Our New Family Member "Sushi"

[peti1212]

Oh, also, I think I made some progress with her. She did hiss at me again last night when I was bringing her food, so I learned from that a bit. Instead of bringing the food directly to her cat carrier, I decided to place the plate about 4 feet away from her on the ground. I wanted her to see that it is fresh food in the plate. Then I slowly pushed the plate from there closer to the cat carrier, and she did not hiss at me. She was just looking and being cautious while I pushed the plate closer to her. Then I layed there for a bit and tried not to stare at her, but I tried to give her some "cat kisses" with my eyes. After a minute or two, she started returning them.

 

[calicosrspecial]

Thank you for the update. I assume she is drinking but it is really important she gets her water. Can you put her water by her food bowl? She does eat wet food as well, correct?

So glad she is using her litter box while you are there.

Just keep talking to her, sit by her carrier and use wet food, treats or warm chicken (or whatever she likes) to encourage her to come out. She'll get curious at some point. She'll start getting comfortable. Does she look out of the window at all? Can you put the cat tree near the window so she can look out? Make sure the cat tree is stable and will not tip over etc. 

And of course you can always use a toy to get her interested in playing (hunting) in order to get her out of her carrier.

She'll come around, good news that she was out of the carrier with you in the room. She is just a kitten and getting use to the new home. I can't wait to her she is on the tree or even better rubbing on your leg. It will happen in time.

 

[peti1212]

Right now she has not yet wondered on the cat tree. There are a few hiding spots there, but I guess she doesn't want to switch hiding spots if she knows she's safe in her current one, and she gets fed there. I can move the water as well, although I thought she'd go for it if she feels thirsty, especially since you can hear the water fountain in the room. Although we've only been feeding her with wet food lately. So at least she has some moisture in that.

She doesn't really have access to the window, unless if she jumps up on our desk and tries to look out the window that way. I think she's too afraid to jump up on things at this point in time. I could potentially move the cat tree to the window, but it would require us to move some stuff around. Not sure if this would be a good thing, because we constantly change things around the room and it feels like we're scarring her each time we do that.

So far toys have been scaring her. Feathers scare her, and she tries to avoid it. Other toys don't seem to attract her attention, and she'll look at a laser pointer dot but won't chase it. I'll try the chicken method this weekend, and see if she will eat that. I'm sure she will.

 

[shadowsrescue]

I would definitely not feed her right outside the cat carrier, she needs to start coming out.  So move it to a centrally located place where you will feed her.  The water can be there too.  Just be sure the food is not near the litter box.  Cats don't like to eat near their litter box.  If she is constantly hiding in the cat carrier, it may need to go too.  You really want her out more in the open.  If the cat carrier has a top that comes off, you can start with taking the top off. 

 

[peti1212]

Great idea. We did get the more expensive carrier, so that one can have it's top off. I'll give that a try this weekend.

 

[calicosrspecial]

peti1212,

Since there is a desk by the window and there has been a little bit of moving things it is best to just leave things the way they are. The desk gives her access to the window so she can look out.

Since toys are frightening her let's stay away from the toys for now. You may want to continue with the laser pointer since she is interested in that. The chicken may not work the first time but eventually it will.

Shadows Rescue's advice is excellent.

Good luck this weekend, looking forward to hearing how she does. She really is adorable!!

 

[peti1212]

Oh man, what a weekend. I tried to spend a lot of time with Sushi, especially at late night and dawn, because that's when she's the most active, and the least scared to explore. I decided to move the cat carrier box from the corner and put it in the middle of the room. She didn't like this, and but she stayed in the cat carrier. She eventually came out and started exploring, and when I left the room and came back, she has abandoned the carrier. I feel like she didn't like the fact that it was in an open area. She started hiding under our rolling chair, in front of our bed frame where she cannot see us and we cannot see her directly, unless we go around. I ended up being persistent with the laser pointer, and I got some amazing results. I managed to get some play out of her, and I manged to introduce the cat tree to her. She soon realized that the cat tree has a  bowl in the middle step where she can jump up to eat food. I could tell that she was still scared because she was still looking at me whenever I made a slight move, but I think she was a bit more confident up high. It was really dark in the room, with only a camping lantern lighting up the room, so sorry for the poor picture quality.

