Retraining cats

Odessa has *abused cat* written all over her. While she interacts really
well with the other cats, she is scared sh*tless of me and Louie. She
has probably been starved in the past too, because she eats piggishly
and defensively, as if she's been bullied out of eating or was just in a
place where she's never been fed consistently. To complicate matters,
she is quite good at hiding in such a way as to make damned sure she
doesn't get found by anyone but God. Makes things interesting,
especially feeding time. The cats have always been fed on a certain
schedule, and Odessa has her own agenda.

Louie was thinking of getting Odessa trained to hide in a certain spot,
the enclosed part of a kitty tower that is not used by the other cats,
by putting her in there and giving her a treat each time. Provided of
course that we can flush her out of her hidey-hole de jour. Has anyone
here ever had experience with training a cat like this? Because if so,
we want to know! We want Odessa to feel secure with us, to trust us; but
we also want to know where the hell she is to let up on the search party
we have to call every day, and lessen my dose of tranquilizers.

We've never dealt with a cat who's been in a multitude of homes and sent
back to the shelter, and who clearly has had some abuse in the past. I
so want her to trust us, but she is scared out of her mind of anything
on two legs. All we have is lots of love and patience. If anyone has
advice on dealing with kitties with psych issues, please drop some our
way. I love our little pantheress and want her to feel as open and
trusting of us as she does of her new siblings.

Blessed be,
Baha

Poor Odessa. She sounds just like our Biskit. She eventually will learn to
trust you, but I doubt she ever is a very social cat. She'll probably run from
strangers the rest of her life. Biskit trust me completely, but she startles
very easily and is still wary of DH. She hates men in particular so I don't
think she'll ever really love up to him.
Odessa is an opportunistic eater. She's got that mindset, "I'm going to eat
everything NOW because I don't know when the next meal will be." She's probably
known starvation before and they just don't forget that. You have to be careful
or she'll gain too much. (I should talk. Biskit is terribly fat now)
You can try giving her a designated hiding place, but IME they're gonna pick
where they want to hide.
I think you'll be amazed in six months or so the progress she's made with
loving hoomins like you & Louie. Biskit is here 10 months now. She's come a
long way.

Sherry

Odessa has *abused cat* written all over her. While she interacts really
well with the other cats, she is scared sh*tless of me and Louie. She
has probably been starved in the past too, because she eats piggishly
and defensively, as if she's been bullied out of eating or was just in a
place where she's never been fed consistently. To complicate matters,
she is quite good at hiding in such a way as to make damned sure she
doesn't get found by anyone but God. Makes things interesting,
especially feeding time. The cats have always been fed on a certain
schedule, and Odessa has her own agenda.

Louie was thinking of getting Odessa trained to hide in a certain spot,
the enclosed part of a kitty tower that is not used by the other cats,
by putting her in there and giving her a treat each time. Provided of
course that we can flush her out of her hidey-hole de jour. Has anyone
here ever had experience with training a cat like this? Because if so,
we want to know! We want Odessa to feel secure with us, to trust us; but
we also want to know where the hell she is to let up on the search party
we have to call every day, and lessen my dose of tranquilizers.

We've never dealt with a cat who's been in a multitude of homes and sent
back to the shelter, and who clearly has had some abuse in the past. I
so want her to trust us, but she is scared out of her mind of anything
on two legs. All we have is lots of love and patience. If anyone has
advice on dealing with kitties with psych issues, please drop some our
way. I love our little pantheress and want her to feel as open and
trusting of us as she does of her new siblings.

Blessed be,
Baha

Poor Odessa. She sounds just like our Biskit. She eventually will learn to
trust you, but I doubt she ever is a very social cat. She'll probably run from
strangers the rest of her life. Biskit trust me completely, but she startles
very easily and is still wary of DH. She hates men in particular so I don't
think she'll ever really love up to him.
Odessa is an opportunistic eater. She's got that mindset, "I'm going to eat
everything NOW because I don't know when the next meal will be." She's probably
known starvation before and they just don't forget that. You have to be careful
or she'll gain too much. (I should talk. Biskit is terribly fat now)
You can try giving her a designated hiding place, but IME they're gonna pick
where they want to hide.
I think you'll be amazed in six months or so the progress she's made with
loving hoomins like you & Louie. Biskit is here 10 months now. She's come a
long way.

