- Joined
- Jan 27, 2013
- Messages
- 7
- Purraise
- 10
Rescued a feral kitten who had been dropped off last summer. She's probably nearly a year old now, has been in the house about 4 mo. She doesn't distinguish between biting and clawing a toy, and my hand. She's fixed, had all her shots, in process of cleaning her ears, progressively. Not easy, either, but watched the vet and hold her the same way, with feet and fangs on the side of the counter she stands on, and my skin at her back.
Now I'm trying to figure out how to restrain her so I can trim her claws, so they won't do so much indoor damage. She has a scratching toy with catnip on it, which she likes, but she also uses any furniture that's handy. Shorter claws, less damage, I hope--also to my skin. But--do I swaddle her in a large towel and have only one foot at a time sticking out, and clip quickly, let her breathe a bit, then wrap and do the next foot? Any claw that's free will be dangerous, and if she can get her mouth around, she has bitten me quite deeply a couple times. Put Feliway on the towel to begin with, perhaps?
I'm listening...
Also I wonder whether her aggressive behavior will ever extinguish? She's only 7 lb, a dwarf, and her brother, rescued at the same time, but laid back and easy to handle, is about 12 lb. Our original 2 cats are 12-14 lb., so I can see why she's afraid and attacks before she thinks. Fighting is much less now amongst them all. I've seen our Australian Shepherd dog actually intervene and distract the cats before they get beyond the stare and growl stage. She's amazing. She's also learned that cats are NOT squirrels so are not chase toys--that's a relief. It got pretty stressful with her chasing the new cats for a couple months. She must have been chasing them out in the yard when they were wandering the neighborhood last summer, but has learned they have changed status. Aussies are so smart, like cats :-)
Now I'm trying to figure out how to restrain her so I can trim her claws, so they won't do so much indoor damage. She has a scratching toy with catnip on it, which she likes, but she also uses any furniture that's handy. Shorter claws, less damage, I hope--also to my skin. But--do I swaddle her in a large towel and have only one foot at a time sticking out, and clip quickly, let her breathe a bit, then wrap and do the next foot? Any claw that's free will be dangerous, and if she can get her mouth around, she has bitten me quite deeply a couple times. Put Feliway on the towel to begin with, perhaps?
I'm listening...
Also I wonder whether her aggressive behavior will ever extinguish? She's only 7 lb, a dwarf, and her brother, rescued at the same time, but laid back and easy to handle, is about 12 lb. Our original 2 cats are 12-14 lb., so I can see why she's afraid and attacks before she thinks. Fighting is much less now amongst them all. I've seen our Australian Shepherd dog actually intervene and distract the cats before they get beyond the stare and growl stage. She's amazing. She's also learned that cats are NOT squirrels so are not chase toys--that's a relief. It got pretty stressful with her chasing the new cats for a couple months. She must have been chasing them out in the yard when they were wandering the neighborhood last summer, but has learned they have changed status. Aussies are so smart, like cats :-)