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• peti1212
• Apr 11, 2016

I continued playing with her, got her some new toys. One of them has some catnip in it, but surprisingly she didn't take much interest in the toy. I also got a brown mice that hangs, or you can hook up to a fishing stick, and it makes mouse sounds when you play with it. It's pretty neat, but she didn't care much about that either. Eventually she ended up playing with the hanging rope on the cat tree and the hanging white mouse on the top of the tree. It was darn cute.

She's been eating a lot now. I'm a bit afraid because at my parent's house we have another cat that barely eats. He won't even finish a single can in a day. And our cat will 2-3 full smaller cans plus dry food during the day. Is this a lot? Or is it OK? She's still really afraid of us, she might hiss at us sometimes, even if we're moving around slow, but I try to not make a big deal out of it.

One of the most adorable thing she does is the peekaboo when we're on our bed and she wants to see what we're doing. She'll run off if we notice her, but she's not afraid of the camera. So I tend to film her to see what she's up to and watch from a distance. I managed to pick up some good footage about her cleaning / taking good care of herself, and exploring when we're not around, or when she's unable to see us.

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• peti1212
• Apr 11, 2016

She started hiding behind the tree where it was hard for us to get to her, so I decided to move the tree a bit. As soon as she realized it's no longer a good hiding spot, she moved to a new location. This morning we woke up and found her in the bottom box on the cat tree. She seemed quite safe in there when we got up this morning.

A lot of times I feel like we've accomplished something new with her, and she has explored the whole room, but then it also feels like she still has no more trust towards us compared to the first few days when we got her. I hope soon she'll realize we're no threat to her.

 

[calicosrspecial]

I think you are making great progress. She is getting out, she is playing. She is building trust.

After the play try to give some treats, they like to hunt, kill and eat.

Sometimes when a person moves around slow they can tell it isn't normal. I would like you to think about just going about your business just like you normally would. If you show confidence then she will feed on it. But she is showing confidence it sounds. The picture on the cat tree is AWESOME. The picture of her peeking around the corner is so cute. 

Just sometimes sit right next to her, talk to her, give her some treats. Just watch her body language and take it slow.

I am not sure the exact amount she is eating but 2-3 small cans and some dry food sounds fine to me. I would like to see her coming up to the food with you near the food.

Keep playing as well and talk to her, sit by her. She is doing well and will warm up. Pretty soon she'll start to want to rub on you, then she will rub on you. Just be confident with her so she senses that confidence and absorbs it and becomes confident.

I think you are doing great and she is doing well. Wow, she is really adorable!!

 

[peti1212]

It's been a bit over a week, so I feel like updating this thread with some news.

Sushi has been coming out and feeling a bit more comfortable around the room when we're on our bed. If we're not laying on our bed, she'll stay wherever she is. She will not budge.

She has been playing like a wild kitten for the past week with the laser pointer and some toys on the ground. She's really excited to hear the key chain part of the laser pointer. When she hear the laser pointer key chain wiggle around, her head pops out from wherever she is and she starts listening closely with her ears and getting into a hunting mood.

We've been trying really hard to gain her trust, but we're not there yet. We've tried snacks that we would toss at her and she would jump on it and eat right away. Then do it closer and closer, but when she gets about 2 feet away from us, she will not approach closer. We tried pretending to be sleeping with a snack on our closed hands, but she would not take it. She will also not come up on our bed or even touch the frame of our bed, where we lay some snacks when we're trying to lure her closer to us.

She found her new favorite spot. Which is at the top of the cat tree in the hiding box. She will not mind at all if we move around and do our business when she's up there. She will even let us come really close to the tree. On the other hand when she's eating at the middle level of the tree, she's really scared when we move around the room.

Usually in the evenings she'll jump off the tree and start hiding under our desk, like seen in the previous picture.

While we had some progress with her, it seems like she's still really scared of us. We've been using Feliway for over a week now, and we've been feeding her on schedule. We've been also spending a lot of time with her in the room to get her more comfortable with us. She'll just watch us from the top of the tree and then fall asleep. 

 

[peti1212]

Here are some new photos of Sushi.

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• peti1212
• Apr 19, 2016

 

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• peti1212
• Apr 19, 2016

 

[shadowsrescue]

Remember that progress with feral or feral like cats can often be very very slow with one step forward and 2 steps back.  I believe she is starting to trust you playing when you are laying down.  Have you tried using a pet petter with her?  I have made a few of them when working with feral cats.  I start by tossing the treats so they come close, I then use the pet petter as a toy at first.  I like to push it slowly towards their feet and just move it quickly back and forth to get the cat interested.  Once the cat plays with it a bit, you can start to touch the cat with the petter.  I usually start with the feet and then when I move the petter up above their head, I might brush it lightly across their back.  Usually once they get the feel of it, they like it. 

