Flippy
August 25th 03, 12:57 AM
TIFFANY UPDATE - August 23, 2003
Tiffy has been at her new home for 10 weeks now and is slowly settling in.
She is still spending most of her time in the study, which she doesn't seem
to mind at all. In fact, even when I let her out she quite often comes back
after a few minutes to "her room" to sit on her favorite chair by the
window. Other times she wanders around the house for up to half an hour.
I've had to increase Tiffy's exposure gradually to Romeo, Juliet and Chloe.
Tiffy is still aggressive towards them but I suspect it is because she
stares at them to try to read their body language because she is not getting
the vocal signals. There is still a lot of hissing and spitting going on
under the door, and when Tiffy spots one of the cats in person she still
chases and screams at them. Fortunately though, Tiffy does not jump onto
high benches or furniture so Romeo, Juliet, & Chloe have found a way to
avoid her by "hiding" on the tall furniture for the half hour while she is
walking around the house.
For the past week I've been adding Rescue Remedy to the cat's water bowls,
but doesn't appear to have had an effect on Tiffy. The other cats, however,
have really mellowed out! J The first day after I started to add Rescue
Remedy to the water, Romeo spent the whole day sleeping inside his Kitty
Cube! This was unusual because normally he likes to go outside in the
mornings. I noticed a change also with Juliet and Chloe, in that they weren'
t quite so stressed about Tiffy.
Ever since they were kittens, Romeo, Juliet, and Chloe have been allowed to
jump up on the bed, furniture, (and even kitchen benches at times J).
However, it is obvious from Tiffy's behaviour that in her previous home she
had not been allowed to do this. Sometimes when she is walking around
inspecting the house she jumps up onto the bed or other (low) furniture for
a few seconds. Then she spots me and cringes - poor darling thinks that
someone is going to hit her. Slowly though, she is getting used to the fact
that we don't mind her jumping onto the furniture. Several times now when I
have been out of the room and she thinks I'm not looking I've caught Tiffy
jumping up onto the desk and even onto the monitor. At these times I'm
careful not to make any sudden movements or even look in her direction - I
don't want to frighten her. She is slowly getting used to the fact that she
can jump up on the bed and other furniture here without getting into
trouble.
Grooming Tiffy is still a bit of a problem. Mia and I comb her for up to a
minute at a time now. We always make sure to reward Tiffy with treats for
sitting still for us. It is a slow process.
Tiffy still hates having her face cleaned. I wait until she is sleeping or
relaxed and then sneak up on her. As with the grooming she always gets a
treat afterwards.
Slowly but surely Tiffy is getting used to being petted. Sometimes she will
let us pet her for a minute or two, and at times she even purrs! Mia and I
consider this to be quite an achievement under the circumstances.
I'd like to thank everyone for your kind messages of support and for your
helpful hints. Mia and I appreciate all your emails, and we apologise in
advance if we don't get around to replying to them all because of our heavy
workload.
Purrs to all,
Flippy and Mia, & the kitties: Romeo, Juliet, Chloe, & Tiffany.
Catpage: http://www.flippyscatpage.com
Tiffy has been at her new home for 10 weeks now and is slowly settling in.
She is still spending most of her time in the study, which she doesn't seem
to mind at all. In fact, even when I let her out she quite often comes back
after a few minutes to "her room" to sit on her favorite chair by the
window. Other times she wanders around the house for up to half an hour.
I've had to increase Tiffy's exposure gradually to Romeo, Juliet and Chloe.
Tiffy is still aggressive towards them but I suspect it is because she
stares at them to try to read their body language because she is not getting
the vocal signals. There is still a lot of hissing and spitting going on
under the door, and when Tiffy spots one of the cats in person she still
chases and screams at them. Fortunately though, Tiffy does not jump onto
high benches or furniture so Romeo, Juliet, & Chloe have found a way to
avoid her by "hiding" on the tall furniture for the half hour while she is
walking around the house.
For the past week I've been adding Rescue Remedy to the cat's water bowls,
but doesn't appear to have had an effect on Tiffy. The other cats, however,
have really mellowed out! J The first day after I started to add Rescue
Remedy to the water, Romeo spent the whole day sleeping inside his Kitty
Cube! This was unusual because normally he likes to go outside in the
mornings. I noticed a change also with Juliet and Chloe, in that they weren'
t quite so stressed about Tiffy.
Ever since they were kittens, Romeo, Juliet, and Chloe have been allowed to
jump up on the bed, furniture, (and even kitchen benches at times J).
However, it is obvious from Tiffy's behaviour that in her previous home she
had not been allowed to do this. Sometimes when she is walking around
inspecting the house she jumps up onto the bed or other (low) furniture for
a few seconds. Then she spots me and cringes - poor darling thinks that
someone is going to hit her. Slowly though, she is getting used to the fact
that we don't mind her jumping onto the furniture. Several times now when I
have been out of the room and she thinks I'm not looking I've caught Tiffy
jumping up onto the desk and even onto the monitor. At these times I'm
careful not to make any sudden movements or even look in her direction - I
don't want to frighten her. She is slowly getting used to the fact that she
can jump up on the bed and other furniture here without getting into
trouble.
Grooming Tiffy is still a bit of a problem. Mia and I comb her for up to a
minute at a time now. We always make sure to reward Tiffy with treats for
sitting still for us. It is a slow process.
Tiffy still hates having her face cleaned. I wait until she is sleeping or
relaxed and then sneak up on her. As with the grooming she always gets a
treat afterwards.
Slowly but surely Tiffy is getting used to being petted. Sometimes she will
let us pet her for a minute or two, and at times she even purrs! Mia and I
consider this to be quite an achievement under the circumstances.
I'd like to thank everyone for your kind messages of support and for your
helpful hints. Mia and I appreciate all your emails, and we apologise in
advance if we don't get around to replying to them all because of our heavy
workload.
Purrs to all,
Flippy and Mia, & the kitties: Romeo, Juliet, Chloe, & Tiffany.
Catpage: http://www.flippyscatpage.com