Clingy kitten

[luciafernanda]

I just went on holiday for a week and my plan was to leave Lucia with my friend L and his wife A. I left her with them for two weeks in the summer and she was very happy there, and they loved having her. They have two cats of their own and at first there was some tension, but within a few days the older cats (Lucia was around four months then) were mothering her and playing with her and teaching her things. So, none of us had any qualms about leaving her there this past week. L was also fostering another cat and dog when I dropped off Lucia last Friday. The dog was kept away from the cats unless she was on a leash.

Anyway...the other cats weren't thrilled by Lucia's arrival but she settled in and ate and I went home to finish packing. Then the next day, before I went to the airport, L called me asking me to come see Lucia before I went. Overnight she had become very aggressive. She was in a room by herself (with all her things) and whenever L or A went in she would launch herself at them...growl, hiss, bite, scratch. A got some very nasty scratches (which led L to accuse me/Lucia of giving her rabies...!). So I came and as soon I entered the room, she calmed down. Started purring and came and sat in my lap and rubbed against me and let L and A in the room and was sweet to them when I was there. Thinking she had calmed, I went to gather her things to take her to my neighbours' (who had kindly agreed to take her at short notice). As soon as I left the room, she freaked out and started trying to attack L and A again.

So I left her with my neighbours P and C, who know her and love her. She often goes and visits them when I let her outside, and sometimes they ask if she can go to their place to play for a while. So I figured she would be fine there. She knew their home, knew them, knew her surroundings.

Anyway...the next evening...first day of my holiday...my neighbour calls me, upset because Lucia started freaking out again. She had bitten C, was causing all sorts of havoc, and was very tense and nervous, even when she was sitting still. P loves Lucia and didn't know what to do. In the end, it was arranged for her to go a cattery in our neighbourhood, where they looked after her until I got her today.

The vet at the cattery spoke to me on the phone and said she was perfectly healthy...and Lucia has been normal today. She was very hyper when we got home but she's been calm all afternoon and snuggling with me.

So...any ideas why my cat now freaks out around other people and new situations? I know cats generally don't like new situations but I've never had a cat that got so aggressive. Could it be because she doesn't have much contact with other people? I had roomies until she was three months old and since then we've lived alone...she only sometimes sees the cleaner and my neighbours...I don't entertain much because my apartment is so small.

Could be her age? 8 months...old enough to know things are different and scary, not old enough to cope with the change?

Or being taken from her mother too young? She was abandoned and forced away from her mother too early (five weeks) and I've had her since then. I was told bottle-fed kittens would grow up to be clingy cats but she was fine when I left her in August.

She's a pretty clingy cat at home but in a way I find is sweet...she follows me almost everywhere and always likes to watch me and see what I'm doing. But aside from that she acts perfectly normally.

Is there anything I can do to help her feel calmer in new environments? I'm going away at Christmas and I don't want to take her to the cattery because a) it's expensive and b) I feel bad for her locked in a cage and without anyone playing with her...even though it's a very nice cattery, as far as catteries go...so a friend of a friend who loves cats has said they'll stay in my apartment to look after her when I'm away. But...if they have problems, the cattery will be booked up and I don't know what else I could do with her.

Is she just supporting the theory about "tortitude"?!

Um......tl:dr...I'm sorry. In conclusion, why does my cat freak out so much in new environments? And what can I do to help calm her down or adjust? Difficult when I'm not actually around in these situations.

 

[tulosai]

So this isn't a direct answer to your primary question (though I'll try to briefly address that too) but it seems to me the most immediate 'problem' is the Christmas visit,.  Is there any reason you can't have someone (either one of the friends you mention above, or a combination of them) just come to your home daily for a few minutes and feed Lucia, empty her litterbox, and play with her if she will let them?  Many cats have a very   hard time adjusting to new situations, and Lucia's reactions sound totally normal to me actually.  You could probably minimize her stress by letting her stay in her own territory.  She may still be kind of lonely, and will miss you, but at least she will be in a familiar place.  I can't imagine exposing my poor cats to a totally new house each time I travelled. ETA: sorry, I just saw a friend will say in your apartment.  I think this should be a great solution.

