she will sit looking at us with her eyes wide open, and her eyes will come slowly to a half-close. This has only been happening recently, as before her eyes remained fully open. Also when we are in the room for a period, she will close her eyes fully and have a tiny snooze, while sitting in "loaf" formation. 

At around 5am, she will begin to leap around and explore the room, while my partner is in the room. She will hop on the window, jump on on desks, quite freely. However, this lasts for only a little while, and she will then, almost without explanation, begin to bury under the wardrobe again, regressing to how she first was, completely frightened. Is this normal? One moment she will walk up to my partner to sniff him or sit on the window and give him slow blinks, the next is scurrying away like she hadn't seen a human before. 

Also she has began to meow very loudly. We are not sure what we can or should do when she does this. If we are out of the room and go in after she meows, she is still shy and scared. She also stares out the window and cries, not meows, but cries. If you talk to her, she does not stop. What is going on? 

 

[artiemom]

I think she is slowly starting to come out of her 'shell'...

Sitting there with eye half closed and not moving is a very comfortable position for some cats. It is just a mellow thing for them to do.

My guy likes that position also..

Have you tried doing the kitty blink?  It is just a slow blink, looking directly at the cat. Do it a few times; several times a day... It is kind of an "I love you" signal to cats...sounds crazy, but it does work. You will know it works when she blinks back at you.

For example: I was working my first shift at the shelter yesterday. There was an 8 month old beautiful white tabby from a hoarding situation. She was terrified; but she did look at me while I was talking to her and gave me a slow blink. I kept doing it back at her, I did get a response. While still terrified, I was able to finally touch her face and do a bit of petting to the area between her eyes, and behind the ears. She was purring. She even turned over on her back for me. She finally came out of her cubby; But any noise, or sudden movement, she ran back in...

As far as running around the room at 5am,... perfectly normal. It is called the "Zoomies"...yes zoomies!!!

Indoor cats have a tendency to run around crazy, at times.. no big deal...normal...

My guy has the zoomies right either before or after he poops...

And 5AM is somewhere around the time when they wake up,,,cats a night creatures..they roam at night..

She is just being normal by doing this, and then the fear returns and she hides...

Also, do not stare at her too much.. that is a sign of stalking to a cat.. 

I think you little girl is just now starting to find her 'cathood"..... she never had a chance to explore it before...

Thanks for being so good to her...

Before I forget:  do you have any classical music radio stations around. Cats seem to like classical music. Or put a talk show on in a low volume. 

My guy likes classical music. I always keep the radio on when I leave the house. 

This may help her not feel so alone..

She is still exploring things and her new freedom...

If she meows; meow back at her, or talk to her. I do that..I can really have conversations with Artie...

 

[stewball]

She isn't drinking either, but she is using her litter box every night. Her poop looks normal and she's peeing a good amount. Maybe she is eating tiny amounts secretly? 

Then she must be eating and drinking somehow or she'd not be wee'ing or doing her business.

 

[stewball]

Then she must be eating and drinking somehow or she'd not be wee'ing or doing her business.

Please ignore my idiot remark. I.made it before I carried on reading this wonderful story. Lovelyrics girl that she is.

 

[ginny]

 
Our cat has began to change a bit, and we're both looking for some answers about how to read her behaviour.

Whenever we sit in the room now, she will sit looking at us with her eyes wide open, and her eyes will come slowly to a half-close. This has only been happening recently, as before her eyes remained fully open. Also when we are in the room for a period, she will close her eyes fully and have a tiny snooze, while sitting in "loaf" formation. 

At around 5am, she will begin to leap around and explore the room, while my partner is in the room. She will hop on the window, jump on on desks, quite freely. However, this lasts for only a little while, and she will then, almost without explanation, begin to bury under the wardrobe again, regressing to how she first was, completely frightened. Is this normal? One moment she will walk up to my partner to sniff him or sit on the window and give him slow blinks, the next is scurrying away like she hadn't seen a human before. 

Also she has began to meow very loudly. We are not sure what we can or should do when she does this. If we are out of the room and go in after she meows, she is still shy and scared. She also stares out the window and cries, not meows, but cries. If you talk to her, she does not stop. What is going on? 

It does sound like she is beginning to get comfortable around you. Closing the eyes while you are around is a good sign.  She reminds me of how my own once feral kitties slowly warmed up to me.  At first I couldn't even look out my own window at them because they'd go running in every direction.  Slowly they made progress.  Then the day came when one of them would get close, brush their fir on my leg, then dart away!  That's still progress and that's how it happens.  It's like they're saying I think I can trust you but I'm not really sure so I'll just try this quickly and then leave! Lol.  Winning a scared kitty's trust is a big deal.  They don't just trust anyone, so you are doing a good job.  As to why she is looking out the window and crying, maybe she's just complaining that she'd like to go out.  She's talking to you, so that's progress too! I always wonder why they cry like that too.  They are saying something, but what?  

 

[blackcatfan]

 
I think she is slowly starting to come out of her 'shell'...

Sitting there with eye half closed and not moving is a very comfortable position for some cats. It is just a mellow thing for them to do.

