I had a friend ask me to take a look at this cat, I ended up bringing her home. She is a seal point Siamese, who was defiantly abused. She has scars from cigarettes on her feet let alone the emotional issues that top that.
She is coming around to me slowly, but hides underneath my bed and unless she is being held refuses to hang out on top of the bed or out in the open…I’ve had her for two days only-so her progress of even letting me hold her is shocking me to the end of the earth, I knew she would be hiding, but she lets me pull her out from under the end, snuggles with me already and purrs up a storm with just me…everyone else scares her (which obviously i spend the most time with her and it is a Siamese’s trait to have one person-we have another Siamese in the house who I got when she was a kitten).
Does anyone have any ideas on trust training? I have never done this with a cat before, just dogs and small mammals like rats…the cat right now is in my room alone-I have to have her more ok with her environment before introducing her and the current cat-plus she has a bit of a flea issue I am working to fix which is the easiest task!
Also she is missing her front teeth top and bottoms that are in between her canine teeth…now this has resulted in solely feeding can food as she can’t seem to get the dry kibble into her mouth…I tried wetting the dry food but it didn’t appeal to her…I need to pick up an in between cat food-I have a brand in mind, but until I do manage to pick it up any advice on hardening up her stool? She has very liquidy stool at the moment, and the can food defiantly does not help-she has to eat though, she is under weight and you can feel her bones of her spin…Should I try to give her something else to eat? Mix the dry food with something else? Any ideas? I have no clue on this one. And the vet really did not give solid advice-she had to be brought up to date on shots today, but the stools apparently been like this for over a week now…she’s been in ok hands for a week only- and has obviously been neglected, I took her on as she is a very sweet feline and I plan to keep her until her time is up-my current in the household cat is going onto 10 years of age, so trust me this one will be kept for as long as she wishes to be with us. I just need some advice on what to really do with her? I can’t find much on trust building…I know holding her and bonding is important but aside from that? I want her to be ok in the open of a room closed off to the rest of the house!
And sorry I wrote you all a book! Any advice will be taken gratefully unless you’re going to be stupid.
I have experience with milk and cats and it seems to run right through them but makes a nice treat-I didn’t even think of looking up recipes! Thanks so much for that idea!!! And does kitten food moisten better than regular adult dry? We have the dry food because Neko eats that plus can food…
This little girl came to me with Sofia as her name, and I think it is going to remain as Sofia- she is a Miss Sofia in her looks and has the typical Siamese flare and miss priss about her! I love it!
And trust me, if I ever find out who could do this to her I shall make their life living hell-I have a huge issue with it myself, I can’t understand why someone would do that to an animal.
she can be lovable once I have her up with her, she purrs up a storm and is starting to realize I won’t hurt her-just brush her out and call her a very pretty kitty, I just wanted to know if there was a way to speed up the coaxing her out of hiding-she lets me pick her up though I just have to do a belly crawl!
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Oh that poor baby. I’m so glad she wound up with you. I had an abused chocolate point who was obviously part Siamese (not just the coat pattern but the Siamese voice, long body etc.) He had been shot with BBs, hit or kicked, and had 4 impacted teeth and was left to languish in pain and got very emaciated, and finally was dumped at a vet who thought he was antisocial but realised he had been through a lot, and fortunately called a rescue group..
Sofia is doing GREAT for only having been with you 2 days. She has already made such amazing progress. I think mostly you will just need to be patient & she will really blossom. You’re right to first keep her in one room. that is even true with ANY cat, they tend to get stressed out to be put in a new territory — they figure they must be in someone else’s territory and are thus likely to be attacked, so the first thing they do is hide. I’m sure she also smells Neko. And a cat who has had some very scary experiences with humans or animals, is even more likely to be stressed and want to hide. That is so normal esp for a rescue cat.
I would try to use treats and toys to try to gradually get her a little braver.
Try to find some treats she adores, like freeze dried pieces of chicken, liver, salmon, etc. Offer a treat to try to see if you can coax her out from under the bed- – tiny steps at first, just poking her head or even a paw out. Put down a treat then you sit behind it away from the bed. so if she comes out it is toward you. later you can work on trying to get her to go out even if you are not behind the treat.
Another one is have her standing on the floor facing away from you but with you holding/touching her with one arm. Put a treat down in front where she will have to take a step.forward . at first you can keep lightly touching her but then try to work up to her stepping out away from you w/o touch to go pick up the treat. Accompany all this by a lot of praise and affection.
Also get some wand toys, maybe a fur one, a feathery one etc. and move them around like prey in front of where she is hiding. At first maybe she could just have fun reaching out to catch it. And when she catches it give her tons of praise. then try to get her to emerge farther. . Hopefully prey drive will overcome defense.
My cat Frankie was at first very conflicted, you could tell he so much wanted affection, but then he was so afraid people would hurt him again that he would lash out and scratch or bite (not really hard – it was just to say he COULD bite hard if he wanted)
I used to spend a lot of time sitting on the floor talking quietly to him while not staring at him.
And that is what i recommend when you start introducing other people. You will have to play it by ear on when to do that. if you get her coming out from under the bed, or able to hang out without you holding her. If someone else lives there with you I think it would be a good idea to let them come in after a few days and first just sit there, on the floor if possible, & have a quiet conversation with you. If you are holding Sofia or she peeks out, the other person should not stare at her or try to touch her yet. but if she doesnt seem panicked , they could slowly extend their hand for her to sniff. they you can have them give treats or try to get her to interact with a toy
For introducing her and Neko, start by exchanging items with their scent on them. and try wiping a cloth on one cat’s temple/ cheek, then rub that on the other cat where they’ll smell it when they groom themselves. so they get used to the other cats scent and their scents blended together.
but just look up introducing a new cat to find more advice for the next steps. Make sure through all this to give Neko a lot of love too
The loose stool is probably partly from fear , partly new food?. Pick up some Fortiflora (probiotic powder from the vet) and mix a packet in her food. If you can’t find that you can add some plain yoghurt (with live active cultures) .
Different cats can get this in reaction to different foods — too much vegetables, grains, too high fat,byproducts, or a particular kind of meat. In canned food i would avoid the ones with chunks / shreds etc , it is not real meat, it’s wheat gluten etc. In both dry and canned it is better to find grain free.
Raw meat & bone food actually really helps a lot of cats with bowel problems. If you want to try you could get some Nature’s Variety Instinct or Feline’s Pride frozen.