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shy wildcat (8months old)
Hi,
About four months ago, I trapped some wild kittens. I kept one and gave 2 to to a family member. My wild kitten is truly a wild cat. I have another cat too, and it seems to have helped the wild cat feel more comfortable having another cat in the home. I live in an apartment, and both cats are indoor cats. The wild cat has done much better than I expected socially. Some background: I caught the wild kitten and 2 of his siblings by 1st feeding them outside the apartment for a few days. One of the kittens was the leader, and the other 2 followed him when I put food out. They seemed to be very hungry when I found them. I had the idea to catch them and find them a home. Once they got comfortable coming up the steps to my apartment outside, I opened the door one night and put the food inside. I trapped them in the apartment. My cat stayed at my mom's outside for abou a month. I used a racoon trap to catch him and bring him back to my apartment. He wen nuts when I caugt him. He was literally banging around in the cage and screaming at the top of his lungs and boy could that little kiteen scream loud. He is fairly sociable. He comes around me when I'm watching tv in my living room. He gets under the coffee table and pokes his head under it when I'm sitting on the couch. I likes to play and I try to play with him some each day. But he won't let me touch him (just in that one place if we are playing). He pretty much runs away in other parts of the aprartment if he sees me coming, and he won't let me pet him. He hissses at me if I try to get close to him and runs off. Should I be forcing him to let me hold him? I have not been forcing him. He seems pretty happy but not a lap cat and I can't even pet him. He's very shy. Should I get him fixed? Thanks |
#2
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shy wildcat (8months old)
Yep. Get him fixed. Even if he's indoor-only, it will have a calming
effect on him. When dealing with a wild cat, the best thing to do is to stop trying for a while and just pretend that you don't want to pet him. This will give him a chance to stop reacting to your assaults and observe you. Greet him with your voice, talk to him, but don't directly interact with him for about a week. If you're in the same room with him, pretend he's invisible (cats often hope that they are and enjoy this sensation) and let him watch you cooking, cleaning, reading or whatever, without him becoming the object of an interaction. Eventually, he will come a bit closer. Whe he does, don't sweep him up in a big hug (as much as you will want to), but just talk a bit, and move very slowly, if at all. He will show you the pace at which he feels comfortable (which may be like molasses) and if you startle him, apologize and withdraw until he comes over again. Start with one pet. Stop. He may be satisfied and walk away and don't chase him. Or he may linger, in which case you can count to 10 and then try one more. And so on. When you've worked your way up to 10 or so pets w/o a retreat, then try moving a bit closer or briefly picking him up and then releasing him immediately. It's all a dance, and you want to let him dictate how fast it goes. And at that age, wand toys are a great ice-breaker. Get him chasing something and he may forget how scared he is for a while.Catnip can also help to disarm him a bit if he doesn't want to play at first. If you take this deliberate pace, you should see results in a month or two. Good luck! |
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shy wildcat (8months old)
wrote in message oups.com... Yep. Get him fixed. Even if he's indoor-only, it will have a calming effect on him. When dealing with a wild cat, the best thing to do is to stop trying for a while and just pretend that you don't want to pet him. This will give him a chance to stop reacting to your assaults and observe you. Greet him with your voice, talk to him, but don't directly interact with him for about a week. If you're in the same room with him, pretend he's invisible (cats often hope that they are and enjoy this sensation) and let him watch you cooking, cleaning, reading or whatever, without him becoming the object of an interaction. [...] I think this is great advice, all of it, Tracy. You are a good cat psychologist! My former feral Gracie runs from us all the time, unless she is a) up on our bed where she always sleeps or b) being ignored by me as I talk on the telephone or try to get something done. In the latter case she will NOT leave me alone, rubbing up against me, purring, trying to get between me and the phone, etc. Granted, this is a cat that our local shelter spent four months socializing before we took her, and she has been with us for four years. Still, the impulse to not be pursued is still there. She does want to be close, just not chased, held, picked up of her feet, i.e. out of control of the interaction. (Of course I still do this sometimes, because she is just too cute to resist. Heh.) |
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shy wildcat (8months old)
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#5
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shy wildcat (8months old)
Hi there,
Sounds like you have one of those challenging, lovable, former-feral kitties. We have a few here, one that lives under our bed and only comes out at night. Tracy already gave you good advice. I'd just chime in that I don't think they have to be trained to be a lap cat, that's asking a lot from a former feral. I do think you need to keep working (and playing) to the point that you can touch him and pet him, and be able to catch him to go to the vet (still a challenge with some of ours.) Be patient and persistent. Keep playing more and getting closer every day. Talk to him constantly. Former ferals are funny, it can be okay to pet them in one room or on one piece of furniture, but not somewhere else. They can keep you guessing! Keep at him though, it takes a lot of bravery on their part, but they can come around to accepting humans. Oh, one big thing is food. Food is many times the way to a former feral's heart. That's what broke the ice with our Abernathy. After one week of sitting on floor in front of a chair (he was hissing at me from behind it,) I finally got him to eat a piece of chicken from my hand. Curiosity (and his stomach) got the better of him. Good luck with your guy. And I'll second or third the idea to get him neutered! Worse than a wild kitten is a spraying wild kitten. Rhonda wrote: Should I be forcing him to let me hold him? I have not been forcing him. He seems pretty happy but not a lap cat and I can't even pet him. He's very shy. |
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