Shadow gets taught a lesson

Shadow is a strange and quite neurotic beast. She loves nothing more than a
good and very hard scritchin's (she really likes it *rough*), and will jump
for her 'secret' hiding-on-the-top-shelf-of-my-wardobe to come and groom me
after I've had a shower. And yet, at some point during any love-in she will
suddenly hiss at me, ad then she'll either bite really hard or get in a
quick and vicious rabbit kick before bolting away and cowering in secret.
Its not any particular point on her body thats sore, its almost like her
little kitty brain realises she's fraternising with the enemy and goes into
survival mode. I even wonder if she was severely and physically punished for
raising a paw in self-defence by her previous 'humans'? It would make a kind
of sense.

She is also really strange towards Pickle and Suki. If they are in her line
of sight, she'll cower,
hiss and spit, and even attack them if they get within range, but she never
goes after them nor moves out of their way if the try to fight her back.
Even if they are slow, doing the slow blinky-eyes and yawns (which I thought
was cat language for 'I am not threat' and 'I want to be friends') she still
turns into a hissingspitting caterwailing fighting machine

Its as if she just has no idea about what is a real threat is and what
'play' is.

So Joel taught her a lesson.

He approached her, and started waving his hands around. She scratched him
and ran away to hide.

The next day, he repeated the above, and she bit him, and ran away to hide.

Again, the next day, she had a good go at him, and then ran away to hide.

On the fourth day, she stayed and took chunks out of his hands before
running away to hide..

On the fifth day, she stayed and scratched his hands to shred, gave him
several hard bites before retreating to her hideyhole

On the sixth day, she beat the livng snot of out his hands, but only
sauntered away and eyed him warily from a distance, with the occasional
hiss.

For the next week or so, she went for his hands and got some good swipes in,
but didn't immediately run away. Joel stopped when it got too much for him,
and then gave her a scritching with lots of praise.

And then something *amazing* happened. She started to 'bap' rather than to
rake. She had started to *play*.

The change in demeanour is lovely to see. She still retreats to the safety
of the top of my wardrobe if she feels threatened, and I suspect she'll
always be a neurotic 'skitty kitty', but she no longer *lives* up there,
only coming down for food, water, potty and to get that shampoo smell out of
my hair. She can be seen lounging around on the top of my fishtank where its
warm, or even at the front door 'chatting' to the birds. She even gives me a
'mrrp' every time I walk into my bedroom and now comes over for a scritching
if I stay in there for more than a few seconds. She isn't a lap kitty, but
will occasionally meatloaf besides me (and be the glad recipient of an
absent minded petting) if I sit in bed & read, and she *leaps* towards Joel
meowing excitedly if he goes in there, hoping for a 'game'.

She is very very slowly turning into a cat that knows how to take full
advantage of three willing slaves (although I still won't let the Yowlet
play with her yet). And I must admit, I do admire her spit and vinegar.
Indeed, whilst I her personality is unique and entirley her own, there is a
certain something about her that reminds me of another beast-of-my-heart.

I'm so glad she's learnt such a valauble lesson. May she learn (or indeed,
remember) how to be a completley spoiled rotten kitty rather than feeling
she has to be vicious wildcat.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Shadow is a strange and quite neurotic beast. She loves nothing more than
a good and very hard scritchin's (she really likes it *rough*), and will
jump for her 'secret' hiding-on-the-top-shelf-of-my-wardobe to come and
groom me after I've had a shower. And yet, at some point during any
love-in she will suddenly hiss at me, ad then she'll either bite really
hard or get in a quick and vicious rabbit kick before bolting away and
cowering in secret. Its not any particular point on her body thats sore,
its almost like her little kitty brain realises she's fraternising with
the enemy and goes into survival mode. I even wonder if she was severely
and physically punished for raising a paw in self-defence by her previous
'humans'? It would make a kind of sense.

She is also really strange towards Pickle and Suki. If they are in her
line of sight, she'll cower,
hiss and spit, and even attack them if they get within range, but she
never goes after them nor moves out of their way if the try to fight her
back. Even if they are slow, doing the slow blinky-eyes and yawns (which I
thought was cat language for 'I am not threat' and 'I want to be friends')
she still turns into a hissingspitting caterwailing fighting machine

Its as if she just has no idea about what is a real threat is and what
'play' is.

So Joel taught her a lesson.

He approached her, and started waving his hands around. She scratched him
and ran away to hide.

The next day, he repeated the above, and she bit him, and ran away to
hide.

Again, the next day, she had a good go at him, and then ran away to hide.

On the fourth day, she stayed and took chunks out of his hands before
running away to hide..

On the fifth day, she stayed and scratched his hands to shred, gave him
several hard bites before retreating to her hideyhole

On the sixth day, she beat the livng snot of out his hands, but only
sauntered away and eyed him warily from a distance, with the occasional
hiss.

