- Joined
- Jan 15, 2017
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Hello, all! I've posted once on these forums before about my Persian cat, Belle, who had some trouble understanding that the litter box, not the floor, was for defecating. You guys had some great advice and she's finally litter box trained! Hurrah! Since the most irritating problem is out of the way, I'm on to the next one. Namely, her personality.
As a kitten (circa 2009?) she belonged to a family which left her outside to get coated in fleas, knocked up by a stray tomcat, and chased by dogs and children. When my mother bought her from the family in 2010, Belle was very shy. She was never aggressive, however. She wouldn't come up to you and would hide if she could, but if you caught her, she'd never bite or scratch. We figured it was a side effect of her upbringing, as well as her being a protective new mother. We kept her in my mom's bathroom for a couple weeks to adjust and then let her out into our two story home. She's always been an indoors-only cat and had nothing to worry about but an overly-friendly dog (however, he was physically barred from the living room, so she had a safe space there if she got sick of doggie kisses). She never warmed up to us, though, not even briefly. We still had to chase her down in order to catch her, usually about once a month to get out the mats of fur and clip her nails. We tried locking her in the bathroom again about 2 years later (circa 2012) and spending time with her, giving her treats and talking kindly to her, but she never seemed to care for it.
Anyway flash forward 7 years to 2017. Belle's about 8 now and she's living with me. I took her last August (so August 2016) as a present for my mom, haha. Belle was pooping and peeing all over my mom's house, and had been for 7 years, so I offered to take her in. I thought that maybe being in a small, studio apartment with one other cat would make her less stressed? It's quieter here, without people coming and going, and no friendly dogs. She and my other cat (Missy) get along great. Moving here didn't fix the peeing/pooping problem though (but Cat Attract did, god bless the person who invented that litter). And it hasn't fixed her personality.
She'll sit near me, on the floor. She'll sleep near me too. On her belly, sometimes on her back with her belly exposed -- which suggests, to me at least, that she's not afraid. She doesn't hide during the day or anything. She plays around me. But whenever I get within a 3-foot radius (5-feet, if I make eye contact), she runs. Even if she's playing with a ball and it rolls near my foot, she'll just give up on getting the ball rather than come near me. Like my mom, I find myself having to catch her monthly and cut/brush mats out and trim her nails, which is stressful for both of us. She hisses when I try to get her, but she's all bark -- once I have her, she's very well-behaved
Sooooooo tldr;; What do I do with a cat who seemingly isn't scared of me, but just straight-up hates me and every other person she's ever met? I've tried different tactics. I've tried approaching her slowly, on her level (basically belly crawling on the floor, thank god I live alone with no one to judge me). I've tried sitting on the floor and playing with her. I even bought some wet tuna chunks today to try to convince her that I want to spoil her (I tossed her a chunk and she sniffed it, then went and sat as far away as possibly -- rude). I don't really know what else to do?
Any help is appreciated, thank you!!!
As a kitten (circa 2009?) she belonged to a family which left her outside to get coated in fleas, knocked up by a stray tomcat, and chased by dogs and children. When my mother bought her from the family in 2010, Belle was very shy. She was never aggressive, however. She wouldn't come up to you and would hide if she could, but if you caught her, she'd never bite or scratch. We figured it was a side effect of her upbringing, as well as her being a protective new mother. We kept her in my mom's bathroom for a couple weeks to adjust and then let her out into our two story home. She's always been an indoors-only cat and had nothing to worry about but an overly-friendly dog (however, he was physically barred from the living room, so she had a safe space there if she got sick of doggie kisses). She never warmed up to us, though, not even briefly. We still had to chase her down in order to catch her, usually about once a month to get out the mats of fur and clip her nails. We tried locking her in the bathroom again about 2 years later (circa 2012) and spending time with her, giving her treats and talking kindly to her, but she never seemed to care for it.
Anyway flash forward 7 years to 2017. Belle's about 8 now and she's living with me. I took her last August (so August 2016) as a present for my mom, haha. Belle was pooping and peeing all over my mom's house, and had been for 7 years, so I offered to take her in. I thought that maybe being in a small, studio apartment with one other cat would make her less stressed? It's quieter here, without people coming and going, and no friendly dogs. She and my other cat (Missy) get along great. Moving here didn't fix the peeing/pooping problem though (but Cat Attract did, god bless the person who invented that litter). And it hasn't fixed her personality.
She'll sit near me, on the floor. She'll sleep near me too. On her belly, sometimes on her back with her belly exposed -- which suggests, to me at least, that she's not afraid. She doesn't hide during the day or anything. She plays around me. But whenever I get within a 3-foot radius (5-feet, if I make eye contact), she runs. Even if she's playing with a ball and it rolls near my foot, she'll just give up on getting the ball rather than come near me. Like my mom, I find myself having to catch her monthly and cut/brush mats out and trim her nails, which is stressful for both of us. She hisses when I try to get her, but she's all bark -- once I have her, she's very well-behaved
Sooooooo tldr;; What do I do with a cat who seemingly isn't scared of me, but just straight-up hates me and every other person she's ever met? I've tried different tactics. I've tried approaching her slowly, on her level (basically belly crawling on the floor, thank god I live alone with no one to judge me). I've tried sitting on the floor and playing with her. I even bought some wet tuna chunks today to try to convince her that I want to spoil her (I tossed her a chunk and she sniffed it, then went and sat as far away as possibly -- rude). I don't really know what else to do?
Any help is appreciated, thank you!!!