Hi, folks. I would like to hear what you have to say about my two furry babies. I have had cats formost of my adult life, but never any that were as nervous and jumpy as these two. Rusty and Olivia are about 6 months old. They are not littermates but were fostered together. Both were feral dumpster kitties before they were rescued by the group I adopted them from. They had been socialized (sort of) by the time they came to live at my house when they were about 12 weeks old. Also, they are strictly indoor, neutered, but not declawed. Rusty is the extrovert, following me around the house, talking away, and insisting on as much petting as he can get and crawling into my lap whenever he can. However,whenever I extend a hand toward him to pet him he flinches and ducks and sometimes moves away, even though he was asking for petting. It can take a few tries and much coaxing before he will allow me to touch him. Heaven forbid if I should try to pick him up.
Olivia remains either under the bed or the couch for most of the time I am home. She will slink around the edges of a room and sometimes sit beside me on the couch and allow me to pet her if I don't look at her or speak to her. Sometimes she will sit in my lap, again only if I pretend she is invisible. If I acknowledge her presence she immediately runs and hides again. If anyone else is in the apartment she may not make an appearance. At bedtime,though
she is up on the bed beside me, snuggling as close as she can get, enjoying petting.....until I happen to shift position, then she is gone. Neither cat will come when I call them unless I am opening a can of food or treats and I don't want to give them too many extra goodies. I know the girl who fostered them and I know she would not have done anything to frighten them or threaten them and she would not have allowed anyone else to. I have never had rescued feral cats before. Is this normal behavior and what can I do to help them be more comfortable? They both eat and drink well. There are no problems with the litterbox. There are plenty of toys and we spend time playing. Not long ago Rusty spent the day walking around the house yodeling at the top of his lungs. I have read that all of these behaviors are signs of stress. It took a lot of work and coaxng to get Olivia to the point where she is as sociable as she is and Rusty has calmed down a lot from the hyper ball of energy he was when he first came here. After three months, what could these little guys be stressing about?
Olivia remains either under the bed or the couch for most of the time I am home. She will slink around the edges of a room and sometimes sit beside me on the couch and allow me to pet her if I don't look at her or speak to her. Sometimes she will sit in my lap, again only if I pretend she is invisible. If I acknowledge her presence she immediately runs and hides again. If anyone else is in the apartment she may not make an appearance. At bedtime,though
she is up on the bed beside me, snuggling as close as she can get, enjoying petting.....until I happen to shift position, then she is gone. Neither cat will come when I call them unless I am opening a can of food or treats and I don't want to give them too many extra goodies. I know the girl who fostered them and I know she would not have done anything to frighten them or threaten them and she would not have allowed anyone else to. I have never had rescued feral cats before. Is this normal behavior and what can I do to help them be more comfortable? They both eat and drink well. There are no problems with the litterbox. There are plenty of toys and we spend time playing. Not long ago Rusty spent the day walking around the house yodeling at the top of his lungs. I have read that all of these behaviors are signs of stress. It took a lot of work and coaxng to get Olivia to the point where she is as sociable as she is and Rusty has calmed down a lot from the hyper ball of energy he was when he first came here. After three months, what could these little guys be stressing about?
