Scared 2 year old former feral cat

[Inund8]

Hi all,
My friend adopted a 2ish year old female, her name is Friday, from a shelter. I don't have all the details, but she was definitely feral for a bit, and the tip of her ear is missing, I assume from a scuffle. Anyway, my friend me her at the shelter, where Friday let her rub her belly and was generally pretty warm. So she adopted her, paid the dues and took Friday home. At home, my friend kept Friday in the bathroom where she hid behind the toilet, was warming up to my friend, and it was going well for a few days.
Then when someone was having a shower, Friday got in behind the washing machine and my friend was scared that something would happen to Friday when they needed to run the machine, or she'd run out the door, and so she grabbed her to get her out. It's been a few days since then and Friday has been hiding, hissing and generally not being friendly anymore. She's been hiding under the bed, and not really eating.

Do you have any suggestions? Should she call the shelter for advice? Friday has a follow up vet appointment on Wednesday.

 

[tabbytom]

Hi all,
My friend adopted a 2ish year old female, her name is Friday, from a shelter. I don't have all the details, but she was definitely feral for a bit, and the tip of her ear is missing, I assume from a scuffle. Anyway, my friend me her at the shelter, where Friday let her rub her belly and was generally pretty warm. So she adopted her, paid the dues and took Friday home. At home, my friend kept Friday in the bathroom where she hid behind the toilet, was warming up to my friend, and it was going well for a few days.
Then when someone was having a shower, Friday got in behind the washing machine and my friend was scared that something would happen to Friday when they needed to run the machine, or she'd run out the door, and so she grabbed her to get her out. It's been a few days since then and Friday has been hiding, hissing and generally not being friendly anymore. She's been hiding under the bed, and not really eating.

Do you have any suggestions? Should she call the shelter for advice? Friday has a follow up vet appointment on Wednesday.

and welcome to TCS!

Thank you for adopting Friday from the shelter and for giving her a warm and fur-ever loving home and a safe sanctuary for her to live out her life

A tipped ear cat is not necessary been in a fight or got into some injury. Tipped ear cats are cats that have been caught in a Trap And Release (TNR) program and after they have been spayed or neutered, they are released back to the community. Not all tipped ear community cats are ferals. Some are strays and some have gotten use to humans when they were younger and some are abandoned by bad owners and have human contacts before. Ferals hardly come near to humans.

Most new cats will be sort of be afraid in a new environment as the sights and sounds are all new to them and especially cats that have history of abused, they'll be more scared.

In the case of Friday, best is to have her in a sore bathroom or bedroom. All these running of washing machine and taking showers and have traffic will spook her more and it'll take a longer time for her to adjust to the new environment. This will definitely put her in defensive mood and hiding and thus all the hissing and not being friendly anymore because she is trying to adjust to a new place from the other and all of a sudden the washing machine is running and someone having showers and also she's being grabbed to get her out all adds to her anxieties.

If she is hiding under the bed now, leave her there for the moment and make sure to keep noise down and movements slow as not to provoke and spook her again as these will all lead her to loose trust and confidence.

You can sit down at a distance and speak softly and lovingly to her and play some cat music (you can find them in YouTube). Read a book to her and try to do slow eye blinks with her and then look away to help her gain her confidence.

Have some food in your hand or a spoon if she don't mind you getting close to her. It is an ordeal that a a scared cat have to go through a new place with what just happened and 2 days later she had to go to the vet and that's another ordeal for her but it has to be done.

After all these, be very nice to her, keep her calm, do not frighten her again else it'll take a longer time for her to get over the whole thing. It'll almost be like a starting all over for her after the vet.

Feel free to ask questions and we'll try our best to help and please keep us posted pf the progress.

 

[Norachan]

A tipped ear cat is not necessary been in a fight or got into some injury. Tipped ear cats are cats that have been caught in a Trap And Release (TNR) program and after they have been spayed or neutered, they are released back to the community. Not all tipped ear community cats are ferals. Some are strays and some have gotten use to humans when they were younger and some are abandoned by bad owners and have human contacts before. Ferals hardly come near to humans.

I think if she has a tipped ear it means that she wasn't a feral born kitten that was taken in at a weeks years old, because ear tipping is generally for cats that will be released outside again. It sounds like she was part of a feral or stray colony that was trapped and spayed, but was happy enough around humans to be taken to a shelter rather than being released. Some places tip the ear straight across, others take a little V shape out of it.

But as she is a scared cat I think you should proceed as if she were feral and let her stay in her safe place for now. Tabby Tom has given you some very good advice. Check out some of Flatbush Cat's videos on YouTube. They do a lot of socializing with feral cats.

 

[di and bob]

Yes, she just freaked out when you pulled her out from behind the washer. Is Wednesday's vet visit completely necessary? Call them and see, this will set her back again. The process will have to start all over agin, I agree that a bedroom would be better. This is NOT abnormal at all for cats, I have often had many cats take two weeks to finally show themselves. Then they are loving and happy. it WILL happen!

 

[Inund8]

I think this is exactly what my friend needed to hear, so thank you all for chiming in!
Are there any resources, youtube or other, that anyone can recommend?

 

[tabbytom]

I think this is exactly what my friend needed to hear, so thank you all for chiming in!
Are there any resources, youtube or other, that anyone can recommend?

Here are some links to the soothing cat music. If you search in Youtube, just type in cat music.

Get your friend to join us here in Catsite.

Music for Nervous Cats - Soothing Cat Music for Deep Relaxation, Sleep, and Comfort

 

[Inund8]

Lil update folks, Friday did a #1 and #2 under the bed today, instead of using the litter box, and has been hissing and hitting when attempting to hand feed her, no matter how long you sit with her.

My friend and I read through this.

The Cat Socialization Continuum: A Guide to Interactions Between Cats and Humans

Alley Cat Allies'

www.alleycat.org

It feels to me like Friday was a friendly community cat, but has been having trouble socializing when there's any amount of stress from the environment? My friend is seriously considering surrending her back, what would you all do?