- Joined
- Mar 17, 2018
- Messages
- 59
- Purraise
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I adopted Margo just over two weeks ago. She's 2.5 years old. The first week she was a dream. Openly curious (I didn't wean her into my space, which is on me), played from day 1, meowed, purred, rubbed up against me, let me pet her, doesn't hide, litter habits are spot on. She doesn't get in my lap but I know that can take time. She did get in my bed at night a few times. She'd been a dream. Didn't even flinch at the vacuum. The only destructive behavior is she scratches my apartment's carpet and sometimes my sofa despite having many different scratch things (I literally have a sisal post, cat tree, cardboard scratchers, and a sisal mat). A week ago I noticed tapeworms so I took her to the vet (took her there the previous week for a wellness check and all was good). They took her in the back to give an injection and apply Advantage and I heard screaming and hissing. When I asked what happened, because I hadn't experienced that side of her, they said she didn't like being restrained hard. I got a bad feeling from them. Anyway, she was pretty mad the rest of the day but seemed to warm up eventually. Three days ago something spooked her pretty bad. I heard a 'thud' but couldn't tell what it was from the other room. She was staring out my window (I'm on the 3rd floor) acting strange. She has gotten 'jumpy' since. The vacuum now freaks her out and she hisses. She won't let me pet her (she'll bite - not hard). I thought we were making progress. And now I'm in a dilemma where I'm not sure what to do about the carpet scratching without further wrecking any bond we have left, since my impulse has been to yell. I'm getting a carpet-only scratching post and some Feliway spray. I'm also getting more cardboard scratchers since she does seem to like that type of material. I've also watched videos on positive reinforcement but not sure how to do that with a cat who isn't into being pet or treats (I've bought sooooooo many kinds of treats).
TL : DR:
-new adult cat is scratching various spots on carpet despite plenty of scratch options + doesn't care about being pet or treats, what can I do?
-how do I reestablish her trust?
TL : DR:
-new adult cat is scratching various spots on carpet despite plenty of scratch options + doesn't care about being pet or treats, what can I do?
-how do I reestablish her trust?
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