Recognizing Or Recollection Of Former Owners

[MRG2018]

This might be a weird thread, but please hear me out.

My cat Charlie was given up to the shelter in May 2017, stating he had aggression and he had bit another animal or human. He had lived with dogs, and he was not neutered.

He was neutered a few days before I started fostering him. When I brought him home- he wasn't scared, and didn't hide. Took to litter box immediately and ate well. No illnesses.
But he is not a lap-cat, doesnt like cuddles or being held close, and does not purr audibly. Either he was taken from his mother too soon- or he was a feral trapped. These are my assumptions.

Charlie loves people. Anytime he sees people, in the hallway or outside the window, he chases right after them for pets. This has resulted in some people shrieking, and some people finding it adorable. Hence the harness training currently.

Anyway- today he saw a long haired female walking around in the deck below us and got excited. But I have never seen him have such an over the top reaction seeing a human. He started pawing and climbing the window, mewing in the most cutest way, jumping up and down his cat tree, wagging his tail and extremely excited. He kept doing that for a while and then when was attempting to climb a window panel, I naturally extended by hand to stop him from falling and got chomped on 3 times.
After this he continued with his jumping and running around, extremely excited. Then about 5 mins later, he stopped and just sat there in silence. I guessed the woman had left the deck.
He kept looking outside and then he turned to me and he looked so sad. He moped around for a while.


Is there a possibility that he recognized his former owner- as in saw the similarities and thought it was his former family/owners?
He of course does not know that he was given up, and scheduled to be euthanized because he is a black cat and aggressive.
So I wonder if he harbors animosity towards me if he thinks his former owners will come back for him. He is not aggressive towards me, and sleeps next to me and needs his pets.

But the recognition or recollection part, anyone ever experienced something like this where a cat was able to recognize their previous owner or family?

 

[MRG2018]

These are his pictures that were posted on the shelter site last year, which made me foster him instead of other cats or kittens.

And this is him now, pretending he cannot walk with a harness on.

 

[danteshuman]

He is handsome I'm not sure if he recognized the lady or if there was a bird or other critter you didn't see.

About the nipping, our semi-feral used to be a biter. What worked for me was really minding his body language and calmly correcting him when he nips. I calmly say no and tap (or touch) the side of his muzzle once .... then ignore him for 5 minutes. I can pet him and carry him around a bit knowing the worst he might do is nip... and that is unlikely. It took time, lots of slow blinks and tons of love.

*Since he has two strikes against him being a biting black cat, why not clicker train him? Apparently it greatly increases a cat's chance of adoption.

 

[danteshuman]

***** I forgot to mention I only use 2 fingers when doing the tap or touch correct. Staying calm is a must.

 

[MRG2018]

He is handsome I'm not sure if he recognized the lady or if there was a bird or other critter you didn't see.

About the nipping, our semi-feral used to be a biter. What worked for me was really minding his body language and calmly correcting him when he nips. I calmly say no and tap (or touch) the side of his muzzle once .... then ignore him for 5 minutes. I can pet him and carry him around a bit knowing the worst he might do is nip... and that is unlikely. It took time, lots of slow blinks and tons of love.

*Since he has two strikes against him being a biting black cat, why not clicker train him? Apparently it greatly increases a cat's chance of adoption.

Thank you for your reply.
This event happened around 8:30, too dark for a critter or bird, although I thought it would be and kept looking outside. Then suddenly the long haired woman came into sight and he got all excited.

When Charlie nips me or bites my ankles- I don't react anymore or I show him I am in pain and he stops. But i dont touch him, cause he gets more aggressive. I think his previous owner used to slap him or punish him. Cause the first few months if he dropped something or made a noise or knocked something, he would run away scared. And I brought my hand to pet him, he would flinch.
I don't threaten him with any physical actions, no sprays, no nothing. He is mostly very obedient.

I am going to read up on clicker training. I thought it was only done with younger cats. Since I have already adopted him- I dont mind his climbing all over my kitchen counters, knocking off my toiletries off the sink, and all the typical crazy cat stuff he does.

 

[MRG2018]

***** I forgot to mention I only use 2 fingers when doing the tap or touch correct. Staying calm is a must.

Thank you for the clarification. If i try to bring my hand to try to correct him- he bites that as well. So I just stay calm, say oww and he stops.

 

[rubysmama]

Oh, what a cutie pie. Are you still fostering him? Or is he/you a foster failure?

Interesting his reaction to the woman.

My Ruby girl is adopted. Since she was 2-ish when I adopted her, I often wonder about her former life/owners, and wonder if she even remembers them. Yet another reason I wish sometimes cats could talk.

 

[MRG2018]

Oh, what a cutie pie. Are you still fostering him? Or is he/you a foster failure?

