Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Purrs

1. 

   We bought our cat 5 years ago and she's always been loving and awesome. We even nick-named her "the coolest cat in the world", lol.

   Then one day my fiance's mom saw our neighbor calling our cat from across the road, saying "Here Tigger! Here Tigger!" and then scooping her up and taking her inside. Our cats name is Sonic. Not Tigger. I'd have gone right up to the door and demanded my cat but I wasn't there. This lady just STOLE our pet and thinks it's okay so I'm pretty peeved about that but we let it slide, thinking "Well, she can feed her and pet her if she wants, but she sleeps with us at night so it's cool".

   Well we saw some kittens at the shelter last year and adopted them. We did our best to introduce them as nice as possible but Sonic wouldn't have anything to do with it. She hissed and spat and then wouldn't let us touch her either. She's been acting strangely ever since then and as soon as she would smell the kittens on us she'd act like we were abusing her and scratch, bite, hiss, and growl at us.

   Then, one month ago we took in a stray cat at the exact same time that we bought some VERY BAD cat food. It smelled like cardboard and the cats wouldn't touch it. After a couple days of that we had to go buy the regular stuff. Well with the new cat + the bad cat food Sonic disappeared. She was gone for like a month and then last night we finally saw her outside and lured her close enough that I could snatch her by the collar. She acted like a feral animal! I've never seen her so bad. We took her inside and fed her a baby rat (I breed them for our snakes) and she wouldn't eat it. She acted like she'd never seen a rodent before, and she used to be such a good hunter. I dunno, maybe she'd already eaten. She was still acting terrible after that so we put her in a cat carrier for the night and have her locked in a room today with at least food/water/bed so she can get used to the place again but I'm not sure what else to do.

   Either she decided that she wants to live at that other place, or she doesn't even have a home anymore and just eats out of the other cats food dishes in the neighborhood and leaves.

   What should we do?? We love her and want our kitty back. My fiance said that if it doesn't get better he's going to go to the neighbor's house and demand compensation for the vet bills (she got spayed and also had a hernia fixed), her original purchase fee, and extra for the care/toys/collars/treats we've bought her over the years, since they are the ones that poisoned her mind to begin with. I told him that they'd just laugh at him and it would do no good, lol.

   I AM really peeved at how rude the neighbors could be for pretending that our COLLARED cat (that even had an ID tag with a phone number on it) is theirs. I would never take someone else's animal into my home, ESPECIALLY if it had a collar... but what can we do, you know?? What happened, happened.

   Sorry for the long read. Thanks in advance for any thoughts/comments/advice!

   Posted 2 years ago by Jadie.Glitch #

2. 

   Hi, JG. Welcome to the Daily Kitten!

   I'm not sure what to make of the change in Sonic's behavior toward you. Was she an only cat before you took in the shelter kittens last year? Integrating new cats into a household with cats already in residence can be a challenge. The resident cat considers the home and the people in it as part of her territory. Interlopers, no matter how sweet, are not welcomed at first. It takes patience to get them accustomed to one another so that they can at least get along.

   You added another stray a month ago which further upsets the pecking order in your home. It doesn't sound like Sonic took to this additional intrusion into her territory and ran away. (Was she an indoor/outdoor cat or did she escape from indoors?) You can't control who your cat approaches when roaming around outside, but you can ask people who are feeding your cat not to do so and to call you if the cat is bothering them.

   If this were my cat, I would not view this as my cat being turned against me by a neighbor who fed it. I would look at this as a behavioral issue with a number of underlying causes--multiple new cats being introduced into the household, an abrupt introduction of a new brand of cat food at the same time and being forced to remain an indoor cat when Sonic is apparently accustomed to being outside at least some of the time. She doesn't "hate" you, she is just completely upset at all the changes that have occurred in the last year.

   Since she just returned after being gone for a month, isolating her for a while is a good idea. It is not "punishment," but a chance for her to settle down and regroup. Be sure to pay a lot of attention to her. Speak to her in a soothing tone and pet her if she allows you to approach you. Feed her treats when she responds appropriately to you. Keep the other cats out of the room she is in. When you and she are ready for re-introductions to the other cats, put the other cats in "her" room and let her roam the rest of the house so she gets used to their smells. Before introducing them face-to-face, rub an item of clothing you've worn, but not washed, onto the other cats so they will smell familiar to her. Supervise interactions until all seem to be settled into tolerating one another.