Sherry

Odessa has *abused cat* written all over her. While she interacts really
well with the other cats, she is scared sh*tless of me and Louie. She
has probably been starved in the past too, because she eats piggishly
and defensively, as if she's been bullied out of eating or was just in a
place where she's never been fed consistently. To complicate matters,
she is quite good at hiding in such a way as to make damned sure she
doesn't get found by anyone but God. Makes things interesting,
especially feeding time. The cats have always been fed on a certain
schedule, and Odessa has her own agenda.

Louie was thinking of getting Odessa trained to hide in a certain spot,
the enclosed part of a kitty tower that is not used by the other cats,
by putting her in there and giving her a treat each time. Provided of
course that we can flush her out of her hidey-hole de jour. Has anyone
here ever had experience with training a cat like this? Because if so,
we want to know! We want Odessa to feel secure with us, to trust us; but
we also want to know where the hell she is to let up on the search party
we have to call every day, and lessen my dose of tranquilizers.

We've never dealt with a cat who's been in a multitude of homes and sent
back to the shelter, and who clearly has had some abuse in the past. I
so want her to trust us, but she is scared out of her mind of anything
on two legs. All we have is lots of love and patience. If anyone has
advice on dealing with kitties with psych issues, please drop some our
way. I love our little pantheress and want her to feel as open and
trusting of us as she does of her new siblings.

Blessed be,
Baha

Poor Odessa. She sounds just like our Biskit. She eventually will learn to
trust you, but I doubt she ever is a very social cat. She'll probably run from
strangers the rest of her life. Biskit trust me completely, but she startles
very easily and is still wary of DH. She hates men in particular so I don't
think she'll ever really love up to him.
Odessa is an opportunistic eater. She's got that mindset, "I'm going to eat
everything NOW because I don't know when the next meal will be." She's probably
known starvation before and they just don't forget that. You have to be careful
or she'll gain too much. (I should talk. Biskit is terribly fat now)
You can try giving her a designated hiding place, but IME they're gonna pick
where they want to hide.
I think you'll be amazed in six months or so the progress she's made with
loving hoomins like you & Louie. Biskit is here 10 months now. She's come a
long way.

Sherry

Odessa has *abused cat* written all over her. While she interacts really
well with the other cats, she is scared sh*tless of me and Louie. She
has probably been starved in the past too, because she eats piggishly
and defensively, as if she's been bullied out of eating or was just in a
place where she's never been fed consistently. To complicate matters,
she is quite good at hiding in such a way as to make damned sure she
doesn't get found by anyone but God. Makes things interesting,
especially feeding time. The cats have always been fed on a certain
schedule, and Odessa has her own agenda.

Louie was thinking of getting Odessa trained to hide in a certain spot,
the enclosed part of a kitty tower that is not used by the other cats,
by putting her in there and giving her a treat each time. Provided of
course that we can flush her out of her hidey-hole de jour. Has anyone
here ever had experience with training a cat like this? Because if so,
we want to know! We want Odessa to feel secure with us, to trust us; but
we also want to know where the hell she is to let up on the search party
we have to call every day, and lessen my dose of tranquilizers.

We've never dealt with a cat who's been in a multitude of homes and sent
back to the shelter, and who clearly has had some abuse in the past. I
so want her to trust us, but she is scared out of her mind of anything
on two legs. All we have is lots of love and patience. If anyone has
advice on dealing with kitties with psych issues, please drop some our
way. I love our little pantheress and want her to feel as open and
trusting of us as she does of her new siblings.

Blessed be,
Baha

Singh wrote:
(snip)

All we have is lots of love and patience. If anyone has
advice on dealing with kitties with psych issues, please drop some our
way. I love our little pantheress and want her to feel as open and
trusting of us as she does of her new siblings.

