- Joined
- Dec 28, 2018
- Messages
- 175
- Purraise
- 330
I'm socializing my feral kittens, and making great strides. One actively seeks petting now and pushes into it, one accepts it and may be on the way to liking it, two are getting much better, but still skitter away sometimes. The last kitten is the confusing one.
She is...very shy. Her body language is screaming that she's scared. Her belly is usually nearly dragging on the ground, her tail is clamped tightly down, her body is tense, she hides in small or enclosed spaces, or behind things. On the other hand, her ears and whiskers are relaxed and forward, her eyes about 3/4 open usually, and she'll frequently slow blink at me.
One day I spent a good 8 hours in the kitten room, and she didn't come out to eat. Worried she was sick, I put a can of freshly opened wet food at the edge of the cat tree cube she was in, then slowly edged it towards her until it was right under her nose. She didn't touch it. I risked reaching in, even with her body language, because I was very concerned by now. She didn't react at all to me gently touching her, or eventually resting my full hand over her back. I gently petted her with my fingertips and thumb, while keeping my palm still, and suddenly she just...relaxes, and starts eating. After a bit, she starts purring, then shifts to a more relaxed body pose. I removed my hand, and she hunched down and stopped eating. I returned my hand over her, and she relaxes and starts eating again.
I now find the easiest way to get her to eat is to pet her until she relaxes enough to eat, and even when there is no food, she seems to like me just reaching in and petting her. Her ears, whiskers, and eyes all say "I'm content and relaxed and lazily paying attention to you". Her body is usually screaming "I'm utterly terrified!!!!!" unless I've been petting her for a while. Even when her body is still tense, her response to me laying my hand over her is to look at me, slow blink several times, then either look away or sort of lazily stare at me with half lidded eyes, slow blinking every so often.
I'm...honestly baffled by this mismatch of body language from her. She NEVER hisses or growls or startles or moves away from being petted when she's in her cube. She does try to squirm away and get back to her cube if I try to take her out of it, usually looking around the room with wide eyes and alternately pressing back into me and trying to squirm free to slink back into her cube. If I pet her long enough in her cube, she does relax her body and sometimes starts purring and even (slightly) pushing into the petting. But it takes over ten minutes of petting to get to purring, and usually at least five for her body to relax.
Any ideas? I've ordered a sling, and started scooping her into it, inside her cube, then petting her and offering treats to get her comfortable with it. I'm planning to try laying on the bed in the room, with her in the zipped close sling next to me, so she can be covered and (hopefully) feel safe, but be out of her cube and with me, and hopefully get her a little less terrified of the world outside her cube. I'll slip her treats and pet her every so often, but try not to overstimulate her and just let her chill and get used to peeking out of the mesh window and smelling me and being safe outside of her safe zone. I'm honestly not sure what else to try. Has anyone else had a cat with such mismatched language and reactions?
She is...very shy. Her body language is screaming that she's scared. Her belly is usually nearly dragging on the ground, her tail is clamped tightly down, her body is tense, she hides in small or enclosed spaces, or behind things. On the other hand, her ears and whiskers are relaxed and forward, her eyes about 3/4 open usually, and she'll frequently slow blink at me.
One day I spent a good 8 hours in the kitten room, and she didn't come out to eat. Worried she was sick, I put a can of freshly opened wet food at the edge of the cat tree cube she was in, then slowly edged it towards her until it was right under her nose. She didn't touch it. I risked reaching in, even with her body language, because I was very concerned by now. She didn't react at all to me gently touching her, or eventually resting my full hand over her back. I gently petted her with my fingertips and thumb, while keeping my palm still, and suddenly she just...relaxes, and starts eating. After a bit, she starts purring, then shifts to a more relaxed body pose. I removed my hand, and she hunched down and stopped eating. I returned my hand over her, and she relaxes and starts eating again.
I now find the easiest way to get her to eat is to pet her until she relaxes enough to eat, and even when there is no food, she seems to like me just reaching in and petting her. Her ears, whiskers, and eyes all say "I'm content and relaxed and lazily paying attention to you". Her body is usually screaming "I'm utterly terrified!!!!!" unless I've been petting her for a while. Even when her body is still tense, her response to me laying my hand over her is to look at me, slow blink several times, then either look away or sort of lazily stare at me with half lidded eyes, slow blinking every so often.
I'm...honestly baffled by this mismatch of body language from her. She NEVER hisses or growls or startles or moves away from being petted when she's in her cube. She does try to squirm away and get back to her cube if I try to take her out of it, usually looking around the room with wide eyes and alternately pressing back into me and trying to squirm free to slink back into her cube. If I pet her long enough in her cube, she does relax her body and sometimes starts purring and even (slightly) pushing into the petting. But it takes over ten minutes of petting to get to purring, and usually at least five for her body to relax.
Any ideas? I've ordered a sling, and started scooping her into it, inside her cube, then petting her and offering treats to get her comfortable with it. I'm planning to try laying on the bed in the room, with her in the zipped close sling next to me, so she can be covered and (hopefully) feel safe, but be out of her cube and with me, and hopefully get her a little less terrified of the world outside her cube. I'll slip her treats and pet her every so often, but try not to overstimulate her and just let her chill and get used to peeking out of the mesh window and smelling me and being safe outside of her safe zone. I'm honestly not sure what else to try. Has anyone else had a cat with such mismatched language and reactions?