Problem with New Kitty

[kathy2d2]

After losing our beloved Sophie a few months ago to kidney failure, we finally decided we needed another cat to love. We choose 2 at the Humane Society, a beautiful black and white about 1 year old, and a calico kitten around 4 months old. They were both very good in the car, not a peep out of either one of them. When we got home they were both very curious, wandering from room to room etc. They chased each other and played and spent time out on the screen porch. I was delighted.

THEN....a few hours later the older one (Boots) was found hiding under my bed. I left her there for awhile, but later picked her up and put her on the sofa, where she "seemed" happy, I petted her often and although not seeming to love it, she tolerated it. Around 11:00 I went to pick her up (which I had done earlier with no problem), she hissed and scratched my face. OK, I left her alone for awhile and later just got close to her face (with my face) to show her that I loved her. Mistake - she scratched me again on the face. After that, I left her alone, figuring she would come around. She has not, nor has she eaten a bite or had any water. She is under the coffee table since I got up this morning and won't budge. I tried coaxing her with some moist food, she took a few licks and would probably eat more, but won't come out to get it.

No one at the shelter knew her background, she was brought in with kittens months ago - the kittens have all been adopted but no one took her. They said she is a sweet and tolerant cat. The little kitten is fine, acts like she has lived with us all her life - has just made herself to home.

My question is...will Boots come around and get back to her sweet self? Is this natural behaviour for a new kitty? We have always had cats in the past, but none were shelter adopted.

She goes to the vets in a few days for spaying, then she has to go back to the shelter for a week before they will release her back to us. They were not supposed to send her home with us before spaying, but broke the rules a tad, so we are actually taking her in next week, but must follow their rules.

Thanks for any suggestions you could make.

Kathy (new mommy to Boots and Gracie)

[coaster]

first thing is that you don't really know what "her sweet self" is because it can take several weeks of readjustment in a new home for a cat to show its natural personality.

second is that I think it's a bad idea for the cat to go back to the shelter, because then she first has to readjust to the shelter, then readjust again when she comes back home. also, there's the risk of catching some illness from the other cats at the shelter. why don't you see if they'll accept proof of spaying (e.g. vet's invoice) in lieu of returning her?

this cat really just needs some time to settle down, and you have to realize it will take a while. in the meantime, please keep your face away from her fangs and claws!

[kathy2d2]

Thanks for the reply Tim. I found out she will not be returning to the shelter, the Vet actually keeps her for a week for monitoring. Don't know why it takes so long, my other 2 were spayed and declawed and they were sent home the next day. Looking back, one did have some complications so it might be just as well. Since my last post she has come out of "hiding", so I'm optimistic, but will leave her alone until she is ready.
Thanks again,
Kathy

[coaster]

OK, sounds good about the shelter and her coming out of hiding. You should try to find out why they want her to stay a week....is it a legitimate reason, or just pumping up their fees?

[spooky]

i would say let her get used to everything and find her own "niche" in her new home, she'll probably come up to you when she's comfy with it, and you can start a relationship with her there and start a trust bond.

she could have been abused, was mauled by little kids, or has some sort of other emotional damage in her previous home.

god bless you for taking in cats from a shelter.

[AddFran]

Hmm. A week is a really long time. I've never heard of anything more than a day for spay surgery. Mine is actually at the vet having hers done RIGHT NOW and she is coming home tonight at 6pm.

[Superkitties]

Sorry about your loss of Sophie. I'm so glad you were able to welcome more kitties into your heart.

It will take longer for your 1 yr old to adjust than the baby. Awww, Boots was just stressed out, and didn't know how to handle things, so she went a little aggro. A strong personality! She hissed at you 'cause she didn't feel like being touched at that moment. Also, in cat language, getting into her face is a very confrontational move, especially if you're staring at her too.

I'm sure she'll adjust, just let her come around on her own terms, and hide all she wants. If she doesn't want to be petted/picked up, don't push it. These behaviors are common to all cats, shelter or not. Our four cats are all shelter babies, and they're our precious almost-well-behaved angel pies.

And a calico! Love calicos (see my pic of Pixie in siggie). Looking forward to pics of Boots and Gracie.

[kathy2d2]

Thanks to all for the replies. The reason for the week stay (I assume) is because she will be declawed at the same time. Please don't send me hate mail about it. I agonized over it with the other cats, but after going through 2 sofas, 2 chairs, drapes and a screen door I had no alternative. They NEVER did it when I was in the room, so I couldn't stop them. They just instinctively must have known I wouldn't like it because they did it at night (or maybe when I wasn't home). I tried seisel and scratching posts, baloons and every type of spray I could find, and they still preferred furniture. My cats are never allowed outside either. The vet uses the new laser technique and it supposedly isn't as bad as the old way they used to do it.

