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- Sep 1, 2014
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Would love some cat-expert input on my foster kitty. She has been with me for over a year (foster-fail in all but paperwork at this point) and she's...well...unusual. She is about 16 months old, and is visually impaired. (But not blind - she can chase a laser dot if it's close to her.) That doesn't worry me really. But behaviorally she's really peculiar. There aren't any feline specialists in my area, and she is so bad with change that I hesitate to take her to an expert anyway. (I do her vaccinations at home to save her the saga of vet trips.)
Her litter came to the shelter from unknown origins, but the siblings were all socially typical of having been in a home. No feral behavior from them. This one was at risk of being sent away as too dangerous for volunteers to handle even at 12 weeks old. When frightened, she reverts to feral-like behavior (striking, hissing, hiding, etc.). She has always shown high levels of aggression under stress.
She has learned to be comfortable with our household, even my two grown cats. But she's just not socially cat-like.
She has invisible people. I would say "friends" but sometimes they seem to be more like invisible enemies. She watches them, talks to them, plays with them, and sometimes fears them. (They live on the ceiling mostly.) She doesn't rub against things, she doesn't sniff things to explore them. She plays with my other cats, but doesn't sniff them (or me - even when I smell of food.) When they play, they usually play the "I'm going to bite your back leg" game. (I've never seen her approach them from anything but the rear, but never sniffs.) She doesn't rub on things (even though she loves it when I scratch her INSIDE her ears.)
She can't pick her food up off of the floor. She licks her food quite a bit before finally biting, so anything I put on the hardwood floor just runs away from her. I have to hold treats in my hand for her to take them or she can't corner them.
She tends to live in our master bedroom most of the time, but will come out to eat and play when it suits her. (A few times a day generally unless she's afraid.) When I brought home some foster puppies (bottle fed, no mamma, eyes barely open) she freaked out and tore open our box-spring and moved in. For a month. She never adapted to their presence and never calmed down. She never was even in the same room or on the same floor of the house as the puppies - she only smelled and heard them, and she still never adjusted.
Once she thwacked me in the face with her claws when I was sleeping. Husband thought my snore scared her.
So I guess I say all that to ask if anyone with some cat-behavior experience can give any insight. I don't mind that she's peculiar, but I worry that she's volatile. Does any of this sound familiar? Are there any insights that could help me understand these patterns? I don't know if the physical and behavior symptoms are related. What do you folks think?
Her litter came to the shelter from unknown origins, but the siblings were all socially typical of having been in a home. No feral behavior from them. This one was at risk of being sent away as too dangerous for volunteers to handle even at 12 weeks old. When frightened, she reverts to feral-like behavior (striking, hissing, hiding, etc.). She has always shown high levels of aggression under stress.
She has learned to be comfortable with our household, even my two grown cats. But she's just not socially cat-like.
She has invisible people. I would say "friends" but sometimes they seem to be more like invisible enemies. She watches them, talks to them, plays with them, and sometimes fears them. (They live on the ceiling mostly.) She doesn't rub against things, she doesn't sniff things to explore them. She plays with my other cats, but doesn't sniff them (or me - even when I smell of food.) When they play, they usually play the "I'm going to bite your back leg" game. (I've never seen her approach them from anything but the rear, but never sniffs.) She doesn't rub on things (even though she loves it when I scratch her INSIDE her ears.)
She can't pick her food up off of the floor. She licks her food quite a bit before finally biting, so anything I put on the hardwood floor just runs away from her. I have to hold treats in my hand for her to take them or she can't corner them.
She tends to live in our master bedroom most of the time, but will come out to eat and play when it suits her. (A few times a day generally unless she's afraid.) When I brought home some foster puppies (bottle fed, no mamma, eyes barely open) she freaked out and tore open our box-spring and moved in. For a month. She never adapted to their presence and never calmed down. She never was even in the same room or on the same floor of the house as the puppies - she only smelled and heard them, and she still never adjusted.
Once she thwacked me in the face with her claws when I was sleeping. Husband thought my snore scared her.
So I guess I say all that to ask if anyone with some cat-behavior experience can give any insight. I don't mind that she's peculiar, but I worry that she's volatile. Does any of this sound familiar? Are there any insights that could help me understand these patterns? I don't know if the physical and behavior symptoms are related. What do you folks think?