My guy likes that position also..

Have you tried doing the kitty blink?  It is just a slow blink, looking directly at the cat. Do it a few times; several times a day... It is kind of an "I love you" signal to cats...sounds crazy, but it does work. You will know it works when she blinks back at you.

For example: I was working my first shift at the shelter yesterday. There was an 8 month old beautiful white tabby from a hoarding situation. She was terrified; but she did look at me while I was talking to her and gave me a slow blink. I kept doing it back at her, I did get a response. While still terrified, I was able to finally touch her face and do a bit of petting to the area between her eyes, and behind the ears. She was purring. She even turned over on her back for me. She finally came out of her cubby; But any noise, or sudden movement, she ran back in...

As far as running around the room at 5am,... perfectly normal. It is called the "Zoomies"...yes zoomies!!!

Indoor cats have a tendency to run around crazy, at times.. no big deal...normal...

My guy has the zoomies right either before or after he poops...

And 5AM is somewhere around the time when they wake up,,,cats a night creatures..they roam at night..

She is just being normal by doing this, and then the fear returns and she hides...

Also, do not stare at her too much.. that is a sign of stalking to a cat.. 

I think you little girl is just now starting to find her 'cathood"..... she never had a chance to explore it before...

Thanks for being so good to her...

Before I forget:  do you have any classical music radio stations around. Cats seem to like classical music. Or put a talk show on in a low volume. 

My guy likes classical music. I always keep the radio on when I leave the house. 

This may help her not feel so alone..

She is still exploring things and her new freedom...

If she meows; meow back at her, or talk to her. I do that..I can really have conversations with Artie...

Well since I posted that the changes we have seen in our girl have been astounding. Just 5 minutes ago, she was purring as I was giving her a good scratch down. She actually will still hiss when you initially pet her, simply because she is terrified we're going to take her back to the vet (three visits in just a few days, the poor girl) but once you stay and show you aren't going anywhere she is rolling on the ground, headbutting, purring, such a happy cat.

She is still very shy, as she is clearly a naturally shy and wary girl, but you can tell she is ready to overcome her shyness entirely any day now. It makes me emotional typing this!!! I wish I could share a video of her now, and I wish I had a video of her before!! Will try and nab some pics later! 

 

[ginny]

 
Well since I posted that the changes we have seen in our girl have been astounding. Just 5 minutes ago, she was purring as I was giving her a good scratch down. She actually will still hiss when you initially pet her, simply because she is terrified we're going to take her back to the vet (three visits in just a few days, the poor girl) but once you stay and show you aren't going anywhere she is rolling on the ground, headbutting, purring, such a happy cat.

She is still very shy, as she is clearly a naturally shy and wary girl, but you can tell she is ready to overcome her shyness entirely any day now. It makes me emotional typing this!!! I wish I could share a video of her now, and I wish I had a video of her before!! Will try and nab some pics later! 

Awww that's so good to hear!

 

[molly92]

I'm so happy for you and this wonderful kitty!

 

[artiemom]

 
Well since I posted that the changes we have seen in our girl have been astounding. Just 5 minutes ago, she was purring as I was giving her a good scratch down. She actually will still hiss when you initially pet her, simply because she is terrified we're going to take her back to the vet (three visits in just a few days, the poor girl) but once you stay and show you aren't going anywhere she is rolling on the ground, headbutting, purring, such a happy cat.

She is still very shy, as she is clearly a naturally shy and wary girl, but you can tell she is ready to overcome her shyness entirely any day now. It makes me emotional typing this!!! I wish I could share a video of her now, and I wish I had a video of her before!! Will try and nab some pics later! 

This is such great news!!! Really awesome!!!  

I wonder what got her to turn around like that... it was your love and patience...she finally understands...no more 'hurt'.....just love..

thank you 

please keep posting about her....

 

[blackcatfan]

We've even managed to nab a few more photos of her! Here is her checking her whiskers in the mirror!

Screen Shot 2016-02-17 at 15.15.16.png

• blackcatfan
• Feb 17, 2016

A snoozy wintery day yesterday!

12735752_1044586148932955_1644661701_n.jpg

• blackcatfan
• Feb 17, 2016

 

[zed xyzed]

what a wonderful update, I am so glad that you took this sweet girl in.

 

[stewball]

Thank you. Lovely pictures.

 

[artiemom]

If you could only see the huge smile on my face after reading this latest update and seeing these pictures....

(((hug)))  

   

   

so glad things have worked out for this poor little thing...

 

[Mamanyt1953]

When I began reading this thread a few minutes ago, I was afraid, when you told about the previous owner's reaction to being asked for vet info, that there was something that they were trying to hide.  Seems I was right.  In fact, I had a long post done, then realized I was reading page 1 of 3!  Deleted that, and kept reading!  Now, I can't tell you how thrilled I am that you and your partner have this cat.  She has some chance at a happy life now, although I know you realize that it's going to take time, perhaps even months, to get her where she should be, and over the trauma those idiots inflicted on her.

Does she have a name yet?  Did I miss that?

 

[ginny]

A snoozy wintery day yesterday!