Hi Baha,

I used to foster cats and kittens for our local rescue group, and
because I work from home I was often given feral kittens to 'bring
round'. Louie has the right idea. What is often very helpful is to not
give a timid cat too much space to run around and panic in, and not to
allow them too many places to hide, as they will just take much longer
to get used to you as you have already guessed! If there is a very
small, lightly furnished room in your house she can call her own, then
it becomes a safe haven where she feels secure, and can gradually get
used to the daily routine and your presence. I used to find that the
bathroom (the English definition - ie. the room with the bath in, not
just the WC;-)) was ideal, because it usually doesn't have many places
to hide in, it can accommodate a litter tray, food and bed, and it's a
room that's regularly visited without being too scary and busy for her.
Watch out for open windows though. An office is also good but often has
too many things to hide amongst.

Good things to break the fear cycle are food, especially really nice
food treats - offered by hand but at arm's length; and toys on long
sticks (e.g. fishing wand) that you can dangle for her to play with
while you remain at a non-threatening distance. If she really gets
carried away she may find herself chasing it before she realises. You
can even try brushing her very gently - she may fear a hand, but a brush
may be OK. Sometimes they will accept being stroked from behind, but not
if they are facing you. Maybe the sight of the approaching hand is too
scary.

Non-threatening feline body language is useful too: don't look her
directly in the face, and if you catch her eye, give her a slow and
deliberate blink, as this means 'friend' in cat talk. Move slowly and
keep low to the ground so she isn't startled or towered over. If
possible, bring one of your other friendly cats in the room and stroke
him in full view of Odessa, so she can see that humans can be nice to
cats. When I've done this I've seen a look of "You FOOL! Watch out!
Don't you know they're dangerous?!" pass across the face of the feral
cat, followed by the sound of kitty cogs churning as it tries to make
sense of the fact that I haven't eaten the other cat yet. :-)

She may have been abused, or she may have been a long-term stray or even
once a semi-feral. Whatever her sad story, she has found a real haven in
your home and I am sure you will have more than enough love and patience
and understanding to bring her round, it may take weeks or even months
but the end result of gaining her trust is so very worth the wait.

HTH

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

Singh wrote:
(snip)

All we have is lots of love and patience. If anyone has
advice on dealing with kitties with psych issues, please drop some our
way. I love our little pantheress and want her to feel as open and
trusting of us as she does of her new siblings.

Hi Baha,

I used to foster cats and kittens for our local rescue group, and
because I work from home I was often given feral kittens to 'bring
round'. Louie has the right idea. What is often very helpful is to not
give a timid cat too much space to run around and panic in, and not to
allow them too many places to hide, as they will just take much longer
to get used to you as you have already guessed! If there is a very
small, lightly furnished room in your house she can call her own, then
it becomes a safe haven where she feels secure, and can gradually get
used to the daily routine and your presence. I used to find that the
bathroom (the English definition - ie. the room with the bath in, not
just the WC;-)) was ideal, because it usually doesn't have many places
to hide in, it can accommodate a litter tray, food and bed, and it's a
room that's regularly visited without being too scary and busy for her.
Watch out for open windows though. An office is also good but often has
too many things to hide amongst.

Good things to break the fear cycle are food, especially really nice
food treats - offered by hand but at arm's length; and toys on long
sticks (e.g. fishing wand) that you can dangle for her to play with
while you remain at a non-threatening distance. If she really gets
carried away she may find herself chasing it before she realises. You
can even try brushing her very gently - she may fear a hand, but a brush
may be OK. Sometimes they will accept being stroked from behind, but not
if they are facing you. Maybe the sight of the approaching hand is too
scary.

Non-threatening feline body language is useful too: don't look her
directly in the face, and if you catch her eye, give her a slow and
deliberate blink, as this means 'friend' in cat talk. Move slowly and
keep low to the ground so she isn't startled or towered over. If
possible, bring one of your other friendly cats in the room and stroke
him in full view of Odessa, so she can see that humans can be nice to
cats. When I've done this I've seen a look of "You FOOL! Watch out!
Don't you know they're dangerous?!" pass across the face of the feral
cat, followed by the sound of kitty cogs churning as it tries to make
sense of the fact that I haven't eaten the other cat yet. :-)

She may have been abused, or she may have been a long-term stray or even
once a semi-feral. Whatever her sad story, she has found a real haven in
your home and I am sure you will have more than enough love and patience
and understanding to bring her round, it may take weeks or even months
but the end result of gaining her trust is so very worth the wait.