I make them with an old wand toy.  I try to find one that has a long handle.  I dowel rod would work too, but since it is ridgid, it isn't flexible to move around.  With the wand toy, I either remove the feather or toy on the end or just cover it up.  I use an old sock.  I wrap it around and around and then secure with duct tape.  If the sock is not soft enough, I cover the sock with a piece of soft flannel.  I have also then rubbed the end in catnip.

Here is a picture of one when I was working with a feral cat last summer.

Wand petting.JPG

• shadowsrescue
• Sep 18, 2015

Wand petting #2.JPG

• shadowsrescue
• Sep 18, 2015

 

[calicosrspecial]

I think there is some good progress. She is playing, she is taking the treats though still a bit away but that will change as her confidence rises. And she is up high which again builds confidence. These are all positives, maybe not as fast as we would like but it is progress.

I would continue doing what you are doing. Keep trying to use play and treats to get her closer to you. Also try to be low when you are giving treats. 

I would also think about wearing an old shirt and getting your scent on it and putting it right next to her food. I think it could help associate food (good stuff) with you. 

I like to use warm chicken to get the trust of a cat. Good stinky wet food could also be used to get her closer.

Most likely she will at some point rub on your legs to put her scent on you and take ownership of you. Then after that for a while she'll probably nudge your hand. And it should progress from there to you petting her.

I am debating whether it is nearing the time to put some treats in front of her when she is up on the tree in her hideaway. We don't want to freak her out as she is a bit trapped there but she is high so she should feel comfortable. Maybe ShadowsRescue could weigh in on that idea? I wouldn't do that yet though until we think about this.

She may just be on her timetable which may be a bit slower. It sounds like she is pretty content and doing pretty well.

Thanks for the update, you'll get there.

 

[peti1212]

Yesterday was a sad day. I felt a bit discouraged. Sushi was not really in a good mood. I couldn't really throw her snacks, give her food or even slowly clean her things without being hissed at.

There is a new cat in the neighborhood. I've started seeing her 2 - 3 days ago. Every morning I wake up and I'm about to go to work, she comes running to our door with her super long tail sticking up. Then she starts rubbing herself into us. Could this possibly be something that Sushi is picking up on? Another cat's slight scent on us? I try to avoid the friendly cat since I don't want her to come inside our house, just because I can tell that it is someone else's cat. A new family just moved in a few days ago and the cat has a collar, and some cat food outside the door. I guess it is an outside cat that they take care of .

 

[peti1212]

Today, while I was at work, my girlfriend decided to spend some time with Sushi, she tossed a treat towards her and she accepted it. After that she slowly approached her, and she hissed. I personally would have kept my distance and would have given the cat the space, but she decided to slowly reach in and slightly pet her. Then she used the wand with a sock at the end for a while to pet her whole body. Soon enough she came out wanting more petting, she continued by petting her with her hand, and moving on to petting her with a cat comb. She loved it a lot. Her tail was still not raised, so I'm thinking she was still scared, but she was purring loud and has come back for many more pets. Let's hope she'll slowly ease into this. Should we continue trying to pet her this way if she hisses slightly at us first, or should we start giving her more space and have her come to us? I know the general rule to have her trust us is to have her come up to us first and mark us with her scent. But knowing that she loved the petting even with a bad beginning, it makes it look like she'll slowly trust us by just us coming up to her to pet her.

 

[shadowsrescue]

 
Today, while I was at work, my girlfriend decided to spend some time with Sushi, she tossed a treat towards her and she accepted it. After that she slowly approached her, and she hissed. I personally would have kept my distance and would have given the cat the space, but she decided to slowly reach in and slightly pet her. Then she used the wand with a sock at the end for a while to pet her whole body. Soon enough she came out wanting more petting, she continued by petting her with her hand, and moving on to petting her with a cat comb. She loved it a lot. Her tail was still not raised, so I'm thinking she was still scared, but she was purring loud and has come back for many more pets. Let's hope she'll slowly ease into this. Should we continue trying to pet her this way if she hisses slightly at us first, or should we start giving her more space and have her come to us? I know the general rule to have her trust us is to have her come up to us first and mark us with her scent. But knowing that she loved the petting even with a bad beginning, it makes it look like she'll slowly trust us by just us coming up to her to pet her.

