Help needed with nervous rescue cat

[12345abcde]

Hi All and a Happy New Year to everyone.

I need some advice please so I can progress further forward with a rescue cat.

I have a smoke grey female cat aged between 9 and 11 years and she is half Siamese but you would not know it to look at her.

She is however very nervous and runs away a lot. I have had her now for about a month and she came from Cats Protection. She is very nervous of me especially when I am up on my feet and walking around the house or busy doing things. She will run off and hide out of the way if I am downstairs she will hide upstairs.

A typical example is as follows. I go home tonite she will come out and be sociable and probably spend the evening either with me or on my lap when I sit down and she will purr, loves her head and chin stroked and just falls asleep without a care in the world. I make a bed up for her in the evening on the armchair before I go to bed where she quite happily stays all night.

However in the morning when I come downstairs she runs and hides and then goes upstairs and hides in the bedroom and this seems to be the daily routine thus far.

My question is has anyone out there experienced this kind of nervous behaviour and how did you get around it so you could let her out in the garden and just allow her to have a normal life and get over this nervousness.

With CP's help we managed to trace a member of the previous owners family who said that she had never been away from the lady who had her or been moved around or been in a cattery before so it may be this that has caused the problem, I am not sure.

If anyone has any definitive, positive answers as to how to get around this I would be very interested to hear them.

Thank you all

Take care

Paul London

 

[Margret]

My husband is 2 meters tall (6'7"), and very unsteady on his feet due to diabetic neuropathy. Jasmine has seen him fall, and always runs out of his way when he stands up, behavior which he encourages. I wonder whether your cat may have been trained to avoid people who are standing or walking? Or perhaps she's been kicked or stepped on accidentally? Either of these things could cause the behavior you describe, and if that's it, only time will fix it. Perhaps some leash training? She'd have to be around a standing/walking human to get outdoor time.

Margret

 

[margd]

A month is really not such a long time, especially since she is an older cat who spent her entire life with one person. It was very kind of you to take in a senior cat - they have such a hard time finding homes.

If you have time in the morning, try sitting with her on your lap and loving on her as you do at night. This might help break the morning cycle of running and hiding. Of course, this does involve getting her out of her hiding place. For that, sit on the floor near her and tempt her out with treats, speaking soothingly to her as you do. When she seems comfortable with that, then try the lap sitting which she clearly enjoys.

Hopefully this is just a matter of time and she will eventually stop running once she feels secure in her new home.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

I agree; a month isn't too long in terms of an adult cat settling in to a new home.  It sounds like she is doing very good!  You could try to encourage her to come around in the morning like Margd suggested.  But it does sound to me like she is doing very well! 

 

[12345abcde]

Hi all

Thank you very much for your replies and support re my cat.  Getting a hrness is something I have considered but I will take my time getting one of those.

She has adjusted to a collar with a name tag really well. what I need to do now is get hold of CPL and get her microchip details changed.

while a month is not to long it is the longest that I have ever had to oversee a cat (so to speak) normally within a fortnight all the older cats I have rehomed have been really good.

I to have wondered if someone whom I vaguely resemble may have stood on her or kicked her or was just nasty to her it only takes one and there is no way of knowing really, so just trying to observe as I go.

Thank you all for your feedback if anyone has any other ideas I am always interested in listening and learning.

Kind regards

Paul London

 

[artiemom]

I also feel that a month is not very long.

Perhaps, your kitty is feeling more awake and is remember any horror she may have seen or been through with her prior owner..if she was with an elderly person, who knows what she saw...strange people coming in and out, being taken aaway from her owner (who she loved) , put in a rescue, and then coming to see you...Who knows what she saw or went through at the rescue. 

According to her, she was taken stolen from her home and put into a shocking  situation (for her).

She is still frightened, confused. 

Seems like she wants to be loved. She misses your company during the day; so she is showing you her love at night.

Older cats are hard to transition. I adopted my guy at age 8. He was starved for love. He had been in the foster home only 2 weeks, but he wanted human companionship so bad. He jumped on my lap the first night I had him, but he did hide a lot.

Artie was so nervous, living in an apartment building. It took him a very long time to get accustomed to the noises in here. He was jumping and was so skittish with every sound. 

I am sure, with time she will come around. Perhaps you can get a toy out in the morning, sit on the floor and try to tempt her out of her hiding places...it could be a start. Something like a string toy...

She will come out when she is feeling completely at home. She is just afraid that you may be trying to take her away again. Let her feel comfortable and then she will be a very different cat.

While Artie is still very vocal when he gets into his carrier, he is no longer sensing sensing that I will be 'dropping' him off somewhere. He is more comfortable with the carrier. He knows this is his forever home.

I always got the sense that he was thinking I was going to get rid of him...

I am not an expert at all...just explaining what I have gone through and seen with my guy...

The other thing I tried was making Artie a 'tent" or a hiding spot...some place where he would feel safe. While I did know where he was, I did not bother him. It allowed him to feel safe and comfortable, and still be near me...

To this day, he still loves his 'tent'...

Good luck

 

[12345abcde]

Hi

Thank you all for your responses as every little bit of information adds up and helps.  I am also wondering about her background.  I know from Cats Protection that she is half Siamese but no one seems to know who or where the other parent came from.

You cannot tell that she is half Siamese by looking at her as it does not show but when she opens her mouth and yells you can tell it is there although it is nowhere as apparent as full Siamese meow,

CPL know that Siamese cats can be highly strung as do I,  so has anyone else ever had a cat that is only half Siamese and did you notice if they were more highly strung than your normal moggy??

Any positive info would be great as I can also let my contact at CPL know to is it will help her for the future.

Take care

Kind regards

Paul London

 

[artiemom]

Give her time. She will come around. I am sure of it. 

Just speak quietly to her, keep talking, and let her come out. Do not force her out of her hiding places. 

Try the string toy. Treats also work really well.

I remember someone on another forum, stating that she would just sit on the floor with the new cat, reading or such. This allows the kitty to get adjusted to the sound of your voice as well as your presence.

I do not know what her background is, however I am betting that she was abused at some point. If she is that afraid of feet and noises...who knows what horrors she went through. 

Leave some quiet classical music  or a talk show on the radio when you leave the house. Do not have it blaring, just in a normal calm talking tone.

You can also try some Feliway plug ins. It is like a Glade outlet plug-in; but filled with a cat pheromone, which does calm down a lot of cats. I swear it helped Artie. 

You can also get some Bach Rescue Remedy drops to add to her water or food...calming scents..

Good luck, keep us updated

 

[Margret]

It doesn't have to have been active abuse for her to have been traumatized. An elderly person could easily have tripped over her, or accidentally kicked her.

Also, do you know anything about the circumstances of her former human's death? Did strangers come into her home and steal her human away (feline viewpoint)? And then her human never came back. Poor baby. Maybe she doesn't want to get too close to you because she's still carrying a torch for the one she lost, doesn't want to transfer her affections because she thinks there's still a chance that her human will return.

When my dad died, in Colorado, his dog Toby never saw his body. Toby didn't realize that his preferred person was gone for good. When we moved my mother and Toby back home to Oregon, Toby got very excited as he recognized the scents of home. He was visibly disappointed when he discovered that my dad wasn't there, either; Toby had clearly thought that maybe my dad had gone ahead and we were joining him. He grieved to the end of his life, felt deserted.

Margret