My cat Jax is really a great girl, and I love her... but I'm pretty sure she hates me, my fiance, and anything having to do with us. Though she is well behaved... no scratching where she shouldn't, stays off the counters for the most part, always uses her box, etc...
My fiance brought her home for me two years ago, a week before my grandmother passed away. We got her for free, and she was 5 weeks old... and bald (her hair did eventually come in, she had some congenital condition I am told). She was a sad looking little thing. Her mother had been hit and killed by a car, and the lady who was caring for her litter just couldn't do it anymore... So she gave the kittens away to good homes, and we took Jax (who we thought was a boy at first, hence the name!).
She was never lovey with us from the start, but was lovey with the lady who cared for her after he mother was killed. I don't know how a 5 week old kitten can decide she doesn't like her owners, but ours must have.
We have two dogs as well. A German Shepherd and a Pom, and right from the start she DID get along with the dogs. She plays with them, and even lays with the Shepherd... Which is what we had hoped for.
She is a playful girl, and she loves chasing lasers or any source of moving light, feather toys, balls, etc...
But, if I try to touch her, she generally just runs away... Or she bats at me, claws out, or... she puts her teeth on me. She's never bitten hard enough to draw blood though. She NEVER asks for attention. Ever. She will sit close to us, stare at us from across the room, and beg for food if we're eating... but she HATES being touched by us.
She has on very rare occasion sat with me for 10 minutes or so to be petted and she purred, but that is so rare that when it happens I don't even know what to do with myself.
Now, here is where it gets even more depressing:
I had just figured she was a lost cause, and that she would always hate people. My fiance and I took a trip this summer, and my sister who has two cats of her own watched her (at her house) for us. I didn't want to leave her at our house, all shut up, with no air conditioning. She kept her confined to one room. Jax actually came out, rubbed on my sister's legs, let her pick her up, purred for her, layed with her, did all the things she refuses to do with us. She was happy with her. I even have video proof of it. I didn't believe my sister, so yes, she had to take video of my cat actually being lovey.
I want so badly for my cat to like us even the smallest amount, but I cannot get her to act that way with us. I have layed on the floor and tried just letting her come up to me on her own, but after an hour of that I realized that wasn't working. I have sat alone in a room with her away from everything else and tried bribing her with treats, and that didn't work. I have tried picking her up and sitting with her on the couch to pet her, and she just gets frantic to get away. When she sits close to us on the couch, I've tried to just put my hand up to her then slowly touch her... She sniffs me, and when I put my hand on her she backs away, claws me, or puts her mouth on me... Strangely enough though, sometimes those little "love bites" turn into licks?
I am at my wits end with her, and my fiance wants her gone. I can't, in good conscience, just kick her out without trying harder to get her to like living here. What can I do? Is there any advice you can give me? Would she just be happier anywhere that isn't with us? I've never owned a cat before Jax, and I am clueless when it comes to them. I work with dogs for a living, and this cat has me so confused. She just doesn't love us, but loves my sister... And my sister would take her, but she has two of her own and a dog already as well. She just doesn't have room or time for one more on a permanent basis. Are we just not the right home for her? You would think that in two years time she would have come around, but sadly, no... But I've seen it, she has it in her to enjoy attention from people!
Please, if you can.... Help? I'm trying to actually keep my animal, and I really could use some help. If she would just act like she's happy here, my fiance would back off on telling me that she needs to go. =-(
My fiance brought her home for me two years ago, a week before my grandmother passed away. We got her for free, and she was 5 weeks old... and bald (her hair did eventually come in, she had some congenital condition I am told). She was a sad looking little thing. Her mother had been hit and killed by a car, and the lady who was caring for her litter just couldn't do it anymore... So she gave the kittens away to good homes, and we took Jax (who we thought was a boy at first, hence the name!).
She was never lovey with us from the start, but was lovey with the lady who cared for her after he mother was killed. I don't know how a 5 week old kitten can decide she doesn't like her owners, but ours must have.
We have two dogs as well. A German Shepherd and a Pom, and right from the start she DID get along with the dogs. She plays with them, and even lays with the Shepherd... Which is what we had hoped for.
She is a playful girl, and she loves chasing lasers or any source of moving light, feather toys, balls, etc...
But, if I try to touch her, she generally just runs away... Or she bats at me, claws out, or... she puts her teeth on me. She's never bitten hard enough to draw blood though. She NEVER asks for attention. Ever. She will sit close to us, stare at us from across the room, and beg for food if we're eating... but she HATES being touched by us.
She has on very rare occasion sat with me for 10 minutes or so to be petted and she purred, but that is so rare that when it happens I don't even know what to do with myself.
Now, here is where it gets even more depressing:
I had just figured she was a lost cause, and that she would always hate people. My fiance and I took a trip this summer, and my sister who has two cats of her own watched her (at her house) for us. I didn't want to leave her at our house, all shut up, with no air conditioning. She kept her confined to one room. Jax actually came out, rubbed on my sister's legs, let her pick her up, purred for her, layed with her, did all the things she refuses to do with us. She was happy with her. I even have video proof of it. I didn't believe my sister, so yes, she had to take video of my cat actually being lovey.
I want so badly for my cat to like us even the smallest amount, but I cannot get her to act that way with us. I have layed on the floor and tried just letting her come up to me on her own, but after an hour of that I realized that wasn't working. I have sat alone in a room with her away from everything else and tried bribing her with treats, and that didn't work. I have tried picking her up and sitting with her on the couch to pet her, and she just gets frantic to get away. When she sits close to us on the couch, I've tried to just put my hand up to her then slowly touch her... She sniffs me, and when I put my hand on her she backs away, claws me, or puts her mouth on me... Strangely enough though, sometimes those little "love bites" turn into licks?
I am at my wits end with her, and my fiance wants her gone. I can't, in good conscience, just kick her out without trying harder to get her to like living here. What can I do? Is there any advice you can give me? Would she just be happier anywhere that isn't with us? I've never owned a cat before Jax, and I am clueless when it comes to them. I work with dogs for a living, and this cat has me so confused. She just doesn't love us, but loves my sister... And my sister would take her, but she has two of her own and a dog already as well. She just doesn't have room or time for one more on a permanent basis. Are we just not the right home for her? You would think that in two years time she would have come around, but sadly, no... But I've seen it, she has it in her to enjoy attention from people!
Please, if you can.... Help? I'm trying to actually keep my animal, and I really could use some help. If she would just act like she's happy here, my fiance would back off on telling me that she needs to go. =-(