Such great progress.  Keep it going.  A little hissing is ok.  You will know when to back off or retreat.  Also maybe try only one of you at a time.  Two at a time might be a bit overwhelming at first.  Just watch from a distance.  Don't wait for her to come to you since she really liked the pets today.  Push the limits a bit and see how she responds.  If she freaks then back off and use the pet petter as a toy first.  Keep up by using lots of food rewards. 

 

[calicosrspecial]

peti1212,

Your girlfriend made great progress. I think she probably projected a lot of confidence. I am a big believer in energy and what energy is given off gets absorbs by the cat. It sounds to me like your girlfriend had the confidence to pet her and the cat felt that confidence and was comforted by it and took it on becoming more confident. The purring and the coming back for more is awesome.

Can you and your girlfriend both hang out with her and try to pet her? It seems like your girlfriend has a golden touch and a way with cats. Then when Sushi is being pet you can do a hand off where you could begin petting her and your girlfriend continues then takes her hand off.

On your new neighborhood cat I am a bit worried. If Sushi isn't totally confident then an additional scent of another cat could be difficult. We want Sushi to know she owns her territory. Try to avoid the cat if possible and if possible can you change before going into the room with Sushi?  Can Sushi see this cat (or does she) from her room? I don't think this is an issue yet but it could be at some point.

If you can get Sushi to start playing that would be great. We want her to own that room and then the whole place.

 

[peti1212]

Great news, For the past few days we've been playing around, petting, and even holding Sushi in our lap as she purred loudly. Her tails tends to be in an upright position more often now.

She's still scared of us when the lights go off and we leave the room and come back a few minutes later. I think she goes into her hunting mood and everything is dangerous when she's in that mindset. She'll hiss at us, but if we slowly approach and let her sniff our hands, she will bump against us and let us pet her. She will also hiss at us when she's playing in the middle of the night and we wake up to take a look at what  she's doing, but we know that if we come up to her slowly she'll purr and let us pet her. I've caught her purring out of nowhere as well. I would come in and just lay on the floor, and while she would watch me, she'd start purring.

She has tons of energy though, and her nails are getting stuck everywhere. It doesn't matter if we play with her hours with the fake birdie feathers on the fishing pole, the laser, or some other toy. She'll stay up all night playing with random items in the room in front of our bed and wonder around the room. She likes to watch us from the side of the bed at night, and I've caught her jumping up on our bed while we sleep and sit right by our foot / knee area. If I start moving or look at her, she'll get scared and run off, but she will jump up and spend some time with us on our bed, which is awesome.

Quick question, is it normal for kittens to have their paws stuck in the carpet or even clothes easily? I feel like all I hear all night is her getting stuck in the carpet all the time and her pulling her claws out of it. Same when she jumps on our bed and lays by us, she'll get stuck. She has very sharp nails. My old cat never really had issues with this, and she would strip / lose her nails rather than get caught. 

 

[calicosrspecial]

This is AWESOME. Sushi is progressing very well. Tail upright, CONFIDENCE, AWESOME. Purring, awesome. All this really is great. She is getting comfortable and CONFIDENT.

It is normal for the cats that I have had to have their nails get stuck. 

Can you get her a scratching post? So she can wear her nails down a bit.

Sushi is making great progress, all your efforts are paying off. 

I love it, great job. Keep up the great work and loving her.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Such great news!  Yea for Sushi.  Definitely get some scratchers for her.  You may have to try different types.  They have mats, posts and angled. 

A few years ago when I brought a feral male into the house, his nails would snag and get stuck on the carpet all the time.  I tried so many scratchers, but he never really took to them.  Yet he did like old carpet remnants.  Once I was able to handle him, we began a nail clipping regime.  Also if she has to go to the vet any time, always have them do the nails!

 

[peti1212]

Is it true that cutting cat's nails can be very bad for the cats? I remember seeing this documentary about anti-clipping, and how so many people were against vets doing the nails of the cats, because over time they could develop ingrown nails, and that could cause more harm to the cat, lots of pain, and even surgery. They might end up limping or having an awkward walk. Or does this happen only with larger cats like lions and leopards?