Regarding her reaction and what you can do, unfortunately I think her reactions were totally normal.  Cats hate changes.  Moving a piece of furniture can set some cats off for weeks.  I do think one major issue, and something you will need to address if you leave Lucia with L and A in the future, is that an appropriate introduction to the other cats was not done.  There is no way she'd have remembered them (or they her) and they should have been 'introduced' using the methods described in this article: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats  if they were going to be introduced at all.  For 'shorter' visits (really anything under 2 weeks) I myself probably wouldn't even bother and would keep the cats isolated from one another in separate rooms, since it wouldn't be worth the risk of an incident to me. it is ok to want to introduce them though as long as you go slowly and use the steps in that article.

I am guessing by the time Lucia got to her next stop, she was already unbelievably stressed out and on edge and something set her off.  I would recommend that if you do leave her in a strange house again, you make sure that whoever you leave her with leaves her alone and lets her decide when she is ready to come out and when she wants affection.  I have no clue what happened this time, and maybe they did that and she attacked anyway, but letting her set the pace is very important.  I'd also make sure they are confining her in only one room to begin with and letting her get comfortable there before letting her explore other rooms, and ideally expanding her territory slowly, one room at a time.  She was probably totally overwhelmed.

Your kitty sounds normal, just confused and scared.  I hope others may be able to supplement the advice I give above.

 

[luciafernanda]

She was kept in one room at L and A's place but L, who is an incredibly kind and generous person thinks everyone is like him and we should get on and be friends, including cats. So even though she was kept in one room, I think he wanted to introduce the other cats and dog to her :/ Thinking they'd be buddies like they were in the summer. Even when I went to pick her up and she'd calmed down, he tried to bring the dog into the room. Like really? The terrified kitten has just calmed down and you're going to bring an excited puppy into the mix?

Pretty sure L and A won't take Lucia again! Two days after picking her up, L called me asking if I was sure Lucia didn't have rabies, as A was sick and in hospital and her doctor said she had symptoms of rabies. Symptoms of rabies are soo general! Lucia doesn't go outside much, she doesn't know other animals, she's scratched and bitten me whilst playing and I'm fine...she did NOT give A rabies! Their doctor even spoke to Lucia's vet who confirmed Lucia was healthy. Either way, she ended up getting the anti-rabies vaccination...so I hope she doesn't have nasty side effects of that because it really wasn't necessary and a massive overreaction on their doctor's part...

I guess her reactions were normal...she was terrified but her reactions terrified us...I did suspect the reason she freaked out with my neighbours was just because she was stressed from all the moving but I wasn't around to check...and everyone else was freaking out and calling me every five minutes whilst I was lying on a Caribbean beach that I assumed something was really wrong. I thought they should relax but it's not really fair to ask them to do that when they're already doing you a huge favor and your cat has just bitten them.

If I go away for a couple of days I'll ask my neighbours to come in to feed her, but I don't like the idea of leaving her alone for two weeks. So my only options are putting her in the cattery again (and I'll have to book that, like, tomorrow) or having this person stay in my apartment the whole time. What would you do? She'd be in her own territory, everything would be the same except the person feeding her and sleeping in my bed would be different.

 

[luciafernanda]

also thanks for your reply and reminding me Lucia's reactions were normal haha. Everyone else freaked out it freaked me out. The way they were acting made me think there might be something seriously wrong with her.

 

[tulosai]

 
also thanks for your reply and reminding me Lucia's reactions were normal haha. Everyone else freaked out it freaked me out. The way they were acting made me think there might be something seriously wrong with her.

No, there is really nothing wrong with her other than that she is a cat 

I definitely would have someone come and stay in your apartment rather than putting her in a cattery. Just make sure that whoever stays with you knows to let Lucia come to them on her own terms 

It does sound like your friends really overracted, but on the other hand, when stuff like this happens, it is a bit scary 

I can tell you really care about Lucia.  She is lucky to have found you!

 

[gravekandi]

Lucia's reactions were normal! Their is nothing wrong with her, she was just scared and stressed and acted accordingly as a terrified cat. I too would suggest letting her stay at home with someone watching her so shes on familiar territory.Just let them know what they might experience and tell them to let Lucia approach them on her own terms.