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- Mar 14, 2016
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Great on the treats. Just make sure you don;t give too many. I LOVE to hear she loved them. Making that positive association. Great!! You don;t have to do it when you come home. Just anytime when you are relaxed and have some time. And then just sit there on her level and give her a few treats. Just to make that positive association with something she likes and positive emotions.
WOW!! You really went all out for her play session!! Good job. But you don't have to make it to elaborate. All you have to do is really make sure things can get knocked down and break and there aren't any sharp things she could bang into and get hurt. I personally tend to like physical toys rather than laser lights for the reasons you mention (it is something they can "kill"). But if a wand toy etc doesn't work then a laser is fine. Anything to get them "hunting".
The key is always to make the toy act like prey. So think of how a mouse or rabbit or bird would move. Halting movements, bursts of movements, hiding, going around corners to hide, etc.
It is always good to get them to Hunt, capture, kill then repeat. A little down time between is fine. It doesn;t have to be nonstop hunting etc for 20 mins. Cooling down and then going back to stalking/hunting is good. So if she is on her side it could be a for a few reasons. Just feel her out and see her interest. After the play session feed the treats or a meal.
Given the way a wand toy is one has to kind of stand above. BUT that should be ok. Just watch how she is reacting. If she is playing well then it is a non issue. But if she has bad body language or is cautious about play then it could be an issue. But it sounds like this is not an issue with her. Correct? When I can view the videos I will be able to see it if it is a concern.
I don;t typically like free feeding but sometimes it is a must. Try best to keep it to a schedule. Make sure wet food is not out long as it can spoil. Make sure you don't overfeed as well. But we want to have her associate you with something good (food). Which of course you will be doing with treats. So I would like to understand more about how you feed (times and how long the wet food is out and when you think she tends to eat her meals). I do understand you concerns about the feeding times and your schedule but PLEASE do not feel guilty. We want to keep the emotions as positive as possible. We'll work around the time issues so free feeding hard food may be best. We'll figure it out.
Unfortunately I need to see the videos to interpret her better.
I meed to understand why she would put her ears back. That is a sign of a more defensive/aggressive posture. But why? Cats don't typically attack unless threatened. Bad energy, staring, cornering etc can cause that. But typically cats don't want to attack. I'll see it in the video hopefully.
Does she break the skin? If a cat really is scared they will bite and bite hard. Break the skin, going deep. So cats have a control over their biting pressure. A love bite vs a play bite vs an aggressive bite. I deal with ferals and one of the things I do to build trust (after some is built) it to feed pieces of chicken by hand to the feral (DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME ANYONE). And I am amazed at how they know the difference between the chicken and my fingers. And I will let out an "ouch" and they can sense my anguish, pain. My point is it is not their intent to bite me and they know not to bite hard. It amazes me and since I have seen it in many, many cats I believe the cats know what they are doing and show some restraint. Now I have seen fear bites as well where they are biting for survival because of a threat. My point is, cats typically don't want to hurt unless they view an existential threat. The videos should help in seeing what is going on and hopefully I can give some hints as to how to handle this.
So, you actually pick her up when she is biting? You must not fear her too much at that point? Are you scruffing her? Or picking her up under her arms? How does she respond?
Cats are territorial so anytime we take territory away by putting them in a closed room it can cause stress, unease, negativity. Now I understand the need to be able to get things done safely but this can be perceived as negativity and therefore make things worse.
Do these attacks happen right after play or do they happen after she hasn't played for a while? Cats have massive energy so trying to drain some is important (through play), And also giving them things to occupy them without human interaction (likes some toys, cat trees, tunnels, cat shelving (which may be impossible for you), etc.
Yes, we would like to see her body language (tail) more positive. But again, let's see what the video looks like and I can interpret her better.
Don't worry, I think this is solvable.
WOW!! You really went all out for her play session!! Good job. But you don't have to make it to elaborate. All you have to do is really make sure things can get knocked down and break and there aren't any sharp things she could bang into and get hurt. I personally tend to like physical toys rather than laser lights for the reasons you mention (it is something they can "kill"). But if a wand toy etc doesn't work then a laser is fine. Anything to get them "hunting".
The key is always to make the toy act like prey. So think of how a mouse or rabbit or bird would move. Halting movements, bursts of movements, hiding, going around corners to hide, etc.
It is always good to get them to Hunt, capture, kill then repeat. A little down time between is fine. It doesn;t have to be nonstop hunting etc for 20 mins. Cooling down and then going back to stalking/hunting is good. So if she is on her side it could be a for a few reasons. Just feel her out and see her interest. After the play session feed the treats or a meal.
Given the way a wand toy is one has to kind of stand above. BUT that should be ok. Just watch how she is reacting. If she is playing well then it is a non issue. But if she has bad body language or is cautious about play then it could be an issue. But it sounds like this is not an issue with her. Correct? When I can view the videos I will be able to see it if it is a concern.
I don;t typically like free feeding but sometimes it is a must. Try best to keep it to a schedule. Make sure wet food is not out long as it can spoil. Make sure you don't overfeed as well. But we want to have her associate you with something good (food). Which of course you will be doing with treats. So I would like to understand more about how you feed (times and how long the wet food is out and when you think she tends to eat her meals). I do understand you concerns about the feeding times and your schedule but PLEASE do not feel guilty. We want to keep the emotions as positive as possible. We'll work around the time issues so free feeding hard food may be best. We'll figure it out.
Unfortunately I need to see the videos to interpret her better.
I meed to understand why she would put her ears back. That is a sign of a more defensive/aggressive posture. But why? Cats don't typically attack unless threatened. Bad energy, staring, cornering etc can cause that. But typically cats don't want to attack. I'll see it in the video hopefully.
Does she break the skin? If a cat really is scared they will bite and bite hard. Break the skin, going deep. So cats have a control over their biting pressure. A love bite vs a play bite vs an aggressive bite. I deal with ferals and one of the things I do to build trust (after some is built) it to feed pieces of chicken by hand to the feral (DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME ANYONE). And I am amazed at how they know the difference between the chicken and my fingers. And I will let out an "ouch" and they can sense my anguish, pain. My point is it is not their intent to bite me and they know not to bite hard. It amazes me and since I have seen it in many, many cats I believe the cats know what they are doing and show some restraint. Now I have seen fear bites as well where they are biting for survival because of a threat. My point is, cats typically don't want to hurt unless they view an existential threat. The videos should help in seeing what is going on and hopefully I can give some hints as to how to handle this.
So, you actually pick her up when she is biting? You must not fear her too much at that point? Are you scruffing her? Or picking her up under her arms? How does she respond?
Cats are territorial so anytime we take territory away by putting them in a closed room it can cause stress, unease, negativity. Now I understand the need to be able to get things done safely but this can be perceived as negativity and therefore make things worse.
Do these attacks happen right after play or do they happen after she hasn't played for a while? Cats have massive energy so trying to drain some is important (through play), And also giving them things to occupy them without human interaction (likes some toys, cat trees, tunnels, cat shelving (which may be impossible for you), etc.
Yes, we would like to see her body language (tail) more positive. But again, let's see what the video looks like and I can interpret her better.
Don't worry, I think this is solvable.