For the next week or so, she went for his hands and got some good swipes
in, but didn't immediately run away. Joel stopped when it got too much for
him, and then gave her a scritching with lots of praise.

And then something *amazing* happened. She started to 'bap' rather than to
rake. She had started to *play*.

The change in demeanour is lovely to see. She still retreats to the safety
of the top of my wardrobe if she feels threatened, and I suspect she'll
always be a neurotic 'skitty kitty', but she no longer *lives* up there,
only coming down for food, water, potty and to get that shampoo smell out
of my hair. She can be seen lounging around on the top of my fishtank
where its warm, or even at the front door 'chatting' to the birds. She
even gives me a 'mrrp' every time I walk into my bedroom and now comes
over for a scritching if I stay in there for more than a few seconds. She
isn't a lap kitty, but will occasionally meatloaf besides me (and be the
glad recipient of an absent minded petting) if I sit in bed & read, and
she *leaps* towards Joel meowing excitedly if he goes in there, hoping for
a 'game'.

She is very very slowly turning into a cat that knows how to take full
advantage of three willing slaves (although I still won't let the Yowlet
play with her yet). And I must admit, I do admire her spit and vinegar.
Indeed, whilst I her personality is unique and entirley her own, there is
a certain something about her that reminds me of another
beast-of-my-heart.

I'm so glad she's learnt such a valauble lesson. May she learn (or indeed,
remember) how to be a completley spoiled rotten kitty rather than feeling
she has to be vicious wildcat.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.


Kudos to Joel for seeing that through, it couldn't have been easy. It
sounds like he's gained her trust-that no matter what she does he will not
hurt her.

It's wonderful that she has people she can trust. Her life will be so much
better for the love she can return as well as receive.
Karla

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Shadow is a strange and quite neurotic beast. She loves nothing more
than a good and very hard scritchin's (she really likes it *rough*),
and will jump for her 'secret' hiding-on-the-top-shelf-of-my-wardobe
to come and groom me after I've had a shower. And yet, at some point
during any love-in she will suddenly hiss at me, ad then she'll
either bite really hard or get in a quick and vicious rabbit kick
before bolting away and cowering in secret. Its not any particular
point on her body thats sore, its almost like her little kitty brain
realises she's fraternising with the enemy and goes into survival
mode. I even wonder if she was severely and physically punished for
raising a paw in self-defence by her previous 'humans'? It would
make a kind of sense.

She is also really strange towards Pickle and Suki. If they are in
her line of sight, she'll cower,
hiss and spit, and even attack them if they get within range, but
she never goes after them nor moves out of their way if the try to
fight her back. Even if they are slow, doing the slow blinky-eyes
and yawns (which I thought was cat language for 'I am not threat'
and 'I want to be friends') she still turns into a hissingspitting
caterwailing fighting machine

Its as if she just has no idea about what is a real threat is and
what 'play' is.

So Joel taught her a lesson.

He approached her, and started waving his hands around. She
scratched him and ran away to hide.

The next day, he repeated the above, and she bit him, and ran away
to hide.

Again, the next day, she had a good go at him, and then ran away to
hide.

On the fourth day, she stayed and took chunks out of his hands
before running away to hide..

On the fifth day, she stayed and scratched his hands to shred, gave
him several hard bites before retreating to her hideyhole

On the sixth day, she beat the livng snot of out his hands, but only
sauntered away and eyed him warily from a distance, with the
occasional hiss.

For the next week or so, she went for his hands and got some good
swipes in, but didn't immediately run away. Joel stopped when it got
too much for him, and then gave her a scritching with lots of
praise.

And then something *amazing* happened. She started to 'bap' rather
than to rake. She had started to *play*.

The change in demeanour is lovely to see. She still retreats to the
safety of the top of my wardrobe if she feels threatened, and I
suspect she'll always be a neurotic 'skitty kitty', but she no
longer *lives* up there, only coming down for food, water, potty and
to get that shampoo smell out of my hair. She can be seen lounging
around on the top of my fishtank where its warm, or even at the
front door 'chatting' to the birds. She even gives me a 'mrrp' every
time I walk into my bedroom and now comes over for a scritching if I
stay in there for more than a few seconds. She isn't a lap kitty,
but will occasionally meatloaf besides me (and be the glad recipient
of an absent minded petting) if I sit in bed & read, and she *leaps*
towards Joel meowing excitedly if he goes in there, hoping for a
'game'.

She is very very slowly turning into a cat that knows how to take
full advantage of three willing slaves (although I still won't let
the Yowlet play with her yet). And I must admit, I do admire her
spit and vinegar. Indeed, whilst I her personality is unique and
entirley her own, there is a certain something about her that
reminds me of another beast-of-my-heart.