   Some folks here have had great success with using Feliway diffusers. These release a calming pherome which helps to calm stressed out kitties. Others swear by "Bach's Rescue Remedy" which is a liquid added to the kitties' water.

   Please let us know how things go. We'd love to know more about your cats and photos are always welcome!

   How many cats do you have now?

   Posted 2 years ago by Kitten Whisperer #

3. 

   Hi JG and welcome to TDK. I'm sorry you're having so much trouble with keeping your beloved Sonic at home. 2 yrs. ago my partner and I rescued a litter of 4 ferals and decided to keep them all. They all display such diverse personalities and one of them, my Sugarfoot, who was treated the same, fed the same, all things the same......has a very skittish, roaming feral-like personality. They're all outdoor/indoor cats and Sugarfoot will still disappear for up to a week at a time. We worried awfully til we discovered recently that she's hanging out for the most part in the yard of a trailer one street over from us. My hubby was walking the dog and witnessed her lying very calmly and comfortably on an old rattan chair w/cushion. Not a care in the world and very relaxed. I was sooooo relieved to know that she wasn't hiding out in the nearby woods in fear of the world around her. Exposed to the dangers of the coyote who dwell there. What I'm saying is that we were relieved to know that she feels happy somewhere. She still comes home every few days and I'm soooo relieved to see she remembers where she started out. But if she never came home again...I know that she found a home (owned by a little old lady w/3 little chihuahuas) where she gets food and water daily. I think cats have such individual personalities just like people do and not everyone is comfortable being where we want them to be. If you know she's happy and healthy maybe to wish her well and leave it at that is an option. It hurts me to think that my little girl doesn't feel at ease in her own home but for whatever reason be it overcrowding or something else...I truly want her to be a happy girl so I rejoice that she found someone nearby. Good Luck! =)

   Posted 2 years ago by Karenopa #

4. 

   She was not the only cat we ha when we got her. We also had 5 other cats (we live in the country). She was a kitten when they were all at least 6 years old and didn't have a very pleasant welcome but she warmed them up really quickly and befriended most of them and even became best playmates with our siamese.

   You'd think that she would remember once being an outcast and be friendlier to them, but alas, cats don't think like we do.

   All of our cats are indoor/outdoor and always have plenty of water/food/mice to catch in the fields. Oh, and they're also ALL fixed so that's not an issue.

   It makes me really sad because we bought her a new cat bed (before we introduced our new stray) and sat her in it. I pet her while she was laying there and said "Here you go Sonic. This is yours." And every time I came in the room she'd be there sleeping in it like she understood that the bed was hers. But now she's like a completely different cat.

   I think I'll take your advice and keep her inside for a couple of weeks. We have a litter box in the house at all times in case some of the cats feel the need to go and can't get out so she'll be stuck in the bedroom with that/food/water for a bit and we'll see how she does.

   Our biggest concern is that we may be buying a new house in 6 months or so and we'll be taking everyone with us. I'm afraid to remove her from an area she knows when she's feeling this way. She'd freak out T_T. We're wanting to calm her down as much as possible before that happens.

   Posted 2 years ago by Jadie.Glitch #

5. 

   Try the Feliway diffuser, it really helped my multi-cat household get thru a rough patch... And patience and positive reinforcement are key here, I think... You need to relax as well, so your stress is not communicated to the kitty...

   Posted 2 years ago by nawlins catmom #

6. 

   It sounds like your Kitty Sonic may have been been though extreme stress of some kind while she was away from you. Possibilities are abuse, poisoning, being locked up, being fed rancid food or all of the above. not much point in wondering why people do these things. The facts is/are that the DO them. The thing to do now is focus on Sonic. Be very patient. You'll have to regain trust almost as if you are a stranger. This is sad but it can be fixed.

   Posted 2 years ago by lisaeylau #

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