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#1
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"Outdoorsy" cat suddenly scared of EVERYTHING...???!!!
We adopted Skeeter, a really sweet 2 year old orange tabby, a neutered
male, about 6 months ago. He's a really sweet cat, very passive, loves to be petted. The idiots who owned him previously declawed him, unfortunately. Skeeter has always SCREAMED to go outside, so about 3 months ago, we started letting him out, and he became one happy kitty. He always toileted outside, and loved to wander around the house, NEVER far, and usually slept inside at night. About a week ago, he ran up on the porch begging to get inside. Since then, he has been scared to death of everything. He spends almost all of his time sleeping under the bed or hiding in some far corner of a closet. We tried taking him just out on our large deck/patio, where he always LOVED to hang out with us, and the instant we put him down, he dashed to the door and started pawing at it trying to get back in, almost in a state of panic. THEN... after he got back in, he ran to a back bedroom and started pawing at a closet door, trying to get in there, as if the devil himself were after him. I'm assuming he was terrified by some dog or something. This has been going on for a week now. Any advice would be MOST welcome. Thanks, Ron M. |
#2
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Ron -- Please consider keeping Skeeter inside. Even if he screams. Over
time he *will* get used to it, and you will never have to worry about him being killed by a car or a dog or a jerk neighbor like the one I have who traps cats and throws them off his boat dock in the trap. If he gets really inconsolable, he might want company -- if you're away all day at work, get him another cat for company. -- M9 "Ron M." wrote in message om... We adopted Skeeter, a really sweet 2 year old orange tabby, a neutered male, about 6 months ago. He's a really sweet cat, very passive, loves to be petted. The idiots who owned him previously declawed him, unfortunately. Skeeter has always SCREAMED to go outside, so about 3 months ago, we started letting him out, and he became one happy kitty. He always toileted outside, and loved to wander around the house, NEVER far, and usually slept inside at night. About a week ago, he ran up on the porch begging to get inside. Since then, he has been scared to death of everything. He spends almost all of his time sleeping under the bed or hiding in some far corner of a closet. We tried taking him just out on our large deck/patio, where he always LOVED to hang out with us, and the instant we put him down, he dashed to the door and started pawing at it trying to get back in, almost in a state of panic. THEN... after he got back in, he ran to a back bedroom and started pawing at a closet door, trying to get in there, as if the devil himself were after him. I'm assuming he was terrified by some dog or something. This has been going on for a week now. Any advice would be MOST welcome. Thanks, Ron M. |
#3
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Ron -- Please consider keeping Skeeter inside. Even if he screams. Over
time he *will* get used to it, and you will never have to worry about him being killed by a car or a dog or a jerk neighbor like the one I have who traps cats and throws them off his boat dock in the trap. If he gets really inconsolable, he might want company -- if you're away all day at work, get him another cat for company. -- M9 "Ron M." wrote in message om... We adopted Skeeter, a really sweet 2 year old orange tabby, a neutered male, about 6 months ago. He's a really sweet cat, very passive, loves to be petted. The idiots who owned him previously declawed him, unfortunately. Skeeter has always SCREAMED to go outside, so about 3 months ago, we started letting him out, and he became one happy kitty. He always toileted outside, and loved to wander around the house, NEVER far, and usually slept inside at night. About a week ago, he ran up on the porch begging to get inside. Since then, he has been scared to death of everything. He spends almost all of his time sleeping under the bed or hiding in some far corner of a closet. We tried taking him just out on our large deck/patio, where he always LOVED to hang out with us, and the instant we put him down, he dashed to the door and started pawing at it trying to get back in, almost in a state of panic. THEN... after he got back in, he ran to a back bedroom and started pawing at a closet door, trying to get in there, as if the devil himself were after him. I'm assuming he was terrified by some dog or something. This has been going on for a week now. Any advice would be MOST welcome. Thanks, Ron M. |
#4
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"Ron M." wrote in message I'm assuming he was terrified by some dog or something. This has been going on for a week now. Any advice would be MOST welcome. Thanks, Ron M. Unfortunately, since we don;t speak the same language as our cats, you can;t explain to him that is OK,and that the danger is gone. So the only thing you can do is give him lots of reassurance, petting, nice tone of voice, and lots of bribes. Do not under any circumstences force him to go out, as you will just reinforce the panic. Just let him do what he wants for now, even if that means being in the cupboard where he feels safe. You';ll see, in a few weeks he'll start coming out as cats are naturally very curious. For now, you just reassure him that as long as he is at home nobody will hurt him. He has created a negative association with the outside for whateva reason, and that will need to be broken, but extremely slowly, by helping him grow back his self-confidence. Saying that, it's probably better he stays indoors, where he will be safe from other animals people and cars. Whot happened outside, yeah could;ve been a dog, or another tom that he had a fight with. We have a local bully Barney who although nice to humans, hates any male cat! He will fight them to death! The amount of times I had to rescue a scared kitty from top of a tree, while Barney guarded it from underneath. So yeah you may have a local bully there who knows. Just don't force him. He'll be fine. This is a good time for the bribe and lots of petting him. Gee |