I'm so glad she's learnt such a valauble lesson. May she learn (or
indeed, remember) how to be a completley spoiled rotten kitty rather
than feeling she has to be vicious wildcat.

Would it be OK to ask you to give Joel and extra hug for me?

I know what Shadow was doing though I don't fully understand why.
I've watched Charlie to the same thing to unsocialized cats we've had,
though not to quite that degree of self sacrifice.

Cats just aren't born knowing how to play and how to control their
reflexes. Usually their moms and nice humans teach them while they
are growing up. But some don't learn and some are traumatized in some
way and forget.

Not only have we had cats that acted like Shadow, they seemed to be
really distressed at their own behavior when it happens. So glad she
is learning to feel safe, even from herself.

Jo

Now this is quite an amazing story - many kudos to you all for giving her
the chance to rehabilitate - major praise to Joel. She's a lucky, lucky
kitty and has no clue, probably ;o)
Christine
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Shadow is a strange and quite neurotic beast. She loves nothing more than
a good and very hard scritchin's (she really likes it *rough*), and will
jump for her 'secret' hiding-on-the-top-shelf-of-my-wardobe to come and
groom me after I've had a shower. And yet, at some point during any
love-in she will suddenly hiss at me, ad then she'll either bite really
hard or get in a quick and vicious rabbit kick before bolting away and
cowering in secret. Its not any particular point on her body thats sore,
its almost like her little kitty brain realises she's fraternising with
the enemy and goes into survival mode. I even wonder if she was severely
and physically punished for raising a paw in self-defence by her previous
'humans'? It would make a kind of sense.

She is also really strange towards Pickle and Suki. If they are in her
line of sight, she'll cower,
hiss and spit, and even attack them if they get within range, but she
never goes after them nor moves out of their way if the try to fight her
back. Even if they are slow, doing the slow blinky-eyes and yawns (which I
thought was cat language for 'I am not threat' and 'I want to be friends')
she still turns into a hissingspitting caterwailing fighting machine

Its as if she just has no idea about what is a real threat is and what
'play' is.

So Joel taught her a lesson.

He approached her, and started waving his hands around. She scratched him
and ran away to hide.

The next day, he repeated the above, and she bit him, and ran away to
hide.

Again, the next day, she had a good go at him, and then ran away to hide.

On the fourth day, she stayed and took chunks out of his hands before
running away to hide..

On the fifth day, she stayed and scratched his hands to shred, gave him
several hard bites before retreating to her hideyhole

On the sixth day, she beat the livng snot of out his hands, but only
sauntered away and eyed him warily from a distance, with the occasional
hiss.

For the next week or so, she went for his hands and got some good swipes
in, but didn't immediately run away. Joel stopped when it got too much for
him, and then gave her a scritching with lots of praise.

And then something *amazing* happened. She started to 'bap' rather than to
rake. She had started to *play*.

The change in demeanour is lovely to see. She still retreats to the safety
of the top of my wardrobe if she feels threatened, and I suspect she'll
always be a neurotic 'skitty kitty', but she no longer *lives* up there,
only coming down for food, water, potty and to get that shampoo smell out
of my hair. She can be seen lounging around on the top of my fishtank
where its warm, or even at the front door 'chatting' to the birds. She
even gives me a 'mrrp' every time I walk into my bedroom and now comes
over for a scritching if I stay in there for more than a few seconds. She
isn't a lap kitty, but will occasionally meatloaf besides me (and be the
glad recipient of an absent minded petting) if I sit in bed & read, and
she *leaps* towards Joel meowing excitedly if he goes in there, hoping for
a 'game'.

She is very very slowly turning into a cat that knows how to take full
advantage of three willing slaves (although I still won't let the Yowlet
play with her yet). And I must admit, I do admire her spit and vinegar.
Indeed, whilst I her personality is unique and entirley her own, there is
a certain something about her that reminds me of another
beast-of-my-heart.

I'm so glad she's learnt such a valauble lesson. May she learn (or indeed,
remember) how to be a completley spoiled rotten kitty rather than feeling
she has to be vicious wildcat.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.

Yowie wrote:

[snip]

Its as if she just has no idea about what is a real threat is and what
'play' is.

So Joel taught her a lesson.

He approached her, and started waving his hands around. She scratched him
and ran away to hide.

The next day, he repeated the above, and she bit him, and ran away to hide.

Again, the next day, she had a good go at him, and then ran away to hide.

On the fourth day, she stayed and took chunks out of his hands before
running away to hide..

[more snippage]

And then something *amazing* happened. She started to 'bap' rather than to
rake. She had started to *play*.

The change in demeanour is lovely to see. She still retreats to the safety
of the top of my wardrobe if she feels threatened, and I suspect she'll
always be a neurotic 'skitty kitty', but she no longer *lives* up there,
only coming down for food, water, potty and to get that shampoo smell out of
my hair. She can be seen lounging around on the top of my fishtank where its
warm, or even at the front door 'chatting' to the birds. She even gives me a
'mrrp' every time I walk into my bedroom and now comes over for a scritching
if I stay in there for more than a few seconds.

