Just reminded me of something. When I took Maggie,3 months old, from the vets she pooped in her carrier. She purred when I gave her a bath. Not anymore!
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What Was Your Cat's Behavior Like In The First Day?
- Thread starter Anne
- Start Date
Belle was around 7-8 years old when we got her. Her previous owners had abandoned her in the apartment upstairs from my aunt for nearly two weeks, so she was half starved and nearly dead. The landlord found her and brought her to my aunt's, as she was the only tenant with cats, and my aunt opted to put her in the bathroom for her to calm down and eat. I was visiting for the day, and she was so tiny, I thought she was just a kitten! I'm a big cat lover myself, so I sat in there with her, and after a few hours she stopped hiding from me and quickly warmed up to me. We deduced her age through the old tenants social media posts about her, and my aunt was at a loss as to what to do with her, as she had three cats and was worried they'd be aggressive towards her.
I took her home, and her initial reaction was pure fear when she met my mother, who's 6'3" and partially deaf. She was loud and high energy, so Belle quickly took to my room and avoided my entire family. The bond was instantaneous - I fed her, cleaned her, played with her, and ended up falling asleep with her curled right beside me. To this day, she's attached to me at the hip and acts very skittish around other people, with the exception of a few members of the family. Even from day one, it was obvious that she would be my new best friend!
I took her home, and her initial reaction was pure fear when she met my mother, who's 6'3" and partially deaf. She was loud and high energy, so Belle quickly took to my room and avoided my entire family. The bond was instantaneous - I fed her, cleaned her, played with her, and ended up falling asleep with her curled right beside me. To this day, she's attached to me at the hip and acts very skittish around other people, with the exception of a few members of the family. Even from day one, it was obvious that she would be my new best friend!
We've had 9 cats over 25 yrs but I only remember the firsts days of our last 3. We've been very lucky with those introductions.
When we got Monkeygirl we had 14yr/14lb Rusty who had been the peace keeper of this 3 older siblings and caretaker to his sister before she passed. Monkey was 1.4lb when we got her from our vet. She was so tiny I was afraid to put her down. Monkey curled up under my chin pureed and slept. She ate a fancy feast with softened SD kitten crunchies. When my partner came home she held Monkey while ran out to get our dinner. Monkey screamed the whole time I was gone and stopped as soon as I took her back. For the first few days I would sit on the floor and Rusty would come and sniff her. Day 1 both hissed by day 5 Rusty sat in front of us and I put her on the floor. Rusty gave her a complete bath and didn't stop for 1 1/2 yrs when we lost him. On day 10 I put her down to play and she ran right into the wall and knocked herself out. I grabbed her and took her to the vet. The vet called me to the exam room after a very short time. Other than a little blood from her ear she was alert and screaming for me. She was only with us for 4 yrs and was my angel.
That morning I woke with the thought "Today is the day" I shook a jingle toy in my pocket when I went to the shelter. From the end of the row of cages I saw a bunch of legs trying to get out of a middle cage. I was sure there were 3 kittens in the cage but it was only one very excited black kitten. That was my Yoshi! (named for the video game character) He was sneezing on the way home. My vet did clinic style rather than by appts back then so we went to the vet on the way home. Yoshi was 4lb the shelter thoght he was 10 wks but my vet thought he was closer to 6wks by his teeth. He was all happy wiggles during his exam. At home I put the carrier down, turned to close the door. He unzipped it from the inside and flew around the house. Monkey sat on a chair watching. She hissed a few times when he went by. He didn't notice her so she stopped. The next few days Yoshi tried to go up to Monkey. She hissed - he stopped each time. About day 7 or 8 Monkey was laying on her side Yoshi walked over searched her for milk, she gently grabbed his ear and from then on they played.
When we lost Monkey I knew Yoshi needed a running buddy. A few months later I started looking at local rescue websites and saw a 6 mt old Sqeeker. His foster mom said he was good with other cats. I forgot to ask about humans. I brought him home about noon. Again I put the carrier on the floor to close the door. Yoshi came running, they sniffed each other through the side and made happy noises. I took a chance and opened the carrier. They got a head to tail sniff of each other. Sqeeker followed Yoshi around but any time he noticed a human he said "EEK!" and hid under a chair. At dinner time I tried to feed them at opposite ends of the room. Sqeeker went and sat a foot from where Yoshi was eating (nothing stops Yoshi from eating) so I moved Sqeekers dish to that spot. When I left the room he came out from under the chair and ate. When they got their evening snacks they both ate out of the same pile with whiskers touching. Then got into their own beds. About 10 pm each night for the first week Sqeeker crawled to the rug in front of his bed and meowed in a sad way. Yoshi got held him by the scruff, then licked Sqeekers head a little and they got back into their own beds. By the end of the week Sqeeker just got in bed with Yoshi. 9 yrs later they are still inseparable, Sqeeker tolerates humans and occasionally lets us brush him.
When we got Monkeygirl we had 14yr/14lb Rusty who had been the peace keeper of this 3 older siblings and caretaker to his sister before she passed. Monkey was 1.4lb when we got her from our vet. She was so tiny I was afraid to put her down. Monkey curled up under my chin pureed and slept. She ate a fancy feast with softened SD kitten crunchies. When my partner came home she held Monkey while ran out to get our dinner. Monkey screamed the whole time I was gone and stopped as soon as I took her back. For the first few days I would sit on the floor and Rusty would come and sniff her. Day 1 both hissed by day 5 Rusty sat in front of us and I put her on the floor. Rusty gave her a complete bath and didn't stop for 1 1/2 yrs when we lost him. On day 10 I put her down to play and she ran right into the wall and knocked herself out. I grabbed her and took her to the vet. The vet called me to the exam room after a very short time. Other than a little blood from her ear she was alert and screaming for me. She was only with us for 4 yrs and was my angel.