#5
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"Ron M." wrote in message I'm assuming he was terrified by some dog or something. This has been going on for a week now. Any advice would be MOST welcome. Thanks, Ron M. Unfortunately, since we don;t speak the same language as our cats, you can;t explain to him that is OK,and that the danger is gone. So the only thing you can do is give him lots of reassurance, petting, nice tone of voice, and lots of bribes. Do not under any circumstences force him to go out, as you will just reinforce the panic. Just let him do what he wants for now, even if that means being in the cupboard where he feels safe. You';ll see, in a few weeks he'll start coming out as cats are naturally very curious. For now, you just reassure him that as long as he is at home nobody will hurt him. He has created a negative association with the outside for whateva reason, and that will need to be broken, but extremely slowly, by helping him grow back his self-confidence. Saying that, it's probably better he stays indoors, where he will be safe from other animals people and cars. Whot happened outside, yeah could;ve been a dog, or another tom that he had a fight with. We have a local bully Barney who although nice to humans, hates any male cat! He will fight them to death! The amount of times I had to rescue a scared kitty from top of a tree, while Barney guarded it from underneath. So yeah you may have a local bully there who knows. Just don't force him. He'll be fine. This is a good time for the bribe and lots of petting him. Gee |
#7
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in article , Ron M. at
wrote on 5/11/04 9:13 PM: We adopted Skeeter, a really sweet 2 year old orange tabby, a neutered male, about 6 months ago. He's a really sweet cat, very passive, loves to be petted. The idiots who owned him previously declawed him, unfortunately. Skeeter has always SCREAMED to go outside, so about 3 months ago, we started letting him out, and he became one happy kitty. He always toileted outside, and loved to wander around the house, NEVER far, and usually slept inside at night. About a week ago, he ran up on the porch begging to get inside. Since then, he has been scared to death of everything. He spends almost all of his time sleeping under the bed or hiding in some far corner of a closet. We tried taking him just out on our large deck/patio, where he always LOVED to hang out with us, and the instant we put him down, he dashed to the door and started pawing at it trying to get back in, almost in a state of panic. THEN... after he got back in, he ran to a back bedroom and started pawing at a closet door, trying to get in there, as if the devil himself were after him. I'm assuming he was terrified by some dog or something. This has been going on for a week now. Any advice would be MOST welcome. Thanks, Ron M. I'd sure let him stay in. Don't push him. Consider getting some Feliway to calm him. Try to play with him inside and build his confidence up. If he ever wants to go out on the deck with you, he will. I wouldn't let him out to wander, especially declawed that's for sure. But mostly, don't push him. Karen |
#8
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On Tue, 11 May 2004 19:13:57 -0700, Ron M. wrote:
I'm assuming he was terrified by some dog or something. This has been going on for a week now. Any advice would be MOST welcome. One thing I recall is that a change in behavior tends to warrant a trip to the vet. It can be many things, and only the vet can find out. -- Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind, http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way. ------------------------------------+------------------------------- |
#9
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On Tue, 11 May 2004 19:13:57 -0700, Ron M. wrote:
I'm assuming he was terrified by some dog or something. This has been going on for a week now. Any advice would be MOST welcome. One thing I recall is that a change in behavior tends to warrant a trip to the vet. It can be many things, and only the vet can find out. -- Dennis Carr - | I may be out of my mind, http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way. ------------------------------------+------------------------------- |
#10
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"Ron M." wrote in message om... We adopted Skeeter, a really sweet 2 year old orange tabby, a You just do not let a declawed cat outside. Period. Something frightened him because he is not stupid--he knows his defenses are not what they used to be. What are you thinking? Are there no dogs or cats etc. where you live? --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.681 / Virus Database: 443 - Release Date: 5/10/2004 |
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