[trimmage]

She is very very slowly turning into a cat that knows how to take full
advantage of three willing slaves (although I still won't let the Yowlet
play with her yet). And I must admit, I do admire her spit and vinegar.
Indeed, whilst I her personality is unique and entirley her own, there is a
certain something about her that reminds me of another beast-of-my-heart.

Wow, I guess repetition is the key. This is kind of like Kajikit's
story with Tabitha - just keep at it, and the cat will eventually relax.
Maybe it's a form of desensitization therapy?

Congratulations on reaching a new level of trust with Shadow.

And purrs for Joel's poor hands!!

--
Joyce ^..^

To email me, remove the XXX from my user name.

On May 29, 6:07*am, "Yowie" wrote:

For the next week or so, she went for his hands and got some good swipes in,
but didn't immediately run away. Joel stopped when it got too much for him,
and then gave her a scritching with lots of praise.

And then something *amazing* happened. She started to 'bap' rather than to
rake. She had started to *play*.


Give Joel an extra big hug from me for his patience with her.

I wonder whether someone has played with her as a kitten using their
hands as toys and not stopping her from biting and scratching because
"she's only a small kitten and it doesn't hurt much" then when she's
got bigger and she's played that way and hurt them they've hit her
back or something

Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

and how wonderful for you picked such a smart and giving partener, Lee
"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Shadow is a strange and quite neurotic beast. She loves nothing more than
a good and very hard scritchin's (she really likes it *rough*), and will
jump for her 'secret' hiding-on-the-top-shelf-of-my-wardobe to come and
groom me after I've had a shower. And yet, at some point during any
love-in she will suddenly hiss at me, ad then she'll either bite really
hard or get in a quick and vicious rabbit kick before bolting away and
cowering in secret. Its not any particular point on her body thats sore,
its almost like her little kitty brain realises she's fraternising with
the enemy and goes into survival mode. I even wonder if she was severely
and physically punished for raising a paw in self-defence by her previous
'humans'? It would make a kind of sense.

She is also really strange towards Pickle and Suki. If they are in her
line of sight, she'll cower,
hiss and spit, and even attack them if they get within range, but she
never goes after them nor moves out of their way if the try to fight her
back. Even if they are slow, doing the slow blinky-eyes and yawns (which I
thought was cat language for 'I am not threat' and 'I want to be friends')
she still turns into a hissingspitting caterwailing fighting machine

Its as if she just has no idea about what is a real threat is and what
'play' is.

So Joel taught her a lesson.

He approached her, and started waving his hands around. She scratched him
and ran away to hide.

The next day, he repeated the above, and she bit him, and ran away to
hide.

Again, the next day, she had a good go at him, and then ran away to hide.

On the fourth day, she stayed and took chunks out of his hands before
running away to hide..

On the fifth day, she stayed and scratched his hands to shred, gave him
several hard bites before retreating to her hideyhole

On the sixth day, she beat the livng snot of out his hands, but only
sauntered away and eyed him warily from a distance, with the occasional
hiss.

For the next week or so, she went for his hands and got some good swipes
in, but didn't immediately run away. Joel stopped when it got too much for
him, and then gave her a scritching with lots of praise.

And then something *amazing* happened. She started to 'bap' rather than to
rake. She had started to *play*.

The change in demeanour is lovely to see. She still retreats to the safety
of the top of my wardrobe if she feels threatened, and I suspect she'll
always be a neurotic 'skitty kitty', but she no longer *lives* up there,
only coming down for food, water, potty and to get that shampoo smell out
of my hair. She can be seen lounging around on the top of my fishtank
where its warm, or even at the front door 'chatting' to the birds. She
even gives me a 'mrrp' every time I walk into my bedroom and now comes
over for a scritching if I stay in there for more than a few seconds. She
isn't a lap kitty, but will occasionally meatloaf besides me (and be the
glad recipient of an absent minded petting) if I sit in bed & read, and
she *leaps* towards Joel meowing excitedly if he goes in there, hoping for
a 'game'.

She is very very slowly turning into a cat that knows how to take full
advantage of three willing slaves (although I still won't let the Yowlet
play with her yet). And I must admit, I do admire her spit and vinegar.
Indeed, whilst I her personality is unique and entirley her own, there is
a certain something about her that reminds me of another
beast-of-my-heart.

I'm so glad she's learnt such a valauble lesson. May she learn (or indeed,
remember) how to be a completley spoiled rotten kitty rather than feeling
she has to be vicious wildcat.

Yowie
--
If you're paddling upstream in a canoe and a wheel falls off, how many
pancakes can you fit in a doghouse? None, icecream doesn't have bones.