That morning I woke with the thought "Today is the day" I shook a jingle toy in my pocket when I went to the shelter. From the end of the row of cages I saw a bunch of legs trying to get out of a middle cage. I was sure there were 3 kittens in the cage but it was only one very excited black kitten. That was my Yoshi! (named for the video game character) He was sneezing on the way home. My vet did clinic style rather than by appts back then so we went to the vet on the way home. Yoshi was 4lb the shelter thoght he was 10 wks but my vet thought he was closer to 6wks by his teeth. He was all happy wiggles during his exam. At home I put the carrier down, turned to close the door. He unzipped it from the inside and flew around the house. Monkey sat on a chair watching. She hissed a few times when he went by. He didn't notice her so she stopped. The next few days Yoshi tried to go up to Monkey. She hissed - he stopped each time. About day 7 or 8 Monkey was laying on her side Yoshi walked over searched her for milk, she gently grabbed his ear and from then on they played.
When we lost Monkey I knew Yoshi needed a running buddy. A few months later I started looking at local rescue websites and saw a 6 mt old Sqeeker. His foster mom said he was good with other cats. I forgot to ask about humans. I brought him home about noon. Again I put the carrier on the floor to close the door. Yoshi came running, they sniffed each other through the side and made happy noises. I took a chance and opened the carrier. They got a head to tail sniff of each other. Sqeeker followed Yoshi around but any time he noticed a human he said "EEK!" and hid under a chair. At dinner time I tried to feed them at opposite ends of the room. Sqeeker went and sat a foot from where Yoshi was eating (nothing stops Yoshi from eating) so I moved Sqeekers dish to that spot. When I left the room he came out from under the chair and ate. When they got their evening snacks they both ate out of the same pile with whiskers touching. Then got into their own beds. About 10 pm each night for the first week Sqeeker crawled to the rug in front of his bed and meowed in a sad way. Yoshi got held him by the scruff, then licked Sqeekers head a little and they got back into their own beds. By the end of the week Sqeeker just got in bed with Yoshi. 9 yrs later they are still inseparable, Sqeeker tolerates humans and occasionally lets us brush him.
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When we brought Yoda home he was 3 months old. He initially was a little afraid but he had to come out of his carrier because he needed a bath. After an hour or so if us sitting with him he was running around and playing.
When we brought Vader home he also was 3 months old. He immediately was out of the carrier and running around and sniffing and playing with all the cat toys. He really wanted to play with Yoda even though Yoda is a little hesitant towards him and will swat him away if he is being annoying.
When we brought Vader home he also was 3 months old. He immediately was out of the carrier and running around and sniffing and playing with all the cat toys. He really wanted to play with Yoda even though Yoda is a little hesitant towards him and will swat him away if he is being annoying.
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Emma was 3 months when I adopted her at a local pet shelter. When I first brought her into the house with the cat carrier from the shelter, I placed it down in the bathroom, and left her for a few minutes just so she could see her surroundings from inside a "safe" place. After 10 or so minutes I opened up the door to the carrier, kept her in the bathroom, and just walked off quietly and secretly watched her, as I did not know how timid she would be. Twenty five seconds later, she gets out, looks around the bathroom, and then just walks right out into the rest of the house and is sniffing and exploring everything. I gave her some treats, and she ate them right away.
She then went for the food, like literally within 5 minutes of me bringing her home (this is when I knew she was my spirit animal lol). I had put out some wet food for her, and she very much enjoyed that. After eating, she came over and sat on me (I was sitting on the kitchen floor). Then I picked her up and brought her into the bathroom and placed her in her litter box. Emma looks around, gets out, and moves on to more investigation of her new home. She also used the litter box at some point, so that was a relief that she understood where to go.
Our next adventure was learning how to go up and down the stairs. She caught on very quickly, and then she discovered the cat shortcut, where you just hop down off the side at like the third stair from the bottom. That night she slept in bed with us, all curled up. We never would "bring" her with us, she would just follow and then snuggle with us once we were settled down.
We could also immediately tell that she was playful. She was already using her scratching post, and would run around with her mice. The laser was her favorite, she went NUTS with that.
Since she was my first cat, I didn't really know what to expect. I was half expecting that she would not want to leave the bathroom, and we would have to coax her out with treats. NOPE! I definitely feel lucky, she seemed to trust us right away, and that trust just keeps building.
She then went for the food, like literally within 5 minutes of me bringing her home (this is when I knew she was my spirit animal lol). I had put out some wet food for her, and she very much enjoyed that. After eating, she came over and sat on me (I was sitting on the kitchen floor). Then I picked her up and brought her into the bathroom and placed her in her litter box. Emma looks around, gets out, and moves on to more investigation of her new home. She also used the litter box at some point, so that was a relief that she understood where to go.
Our next adventure was learning how to go up and down the stairs. She caught on very quickly, and then she discovered the cat shortcut, where you just hop down off the side at like the third stair from the bottom. That night she slept in bed with us, all curled up. We never would "bring" her with us, she would just follow and then snuggle with us once we were settled down.
We could also immediately tell that she was playful. She was already using her scratching post, and would run around with her mice. The laser was her favorite, she went NUTS with that.
Since she was my first cat, I didn't really know what to expect. I was half expecting that she would not want to leave the bathroom, and we would have to coax her out with treats. NOPE! I definitely feel lucky, she seemed to trust us right away, and that trust just keeps building.
