Behavior of long-term shelter residents since birth/early kittenhood

[jcat]

, Pam!

Basically, the question is what behavior(al problems) might be expected if you adopted cats that have spent at least one to two years in a shelter since birth or very early kittenhood. The shelter in question keeps groups of up to ten cats in large rooms, with kittens being integrated into a mixed-age group at about three to four months. The groups usually contain former pets, strays and ferals. One-on-one contact with humans after integration is unfortunately minimal due to the shortage of volunteers.

The cats in question are "left over" from the 2010 and 2011 "kitten seasons", spayed or neutered, and only available for adoption in pairs of closely bonded siblings; coincidentally all pairs consist of a somewhat shy female and a very shy male. They presumably weren't adopted because one or both cats are black.

Any information or advice you're able to give that can be passed on to potential adopters would be greatly appreciated.

 

[johnson-bennett]

There's good and bad news here. The good news is that the cats in that environment are at least housed in social groups and that can encourage adoption of more than one cat at a time. The bad news is that minimal human contact and socialization to humans can make it a tougher journey when placed in a home.

The key will be to create total safety for the cat in the new home so the cat has opportunities to hide and feel secure but also, place tunnels and safe pathways to resources so the kitty will be encouraged to start investigating. The last thing you want is for the cat to spend 24 hours hiding under the bed and that's where it's important to create tunnels to resources. This can be done with boxes or open paper bags that have the bottoms cut out.

You also have to go slowly with the human interaction and find the cat's comfort zone distance from you and work from there. I use clicker training in this situation as well as fishing pole toys so that I can create a fun reason for the cat to interact with me while still remaining far enough away. If you go at the cat's pace and never push too hard or too fast you can do well with the trust-building process.

Good luck.

Pam Johnson-Bennett, CCBC

www.catbehaviorassociates.com

 

[jcat]

Thank you! The tunnels are a great idea and not anything we'd thought of recommending.

 

[johnson-bennett]

Tunnels can provide so much comfort for cats and can it easier for environmental adjustments. Good luck with it.

Pam Johnson-Bennett, CCBC

www.catbehaviorassociates.com