Hi all,
I have owned my cat Jane for her entire life, a whole 7 years as of June, and safe to say she is at both her best and her worst right now. She has always been an anxious animal, we believe due to being inbred (she is not quite behaviorally or structurally correct) however I left her in the care of an immediate family member for 2 years while I attended college and it was relayed to me that some abuse may have occurred in that time. This has led to her having a huge distrust of feet, and it is a major issue for us.
Interestingly, when she attacks my feet, there is no hissing, raised hackles, fluffed tail, or pinned ears. She is simply irritated by them, strikes, then goes on like nothing happens. We aren't quite sure how to curb this behavior, as it is a result of trauma. On top of this, as stated above, she is generally anxious, and will swipe at objects she is familiar with and hiss as though they are new and frightening. She also has an odd sleeping schedule for a cat, being awake all day with us and sleeping at night when we do. I'm worried for her health going forward with as much anxiety and stress as she is experiencing.
What are good ways to effectively address a cat with anxiety and anxious behaviors? She is cat aggressive unfortunately so the idea of a friend for her is out of the question unless it was done with the help of a behavioralist or expert. We love her very much, but some of her behaviors have become intolerable, and we don't want that to fracture our relationship with her.
I have owned my cat Jane for her entire life, a whole 7 years as of June, and safe to say she is at both her best and her worst right now. She has always been an anxious animal, we believe due to being inbred (she is not quite behaviorally or structurally correct) however I left her in the care of an immediate family member for 2 years while I attended college and it was relayed to me that some abuse may have occurred in that time. This has led to her having a huge distrust of feet, and it is a major issue for us.
Interestingly, when she attacks my feet, there is no hissing, raised hackles, fluffed tail, or pinned ears. She is simply irritated by them, strikes, then goes on like nothing happens. We aren't quite sure how to curb this behavior, as it is a result of trauma. On top of this, as stated above, she is generally anxious, and will swipe at objects she is familiar with and hiss as though they are new and frightening. She also has an odd sleeping schedule for a cat, being awake all day with us and sleeping at night when we do. I'm worried for her health going forward with as much anxiety and stress as she is experiencing.
What are good ways to effectively address a cat with anxiety and anxious behaviors? She is cat aggressive unfortunately so the idea of a friend for her is out of the question unless it was done with the help of a behavioralist or expert. We love her very much, but some of her behaviors have become intolerable, and we don't want that to fracture our relationship with her.