I LOVE this pic of her looking at herself in the mirror!  It makes me think of the Saturday Night Live character Stewart Smally saying "I'm smart enough, I'm good enough, and darnit people like me!"  Such a happy ending for this kitty!  And I'm SOO glad she got away from her previous owners.  

 

[blackcatfan]

Okay guys, I'm back again with some not as great news.

Our cat has made no progress. Absolutely none. She is still as skittish as she has always been basically, despite us being able to pet her. We cannot hold her, she will not come when called, she will not come to get pets, if you stop petting her she will simply ignore you rather than seek you out for more pets. She is in bed all day, and when we go to sleep she comes out. As soon as we wake she'll be buried in some hidey hole we cannot reach. 

I will be honest, I am having severe mental difficulties due to mental health issues at the moment, and this cat was got as an anxiety cat. It was essential for my mental health for me to get a cat to ease my anxiety when I am breaking down into pieces to stop things getting out of control. This cat cannot do that. You can't go to her when upset, you can't pet her whenever you wish. You can't even call her over. You can't even look at her without her scurrying off. I am struggling A LOT more than when she was first here, because she's essentially not doing her job. I have no idea what I should do. It's mentally killing me to not have the support and love of an animal, but at the same time we cannot get a second cat as we are not allowed. What am I meant to do with this animal? I feel like I need to push on with her, as it is not her fault she is like this, but I just... I need the love and affection of a furry friend or I'm not sure how well I can make it through this part of my life. We got this cat specifically because she was described as a "cuddly house cat who loves to nap and be held" (exactly what I needed) but in reality she is a semi-feral cat kept a lone in a cage her whole life

I wish someone could just flick a switch and replace her with a different cat, a cat like I am used to having in my life, not a shadowy figure that appears whenever you drag it from the shadows. 

Basically what I'm saying is, what should I do??? 

 

[talkingpeanut]

I think because you are so stressed yourself right now you are not seeing all of the progress she has made already. She lets you pet her, and she trusts you, and you have made a world of difference already. I would be surprised if that much more had happened in a week. Like you said, there won't be a switch flipped. You two are going to learn how to be there for each other.

 

[molly92]

It's okay! I understand, it gets very worrisome if it doesn't seem like progress is happening and you think, "What if she stays like this forever?" And then she'll rub up against you one day, and you'll wonder what you were so worried about, and then she'll be skittish again, etc. It will go back and forth and seem unpredictable sometimes, but progress is being made every single day whether you can see it or not! She is going to take a long time to feel comfortable, and she's always going to be nervous about strangers or changes in routine, but I'm confident she's going to get there.

It might help to remember that the way she expresses her love is going to be a little different than you're expecting because of her past and her cat instincts. Making eye contact is not necessarily a good thing for cats. More socialized cats don't mind, and will sometimes stare at you when they want something, but fearful cats are more likely to interpret it as aggression. That's why she runs when you look directly at her. If it seems like she's "ignoring" you, that actually means she's comfortable enough to be around you without fixating on you exclusively. "Ignoring" her back is sometimes a good way to return the sentiment. Keeping busy with something else while you're in the same room with her communicates that she's a part of the household, not some strange new addition that needs to be constantly monitored. 

Even the fact that she's sleeping in your presence is huge! I know she spent the first week hiding, but I can bet she was too scared to actually sleep very much then. Yes, she's on a bit of a nocturnal schedule, partly because cats are naturally nocturnal and partly because she feels safer at night. That will shift, she just has a lot to learn about being a pet. You can try getting her to play some during the day to get her to sleep more at night.

Your mental health is very important, though. If you are able to deal with an indefinite timeline for her socialization, that's great, but if you can't, there is no shame in turning an animal you can't care for over to people who can. You obtained this cat under false pretenses. Finding a rescue group you trust, discussing your situation with them, giving them this cat to take care of, and adopting an already socialized lovebug is an option you have. You have already done wonderful things for her. She is so much better off than she would have been if you had never come into her life, so do not feel guilty about whatever you decide to do next. Rescue volunteers usually have lots of experience socializing and getting cats adopted out. I have seen MUCH more difficult cats than this one get adopted out to loving homes. If you do decide to adopt a different cat, make sure you meet with the cat and the foster parent or whoever knows the cat best before bringing it home!

If you do decide to hang in there with this cat, we will be here whenever you need advice or support. You know your own limits best, so ultimately it's up to you. I understand firsthand how draining dealing with mental illness gets and I fully support you doing whatever will make that easier.

 

[red top rescue]

One other possibility is that if you could get a friendly, calm, well socialized older male cat, he could be a therapy cat for you and for her as well.  Often these timid shy cats will blossom if they have another cat to learn from.  The other cat will show her she need not be afraid of you.  Most of these cats will bond with other cats, because they had other cats with them when they were growing up, but they didn't have much human interaction.  A well socialized cat is played with from the time he's an infant and is completely calm around humans.  Since your cat obviously didn't grow up socialized with humans, then another cat will be her best teacher.  Talk to the rescue grouop and tell them your situation, and hers, and perhaps they will let you take an addditional cat on a temporary foster basis to see if that works out for both of you.