Hi all, I've just adopted a senior Siberian cat (7 years old, recently spayed) from a cattery. She is beautiful, but not at all what I expected from a behaviour point of view. Of note, we have a dog who is timid and stays away from cats.
Quote:
"personality-plus, dog-like temperament, friendly, outgoing and confident"
We've had her for about four weeks now - quarantined her in a room by herself with litterbox (her usual litter brand), food (best cat food available), water (fresh!), bed (plush and warm), scratching post, toys w catnip - door left open so she doesn't feel trapped; gone in to talk to her whenever we could. She would usually be hiding behind the cupboard, shaking so we thought it was the stress of moving to a new place. The shaking has subsided but she is still very very touchy.
Quote: "Senior cats usually adapt better to a new environment compared to younger cats."
Her behaviour is puzzling. I have been trawling the internet for cat expert opinions (articles) and have come to no definite conclusion. She still flees everytime she sees us, has a permanent scowl/glare on her face. But at night, just before I go to sleep, sometimes she comes to see me in the study and sits near my feet. When I pet her, she does the head-butt thing (pushes her head upwards against my palm) and purrs very very softly.
When I come a fraction closer, she flees.
Why??? I tried approaching her very very slowly when she was perched on top of the cat tree platform (its a huge platform), and perhaps it was because she was higher than me - she felt less threatened? She rolled over and showed me her belly.
At night, she wanders the house at about 4am and meows incessantly. She often sits outside the bedroom and meows until I come out, but she just runs away and watches me from under the bed/ fridge / table, when I go back to sleep she starts meowing again... driving me nuts!!! There was once I ran after her and she was cornered, instead of hissing or scratching she flopped over to show me her belly and started doing a kneading action with her front paws (in the air) ...
She is confusing me... on the one hand, she acts like she is afraid of me, on the other hand, she is showing signs of contentment (or surrender?) and wanting attention. Why? How do I fix the situation?
By the way, she gets really jealous of the dog on my bed. When she feels like it, she takes the dogs' place on my bed at night - of course, she is never there when I actually wake up - I only see her tail as she is fleeing (and a BIG cat shaped indent in the blankets where the dog usually lays) because she's heard me waking up. Oh, and the dog will be whimpering, sleeping on the floor.
Arghhhhhhhhh what am I doing wrong?? I don't want to own an invisible cat! I thought Sibbys were friendly!
Quote:
"personality-plus, dog-like temperament, friendly, outgoing and confident"
We've had her for about four weeks now - quarantined her in a room by herself with litterbox (her usual litter brand), food (best cat food available), water (fresh!), bed (plush and warm), scratching post, toys w catnip - door left open so she doesn't feel trapped; gone in to talk to her whenever we could. She would usually be hiding behind the cupboard, shaking so we thought it was the stress of moving to a new place. The shaking has subsided but she is still very very touchy.
Quote: "Senior cats usually adapt better to a new environment compared to younger cats."
Her behaviour is puzzling. I have been trawling the internet for cat expert opinions (articles) and have come to no definite conclusion. She still flees everytime she sees us, has a permanent scowl/glare on her face. But at night, just before I go to sleep, sometimes she comes to see me in the study and sits near my feet. When I pet her, she does the head-butt thing (pushes her head upwards against my palm) and purrs very very softly.
When I come a fraction closer, she flees.
At night, she wanders the house at about 4am and meows incessantly. She often sits outside the bedroom and meows until I come out, but she just runs away and watches me from under the bed/ fridge / table, when I go back to sleep she starts meowing again... driving me nuts!!! There was once I ran after her and she was cornered, instead of hissing or scratching she flopped over to show me her belly and started doing a kneading action with her front paws (in the air) ...
She is confusing me... on the one hand, she acts like she is afraid of me, on the other hand, she is showing signs of contentment (or surrender?) and wanting attention. Why? How do I fix the situation?
By the way, she gets really jealous of the dog on my bed. When she feels like it, she takes the dogs' place on my bed at night - of course, she is never there when I actually wake up - I only see her tail as she is fleeing (and a BIG cat shaped indent in the blankets where the dog usually lays) because she's heard me waking up. Oh, and the dog will be whimpering, sleeping on the floor.
Arghhhhhhhhh what am I doing wrong?? I don't want to own an invisible cat! I thought Sibbys were friendly!