Thanks again for the replies.
Kathy

[AddFran]

Kathy, I won't send you hate mail, but you really should reconsider. This is a horrible procedure and whether the laser technique is used or not, it really has nothing to do with the end result. All that does is possibly lighten up on blood loss and recovery time and there's no guarantee of that either.

As a Kitty Mom who DID have on cat declawed about 5 years ago, frankly because I was ignorant to the harm declawing can cause and because my vet at the time was encouraging me to do it (rather than discouraging - as all vets really should do) - I can tell you I know both sides of this situation. I have a kitten now who is almost 8 months old and I did not get declawed (since I have now educated myself on declawing) and it was the best decision I feel I have ever made regarding one of my pets. Addison has NEVER ruined or even come close to ruining any of my belongings. I clip her nails anywhere from once every week - 2 weeks and have not had a single problem. From time to time I will see her grab at something and right away it's a red flag for me....Hmm, when was the last time I cut her nails...oh it was 2 weeks ago. Oops, MY FAULT. I sit her down, clip her nails, without a fight even since we started right away after bringing her home, and she doesn't touch another thing so long as I keep her nails trimmed.

[AddFran]

Oh and there are alternatives, you could use soft paws or soft claws, I can't remember what they are called - but you glue them on each nail and they are plastic/rubber caps that keep the cats from ripping anything when they do use their nails.

Oh, and here is my post about my declawing experience on the thread from a while back...

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2004 12:36 pmÂ*Â*

Okay, I have avoided this thread long enough for fear of being blasted, but here's my story.

When I got Franny (who I already rescued against my bf's will...NOT the same bf by the way. My current bf we've been together 3 1/2 years, i've had Franny over 4) she was 7 weeks old. Though I was always an animal lover even as a child, I was not well educated on the risks of declawing. We did not have cats in our house when I was growing up because my family was allergic...but every cat I had been exposed to as a child had been declawed.

My former bf insisted on having her declawed. Even without my knowledge of the horrors that can result of this, I still was hesistant. I kept saying no and that I didn't think it was fair, etc.

So, I did make a call to the vet and asked a lot of questions. I asked if it was painful and I was told that it would not be painful if it did it while she was young and during the time she had her surgery to be spayed. I asked if she'd be in pain when she got home and they told me that she'd be fine as long as we did it young. After asking several questions, I told them I just wasn't sure if i wanted to chance it and they actually CONVINCED me to GO AHEAD and do it because they said that if it's going to be done it's better to do it while she's already under anesthesia(sp?) from the spay operation. They also said that they have SO many people who opt not to do it and then end up coming back a few months later to do it after having problems with their cats and that for this reason they recommend doing it all together in the first place because it becomes painful for an adult cat to have this surgery performed. They basically convinced me that because she was a kitten she'd have a quick recovery and that I'd end up doing it later on anyway and if I did....THAT is when I'd be doing her harm.

Thinking that I was getting fair and educated advice from the vet, I did it.
Fortunately, she did not come home in obvious pain (I say obvious because I know animals have an unbelievable way of masking pain from us). There was no bleeding (atleast that I could see at home) and she came to us without any type of bandage on her paws. She was immediately walking and jumping on furniture and fortunately she did not develope any personality changes that I could recognize. She loves when I touch in between the pads of her paws and lays and sleeps on me as I play with her fingers and I can't sense that she's in any pain. I am not denying that what i did was wrong and stupid or that she could be in pain that I don't know about. I know this is possible. I think her and i were both fortunate that whatever effects this surgery has caused on her, have obviously been minimal. Thank god!

With that being said...I am extremely sorry that I did this to her even without having seen the horrible things that can result from this surgery. In the last 2 years or more i have seen so much about this surgery and can't for the life of me figure out why the vet pushed for it so much. I still need to take responsiblity for making this decision and I do, but had I had the guidance that should be given when someone is asking about this procedure, I never would have done it.

Addison is at no risk of being declawed. I would never do that to her with the knowledge i've consumed over the past few years. And when the two of them play even though Addison is 1/5 of Franny's size I still wonder how much of a disadvantage Franny is out being that she only has back claws to react with. I hope that when Addison is bigger it won't cause a problem with the two of them, if so, I'll have to buy some soft paws and hope it helps, but I'll never do it again and I'm sorry every day that I did.

Each time I read one of the posts that says something along the lines of "what are people thinking when they do something this cruel", etc...I remember how I really tried to make the right decision and thought at the time that I was. I love my pets and treat them just as they are one of my family and I NEVER EVER would have intentionally put them at risk.

I'm ready and waiting to be blasted out of the cat forum, but won't reply in any type of nastiness as I know it was wrong and I feel guilty just watching this thread every day.

I'm sorry.

Go ahead and let me have it. "

************************************************** ***
That all came from this thread...
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=7680

My cat has developed problems and they are all starting to show now...4 + years later. So, while you may think they are fine, cats have a unbelievable ability to mask their pain. This is NOT a painfree procedure, during or AFTER. Please, please, reconsider.