Saturday, May 27, 2006

 

Nervous cat

If I adopt a new cat who is very nervous and timid, how can I help him to relax?
This partly depends on the reasons for the cat's nervousness. I fostered a little two-year-old cat who had been ill-treated. For the first three weeks he hid under the sofa or behind a piece of furniture. I kept his litter-tray and his food and water in the room and he would come out at night to use the tray and eat his food. I didn't hassle him but kept talking to him. Gradually he came out more and more and one day, after several weeks, he suddenly came up to me of his own accord and rubbed against my leg. After this he was fine and never went behind the furniture again.
I had another little cat who had been allowed to run wild. After the owner, an old lady, died, we received reports from the neighbors that the cats were running wild and we had to go and catch him and the other cats with traps. Again he was terrified and wouldn't let me near him, but he too would come out at night to eat his food and use his tray. He just wasn't used to humans. When I finally managed to get hold of him, I put him in an indoor pen in the living room. He had the life of the household going on round him so he was able to get used to it while feeling secure. Gradually he calmed down.
Some genuinely feral cats may never calm down. In these cases in my view it is sometimes kinder to neuter and vaccinate them and then let them go.
Please let me know what YOU think.

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