Ellie New Cat: Update

[thistlechaser]

socksofjello noted that I hadn't posted about Ellie New Cat in a while. For new readers, I adopted Ellie after my previous cat died. Ellie was feral for the first year of her life and in a foster care home with lots of other cats for her second year. I've had her for about four months now.

I replied to socksofjello that I hadn't been posting because Ellie had been making no progress at all, that she was basically still the same as the last time I posted. But the more I thought about it, the more I suspected she's still making slow, slow (think glacial) progress, but I'm just not seeing it because I'm with her all the time (and it's so slooooow).

A few times a day, she comes to me for love. "Love" being careful, slow, one-handed pattings. Brushes are scary and will cause her to run. Nine times out of ten, a second hand will cause a panic attack and a scramble away. She's come to love treats though, and has learned to take them out of my hand (woot!).

If I approach her, sometimes it will be okay, but most often she'll run off a few feet or just tense up and watch me wide-eyed, ready to flee.

Unfortunately she rarely sleeps on my bed. However, I can now walk near her without making her run off in a panic.

A couple times a day, when she seems calm, I still try to work with her, to introduce a second hand to things. Sometimes I hold her (with all of her feet still on the floor) for a couple seconds. After this I give her lots of pats (if she wants them) or treats. I still wonder if I should be doing this though; I need (not want, need) her to get used to being held and picked up. If there were a fire or some emergency, I could never grab her and take her outside at this point. However, working with her this way seems to make her backslide, so... Just not sure.

I think she must be more comfortable though, because more of her personality(?) is coming out. She's a bold little thief! Not for food, she's never tried to get into my dinner when I'm eating, but she'll attempt to carry anything and everything else away. Anything from my keys (metal! Heavy!) to a back scratcher (longer than her!). Anything on my desk is fair game, all sorts of toys and pens and papers. She steals things right in front of me, with me watching. It's darned cute to watch her try to carry these things off.

My user name, Thistle-Chaser, comes from a series of books by rathacat. Set on another planet, the dominant species is a cougar-like cat. Some of them talk, they herd animals, and live in clans. Thistle-Chaser was the daughter of a clan cat named Ratha and an "unnamed" (wild) cat. When a clan (intelligent, talking) cat breeds with a wild one, the offspring are usually wild (unintelligent). Ratha was impatient with her litter, scared they wouldn't have "light in their eyes" (be intelligent). She gave up on Thistle-Chaser too soon, attacking her and driving her off. Thistle-Chaser had just been starting to understand, to realize that language existed and was important; Ratha pushed too hard and gave up on them too soon. I feel kind of like that with Ellie. Being impatient, lashing out, would be bad bad bad. It feels like so long though, I just want to hug her and hold her on my shoulder like a baby, but I can't. Worst part is, I don't know if we'll ever get to that point. Four months feels like a long time, but maybe it's not.

Must be patient, must be slow, must be quiet. Silly Ellie, I'm not going to hurt you. Please learn that soon.

Comments

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

I wonder if going for 2 hands is too fast. Like, you mention that she will still run sometimes when you walk up to her or give you the "Oh crap!" eyes. I'd probably focus on that. Get her to the point where you can approach her (first step), reach down (second step), give her some pats (third step), and then move on (end). Once you get her to the point where that is fine the majority of the time then try to bring in the second hand now and then. Once that's done (by done, I mean she's fine with it eh majority of the time like last step) then to holding. Although like bricriu stated, it might turn out that Ellie isn't really a cuddling cat at heart, which is fine.

My thought process is that if you can get her to the point where you can reach down and pat her as a normal thing, then your like half a second away from grabbing her (in the event of, say, a fire like you used). Ya, she won't like it and you'll probably get scratched up in the process but if it comes to that or cat-kabob it's an obvious choice to me.

Obviously the ideal solution would have been to have her a-ok with being picked up and then it's nothing crazy and she'll be perfectly comfortable. However since you can't really time an emergency I would think it better to lay the ground work for a "Oh shit have to gtfo!" moment first, and then have that lead to the desired outcome. Plus that can put your mind at ease a little better that the ability to grab her and get out is an acceptable action and you won't just be trying to catch her.

The one cat we adopted is very shy (has been since we got her) and doesn't do picking up or anything like that. Also when you walk up to her she gives the similar big "Oh crap" eyes. Generally how I approach her if I'm going to give her pats is I reach in back handed. That way it doesn't look like I'm trying to grab, more like I'm introducing my hand so she can inspect it and make sure there is nothing sneaky going on. I figure it's less threatening and then she can get a sniff in before I try anything. Once she's satisfied I'm not up to no good then I can commence petting.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

(in the event of, say, a fire like you used). Ya, she won't like it and you'll probably get scratched up in the process but if it comes to that or cat-kabob it's an obvious choice to me.

As a side note, I never had any idea what holding an angry/scared cat was like. Couple weeks back I had to move her for some reason (using both my hands) and suddenly I had this thing that was all claws. I swear, it was like she was covered with clawed feet from head to toe. Somehow she was "attacking" (defensively) me from every single direction. It was at that point I realized I wouldn't be able to carry her out of a burning apartment by force. I released her right away, I don't know how long it would have taken to get her teeth involved as well.

Also when you walk up to her she gives the similar big "Oh crap" eyes.

Heh! I know just the eyes you mean.

Thanks for the good ideas!

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean by all claws. I had to move my Mom's cat once (back when she hated me because of the things I did to her when I was really young, like I don't even remember young) and it was pain and lots of it. I have found through that experience (and "fighting" with the Dog) that my single arm technique seems to cause minimal injury.

Animal goes up into the armpit area, arm goes around and under the animal and hand holds onto the chest area (between the front 2 legs). The pressure of my arm holding them up into the armpit keeps them from getting away and with the hand under the 2 front arms they can't really get me with those. Also, despite cats being flexible, they can't really bend down that steeply to get the teeth involved effectively.

Although you end up with some wicked pain in the back of your arm (damn hind legs!) but given the alternatives I'm sure it would be bearable. Obviously it's an "emergency" situation technique with Ellie but that's how I carry our animals now when I need to. Although the cat likes it better when I give her hind legs more support (with my shoulder/side of body, this could also prevent "flailing death claws" from hind legs) but the dog doesn't give a damn.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

Best solution in an emergency type situation with a cat that's not going to let you grab them without injury is to put them in a pillowcase. Obviously it's not something you'd want to do for a cat that has trust issues with you for anything short of an emergency, but if it's a matter of life and death, it's much better for both of you. Especially with a cat, because if you happen to get bitten and not just scratched...well, having to go to the hospital to keep from getting a life threatening infection when you're being evacuated because of a fire in your area isn't exactly a great situation.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Good idea! I had heard of that long ago, but forgotten about it. Luckily she's good about getting in the carrying case, so if I had a couple minutes I could get her in. If there were no time for even a pillowcase, I'd just have to open a window (if it were safe enough to) and hope for the best. :/