Did I Mess Up? My Cat Is Scared Of Me Sometimes(long Story)

[macyaji]

Hello Everyone, I have a 7 month old female cat named Rose! She is spayed 3 month ago and she lived in a foster home before I adopted her. From what I been told by the Director of Cat Adoptions/foster parent at the local rescue group, she was sent to the local humane society around 4 weeks old(best estimates) with 4 of her siblings. Out of the 5 litter mates, she was the only one tested positive for FeLV. She was then transferred to a local rescue group, she had her second test for FeLV and once again she tested positive. Although there are 5 other cats at her foster home, she was put in an isolated room due to FeLV. From 4 weeks old until I adopted her at 4 and half month old, she have very little interaction with other cats. She was spayed 1 week before I adopted her and have her blood tested again, this time she tested negative.

Now let me cut to the chase! She didn't take very long to get familiar into her new home. She was scared at first, but after 30 minutes she started exploring the house. She never went into hiding and she sat on my lap after she was done exploring. The first day went really well, she is not scared at all and she purrs all the time. The problem started with day 2, I was sitting on my couch watching TV, she just jump on my lap and bite my chin. My chin started bleeding immediately, I don't think she was trying to hurt me intentionally, she was just trying to play. Over the next two weeks, I noticed two major issues with her. First, she loves to bite and she can get really rough when playing. Second, she loves to play with her food. She would scoop dry kibbles out of the bowl and play with them. I tried many issues to change her behavior: water spray, tap on the nose, hissing...etc. Nothing worked! She still loves to bite and play with her food.

Biting and playing with food isn't the only two issues with her. I named her Rose because Roses are beautiful, but Roses also have thorns, you can hurt yourself if you are not careful. She always been a sweet and happy cat despite her issues. However things changed a little bit when I tried to trim her claw for the first time. She really doesn't like to have her claw trimmed,she puts up a lot of struggle. With the help of my mother, we managed to get all of her claw trimmed. This is when her behavior towards me changed! Ever since I trimmed her claw for the first time, she actively hides from me sometimes and sometimes even hiss at me if I get too close. The weird thing is that this seem to happen at random. One moment she would sit on my lap purring and the next moment she would appear to be scared of me and go hide.

Any advice is appreciated, I am first time Cat owner! I really need help with her 3 issues: biting, playing with food and acting scared.

 

[moorspede]

She's had little chance for socialisation, you will have to be persistent with her when she bites. You need to hiss, or say "No" in an authoritative voice and get up and ignore her for a few minutes. You need do to it every time. She's a kitten, she won't get it immediately but she will get it if you are consistent.

Give her soft toys to chew and lots of interactive play with a wand toy (the da bird toy is an exceptionally good one).

Personally, I think spraying cats can make them fearful and aggressive. My breeder did it to one of my kittens, it took her about three months to get over her fear.

Yes, holding your kitten down would have scared her. She wouldn't have understood why you were doing it.

For now though, don't go near her feet, she needs to trust you again first.

Is Rosie desexed? If she isn't, she may be feeling hormonal.

This article tells you a little about how to clip a cat's claws, there are many youtube vids showing ways to do this so that it doesn't traumatise your kitten.

How to Best Take Care of Cat Claws

Basically, you need to get your kitten used to you touching her paws. You do this gradually, first you just touch them, when she feels ok with this you can extend her claws by pressing gently on them. When she's ok do you attempt to clip her claws. I get my cats when they are feeling sleepy and only clip when they are willing. If they look uncomfortable after three, I stop and give them a treat. I then wait another day to do the rest.