HTH

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

Singh wrote:
(snip)

All we have is lots of love and patience. If anyone has
advice on dealing with kitties with psych issues, please drop some our
way. I love our little pantheress and want her to feel as open and
trusting of us as she does of her new siblings.

Hi Baha,

I used to foster cats and kittens for our local rescue group, and
because I work from home I was often given feral kittens to 'bring
round'. Louie has the right idea. What is often very helpful is to not
give a timid cat too much space to run around and panic in, and not to
allow them too many places to hide, as they will just take much longer
to get used to you as you have already guessed! If there is a very
small, lightly furnished room in your house she can call her own, then
it becomes a safe haven where she feels secure, and can gradually get
used to the daily routine and your presence. I used to find that the
bathroom (the English definition - ie. the room with the bath in, not
just the WC;-)) was ideal, because it usually doesn't have many places
to hide in, it can accommodate a litter tray, food and bed, and it's a
room that's regularly visited without being too scary and busy for her.
Watch out for open windows though. An office is also good but often has
too many things to hide amongst.

Good things to break the fear cycle are food, especially really nice
food treats - offered by hand but at arm's length; and toys on long
sticks (e.g. fishing wand) that you can dangle for her to play with
while you remain at a non-threatening distance. If she really gets
carried away she may find herself chasing it before she realises. You
can even try brushing her very gently - she may fear a hand, but a brush
may be OK. Sometimes they will accept being stroked from behind, but not
if they are facing you. Maybe the sight of the approaching hand is too
scary.

Non-threatening feline body language is useful too: don't look her
directly in the face, and if you catch her eye, give her a slow and
deliberate blink, as this means 'friend' in cat talk. Move slowly and
keep low to the ground so she isn't startled or towered over. If
possible, bring one of your other friendly cats in the room and stroke
him in full view of Odessa, so she can see that humans can be nice to
cats. When I've done this I've seen a look of "You FOOL! Watch out!
Don't you know they're dangerous?!" pass across the face of the feral
cat, followed by the sound of kitty cogs churning as it tries to make
sense of the fact that I haven't eaten the other cat yet. :-)

She may have been abused, or she may have been a long-term stray or even
once a semi-feral. Whatever her sad story, she has found a real haven in
your home and I am sure you will have more than enough love and patience
and understanding to bring her round, it may take weeks or even months
but the end result of gaining her trust is so very worth the wait.

HTH

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

Debbie Wilson wrote:

(naughty me - following up my own post)

It also occurred to me that the reason she may have been chatty and
forthcoming when you saw her in her rescue pen, is because it was her
safe haven at the time, so she felt able to open up more. If this is the
case, it's a good sign, as a really badly abused cat or true feral would
not have opened up even then. Also, if she is non-aggressive (ignore the
hissing!), i.e. she doesn't slap you or bite when you reach out to her,
this is good and means you can approach her without fear, which she
would sense.

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

Debbie Wilson wrote:

(naughty me - following up my own post)

It also occurred to me that the reason she may have been chatty and
forthcoming when you saw her in her rescue pen, is because it was her
safe haven at the time, so she felt able to open up more. If this is the
case, it's a good sign, as a really badly abused cat or true feral would
not have opened up even then. Also, if she is non-aggressive (ignore the
hissing!), i.e. she doesn't slap you or bite when you reach out to her,
this is good and means you can approach her without fear, which she
would sense.

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

Debbie Wilson wrote:

(naughty me - following up my own post)

It also occurred to me that the reason she may have been chatty and
forthcoming when you saw her in her rescue pen, is because it was her
safe haven at the time, so she felt able to open up more. If this is the
case, it's a good sign, as a really badly abused cat or true feral would
not have opened up even then. Also, if she is non-aggressive (ignore the
hissing!), i.e. she doesn't slap you or bite when you reach out to her,
this is good and means you can approach her without fear, which she
would sense.

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield