Hi everyone,
Well, this weekend involved lots of travel and new people, and I'm afraid it didn't always go very well...
Basically, for the long weekend, I took her to my parent's house about an hour and a half away. She was abit stressed the beginning of the trip, but that's because a really nasty little storm passed over Long Island right before we left, which involved waves of heavy, heavy rain and even some hail. But once she got in the car and we were on the road, she curled up and went right to sleep so I was relieved! (She breaks my heart when she starts crying in the kitty-carrier)
Anyways, the next day, we picked up some family that we haven't seen in 3 years who were in town, and brought them to the house in Rockland County (suburban New York City). Included in this group is my 6-year old little cousin named Hannah. Hannah is a very smart girl, and loves cats, but was not too understanding of Kiera's signals. Kiera generally doesn't seem to have a problem with people, but there were at least 5 new people around, so Kiera would go under furniture a lot, I guess hoping for some peace and quiet. Hannah kept looking for "Meow Meow" and wanted her to come out and play. Kiera would sit quietly, but Hannah kept sticking her hand in, trying to pet her, and touch her ears and stuff. Now came some hissing and spitting. Now this is from a kitty that I have only heard hiss maybe 3 times - once was when I was clipping her nails and I held onto a leg she wanted to take away with her, and another was when a very territorial stray cat was at the patio glass doors making very loud meows at Kiera.
After a while, I got Hannah distracted with some Disney movies, but then nobody could find Kiera! We knew she had to be in the house, because the last person to arrive was my sister, and she was playing with Kiera a bit. But we couldn't find her ANYWHERE! We looked in every nook & cranny in the house, and couldn't find any trace. No meows from closets... nothing! Everyone was getting a bit upset... I'm really new at having a cat, and even though I knew she really couldn't have gone anywhere, I was really scared. Finally a few hours later, my mom found her in her bedroom. Turns out, as I used my detective skills later to found out, she found an obscure space that allowed her to get behind the boxspring of my mother's bed, so if you looked underneath, you didn't see her. Finally Hannah & company were off to New York City to see The Lion King, and Kiera seemed frazzled, but ok...
Then came Monday, and it was time for me to head out to Long Island. I had a friend of mine from out of town that was visiting her boyfriend in Long Island, who wanted to meet Kiera, and they are used to animals in that house, so since it was on the way to my apartment, I stopped over there with Kiera. Kiera seemed fine at first... sniffing around, exploring, tail up and everything. But then she went under the bed and into the corner. We couldn't get her out! More hissing and spitting, which was really starting to bother me. We weren't trying to torture her, but I just felt so awful. She was always such a good kitty...
We finally got her out by lifting the mattress up and reaching under...and then the boy's mother suggested that maybe she needed a litter box... so downstairs in teh basement, we set up a temporary litter box with fresh litter (so she wouldn't have to use the resident cat's box), and hoped she might give it a shot. She was once again exploring, but then wedged herself into this tiny spot under a bookcase. Since this was in teh corner of a piece of furniture embedded in the wall, we couldn't just lift it out of the way. It was getting to a time I had to leave, and she wouldn't come out. Everyone tried, we tried kitty treats, the laser pointer she usually can't resist, bringing her carrier which has familiar smells, but she was just hissing, making some interesting low-pitched noises (kitty growls? groans?) I wasn't used to hearing... and then at one point actually seemed to try to attack me (I don't know if she was trying to bite - it was like a snake striking or something!). That really scared me, and I sat back for a while... eventually we squirted her with water until she got out, and eventually dug her out from underneath the next piece of furniture she hid under.
She seems ok now that she is back home, seems back to normal behavior, but everything that happened really took me aback, and my kitty I thought was so socialable and good, I have permanent visions of her hissing and biting at me. I feel like I must have traumatized her for life. I think the biggest mistake aside from bringing her to the friend's house in the first place, was not keeping her in one room. We tried to introduce her to the resident cat too, to see if maybe they'd get along, but after a quick sniff, the other cat was fine, but Kiera was hissing. I guess she's not going to go for a kitty friend someday...
I know cats will be cats, and my friends who were with me (all of which have cats & dogs at home) were trying to convince me that this is not unusual, and that she'll forgive me when she gets home, but I was sitting there convinced that my cat hated me forever. Okay, well maybe I was being a bit dramatic, but I'm new at this, and it's almost as if I am more traumatized by what happened than Kiera was!
I just wanted to tell somebody, so if you read all that, thanks for listening!
-Heather
Well, this weekend involved lots of travel and new people, and I'm afraid it didn't always go very well...
Basically, for the long weekend, I took her to my parent's house about an hour and a half away. She was abit stressed the beginning of the trip, but that's because a really nasty little storm passed over Long Island right before we left, which involved waves of heavy, heavy rain and even some hail. But once she got in the car and we were on the road, she curled up and went right to sleep so I was relieved! (She breaks my heart when she starts crying in the kitty-carrier)
Anyways, the next day, we picked up some family that we haven't seen in 3 years who were in town, and brought them to the house in Rockland County (suburban New York City). Included in this group is my 6-year old little cousin named Hannah. Hannah is a very smart girl, and loves cats, but was not too understanding of Kiera's signals. Kiera generally doesn't seem to have a problem with people, but there were at least 5 new people around, so Kiera would go under furniture a lot, I guess hoping for some peace and quiet. Hannah kept looking for "Meow Meow" and wanted her to come out and play. Kiera would sit quietly, but Hannah kept sticking her hand in, trying to pet her, and touch her ears and stuff. Now came some hissing and spitting. Now this is from a kitty that I have only heard hiss maybe 3 times - once was when I was clipping her nails and I held onto a leg she wanted to take away with her, and another was when a very territorial stray cat was at the patio glass doors making very loud meows at Kiera.
After a while, I got Hannah distracted with some Disney movies, but then nobody could find Kiera! We knew she had to be in the house, because the last person to arrive was my sister, and she was playing with Kiera a bit. But we couldn't find her ANYWHERE! We looked in every nook & cranny in the house, and couldn't find any trace. No meows from closets... nothing! Everyone was getting a bit upset... I'm really new at having a cat, and even though I knew she really couldn't have gone anywhere, I was really scared. Finally a few hours later, my mom found her in her bedroom. Turns out, as I used my detective skills later to found out, she found an obscure space that allowed her to get behind the boxspring of my mother's bed, so if you looked underneath, you didn't see her. Finally Hannah & company were off to New York City to see The Lion King, and Kiera seemed frazzled, but ok...
Then came Monday, and it was time for me to head out to Long Island. I had a friend of mine from out of town that was visiting her boyfriend in Long Island, who wanted to meet Kiera, and they are used to animals in that house, so since it was on the way to my apartment, I stopped over there with Kiera. Kiera seemed fine at first... sniffing around, exploring, tail up and everything. But then she went under the bed and into the corner. We couldn't get her out! More hissing and spitting, which was really starting to bother me. We weren't trying to torture her, but I just felt so awful. She was always such a good kitty...
We finally got her out by lifting the mattress up and reaching under...and then the boy's mother suggested that maybe she needed a litter box... so downstairs in teh basement, we set up a temporary litter box with fresh litter (so she wouldn't have to use the resident cat's box), and hoped she might give it a shot. She was once again exploring, but then wedged herself into this tiny spot under a bookcase. Since this was in teh corner of a piece of furniture embedded in the wall, we couldn't just lift it out of the way. It was getting to a time I had to leave, and she wouldn't come out. Everyone tried, we tried kitty treats, the laser pointer she usually can't resist, bringing her carrier which has familiar smells, but she was just hissing, making some interesting low-pitched noises (kitty growls? groans?) I wasn't used to hearing... and then at one point actually seemed to try to attack me (I don't know if she was trying to bite - it was like a snake striking or something!). That really scared me, and I sat back for a while... eventually we squirted her with water until she got out, and eventually dug her out from underneath the next piece of furniture she hid under.
She seems ok now that she is back home, seems back to normal behavior, but everything that happened really took me aback, and my kitty I thought was so socialable and good, I have permanent visions of her hissing and biting at me. I feel like I must have traumatized her for life. I think the biggest mistake aside from bringing her to the friend's house in the first place, was not keeping her in one room. We tried to introduce her to the resident cat too, to see if maybe they'd get along, but after a quick sniff, the other cat was fine, but Kiera was hissing. I guess she's not going to go for a kitty friend someday...
I know cats will be cats, and my friends who were with me (all of which have cats & dogs at home) were trying to convince me that this is not unusual, and that she'll forgive me when she gets home, but I was sitting there convinced that my cat hated me forever. Okay, well maybe I was being a bit dramatic, but I'm new at this, and it's almost as if I am more traumatized by what happened than Kiera was!
I just wanted to tell somebody, so if you read all that, thanks for listening!
-Heather
). Just try to refrain from judging her socialability based on this experience. It's a HUGE amount to ask of a cat to adapt to long rides, strange surroundings, other animals and a ton of new people all in one weekend. Now that she's back on her own turf, she's probably much more comfortable and happy...highly unlikely that she's scarred for life, and you won't be, either (though you may have an effort next time you try to get her in the carrier :roll: BTDT).