Interesting his reaction to the woman.

My Ruby girl is adopted. Since she was 2-ish when I adopted her, I often wonder about her former life/owners, and wonder if she even remembers them. Yet another reason I wish sometimes cats could talk.

Foster failure after 2 months . I was clearly told he was way low on the totem pole of adoptions. Couldnt let him go back to the shelter. Look at those eyes!

Yeah if cats talked- they would be like our counsellors- chill out and relax, and go lick yourself clean. You smell of curry.

 

[rubysmama]

He's really adorable. So awful to think he was "scheduled to be euthanized". Thankfully, you and your "foster failure" saved him.

BTW, welcome to TCS. If you like, you can "formally" introduce yourself, and Charlie, in our New Cats on the Block forum.

 

[susanm9006]

I think that cats can remember people by scent, so someone close enough for the cat to pick it up, but not by sight. My current girl, who was adopted at age one, will purr and rub her face in anything that has been washed in Clorox bleach or Gain soap, neither of which are products I use. So I assume that those scents bring back memories of her former home or owner.

 

[Etarre]

My Ruby girl is adopted. Since she was 2-ish when I adopted her, I often wonder about her former life/owners, and wonder if she even remembers them. Yet another reason I wish sometimes cats could talk.

Me, too, @rubysmana! Juniper was found as a stray but is very well trained and socialized (she never plays rough, always keeps her claws in, never gives more than the very softest 'love nip'). But she was extremely skittish when we got her, and I'd love to know if that's her personality or the result of her experiences as a stray and/or in a shelter, which the cat rescue described as a particularly unpleasant environment. She also is more scared of movement/noise than of people per se, so it seems like she wasn't abused. But she was clearly abandoned.

It's a mystery!

M MRG2018 , that is a really interesting reaction. My dog used to react to home videos that included my aunt (who she loved) by running to the door to see if she was visiting. Could Charlie have heard this woman's voice? Has he ever reacted strongly to any other women with long hair?

 

[MRG2018]

Charlie couldnt hear her or smell her. He was watching her from a window and she was a floor below us. His reaction to her was something i have never seen before.

I read an article yesterday regarding a cat missing her owner so much (who got deployed after adopting her), that she keeps staring at his picture all day and sleeps in front of it.

I havent seen him react that to anyone, male or female , long hair or no hair. For some reason perhaps the color or the length or the type of hair must have made him remember.
Once she was gone- he seemed a little sad and disappointed. I was hoping I could cheer him a bit, but by the next morning he was busy watching birds and was himself again.

 

[MRG2018]

He's really adorable. So awful to think he was "scheduled to be euthanized". Thankfully, you and your "foster failure" saved him.

BTW, welcome to TCS. If you like, you can "formally" introduce yourself, and Charlie, in our New Cats on the Block forum.

Thank you!

 

[BonitaBaby]

Charlie couldnt hear her or smell her. He was watching her from a window and she was a floor below us. His reaction to her was something i have never seen before.

I read an article yesterday regarding a cat missing her owner so much (who got deployed after adopting her), that she keeps staring at his picture all day and sleeps in front of it.

I havent seen him react that to anyone, male or female , long hair or no hair. For some reason perhaps the color or the length or the type of hair must have made him remember.
Once she was gone- he seemed a little sad and disappointed. I was hoping I could cheer him a bit, but by the next morning he was busy watching birds and was himself again.

Could have just been the length and color maybe? My sister's former ginger cat was very excited by a female visitor years ago who had long, blonde hair. He sat on her shoulder and tried to clean her hair. I didn't witness this, but I heard the story. We all had dark hair and figured it was her hair color.

 

[BonitaBaby]

My Ruby girl is adopted. Since she was 2-ish when I adopted her, I often wonder about her former life/owners, and wonder if she even remembers them. Yet another reason I wish sometimes cats could talk.

I adopted my cat from a rescue shelter about the age of 3-8 depending on who is asked. I was told by the rescue shelter she was about 3-4 from her teeth, but later on a specialist said she was about 8-9. I used to wonder about her street life since she was a stray/semi-feral. I wondered where she ate and what and if she ate out of any trash cans. I wondered how she came to have a patch of missing fur. I wondered if she'd been in any fights and how many litters of kittens she might have had and if she was a good mother. She's feisty, so I can imagine her lightly biting former kittens if they bothered her. I wish she could talk too.

 

[MRG2018]

Could have just been the length and color maybe? My sister's former ginger cat was very excited by a female visitor years ago who had long, blonde hair. He sat on her shoulder and tried to clean her hair. I didn't witness this, but I heard the story. We all had dark hair and figured it was her hair color.

Yes I absolutely agree with you, it was the color and length of the hair, and perhaps the wavy style. Because my cat did not see her face, just her back turned towards us.