Psychlogically damaged Cat

Peewee_lane

Folks, all I can say is that we adopted a cat that was scarred emotionally from a dog mawling down in Kerry, she was brought up to Dublin 2 years ago, and has the run of the land we have.

I have her here on my lap and when I pulled her into my chest gently, just to pull the keyboard out she shrieked miaowed at me, pulled the claws up.

My Q is, is there anyway I can get a scorn cat to trust a human again?
This cat is majorly psych damaged!

I love her, I'll laways feed her, but dammit, when she scrawls at me and hisses because I pet her the wrong way... I dont know how to feel!

I scratch my head with this one, but take my time as shes scarred emotionally, but gets all the love she can get...

Shes curled in my lap now and I love her to bits but how do I fix what happened to her?

Hey peewee,
Came across your post and yes i no how your feeling. to be honest from personal experience i think some cats may never get over the trauma suffered! I know my cat is almost 9 now, we got her when she was only 6 months. she was abused. She still possesses a streak, that it you pet her in a way she doesnt like she can turn on you. Its tought...although i guess you learn to be vigilent around them and come to accept their feelings

Peewee_lane

Thanks, I have to say, god.. I love her, but you never know when shes going to have a 'memory lapse' and turn around and strike you.

Shes going made for attention here, so as always, I'll love her and attend to her, but cant stand those psycho moments!

you have got to simpathise for the poor things tho. poor creatures...:(

The Sweeper

Peewee

You need to let her know that it's not all right to scratch you. For instance, if she's on your lap and she suddenly claws you, you need to put her off your lap. Say "NO!" in a firm voice and shove her off.

You should never slap your cat, but you can admonish her without hitting her. She obviously enjoys affection, or she wouldn't come to you at all, so the best way to train her is to withdraw your positive attention when she reacts badly.

I have a scatty kitty too - mine was feral up to six months and he's still pretty sulky at times, but he's far more affectionate than our other cats when he wants to be. Still and all, he'll take off like a rocket sometimes for little or no reason (though he stops short of aggression). The best thing to do is react badly to his negativity. He usually looks a bit sheepish and comes sidling back apologetically.

If you have your cat on your knee and she scratches you and all you do is yelp and cuddle her, you're sending her a message that she can do what she likes.

Lauragoesmad

I was having a bit of trouble with my cat Jess that I found. She was only 3-4 weeks when I found her but was nearly dead and well underweight. Because she never got to play with her littermates, when she used to play bite, she would nearly draw blood and on a few occasions, did! She was 3 last October. About 5 months ago, I started putting her straight to the floor whenever she bit me. I would ignore her for at least an hour afterwards and it took her about a week to cop on! She hasn't bitten once since. (Well at least she hasn't bitten me!:D) Good luck with your cat!:)

The picture is of Jess at 6 weeks.

Peewee_lane

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

The picture is of Jess at 6 weeks.

She is a beaut Laura, thanks for sharing the pic x

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Peewee

You need to let her know that it's not all right to scratch you. For instance, if she's on your lap and she suddenly claws you, you need to put her off your lap. Say "NO!" in a firm voice and shove her off.

You should never slap your cat,

.

Last time she scratch me for just petting her after 15 mins on the couch while watching the ' afternoon show' I banished her to the yard, and, actually, I didnt forgive her easily for a long while, but now, sure here she is, lapping it up on the lap. Thanks x

Deleted User wrote: »

you have got to simpathise for the poor things tho. poor creatures...:(

Absolutely, I appreciate every day she is a confused soul, but I love her bones anyway.

chrisdr

An animal that has been abused whether physicially or emotionally takes a very long time for them to get over their trauma and trust again. I applaud your efforts to give the cat love and attention but you must understand that with any traumatized cat it will have its moments. You do not do the animal good by shoving it and admonishing it because cats do have a short attention span and they wonder what did they do wrong. I would suggest perhaps you take your cat to a behaviorist who would be able to diagnose a way for you to deal with your traumatized cat.

I wish you good luck

The Sweeper

chrisdr, by 'shove it off your knee' I mean 'remove it from your lap'. Even with a traumatised animal, you need to be persistent and consistent - reward good behaviour and react, in some way, to bad behaviour. With a robust, headstrong animal that has never been traumatised, that reaction can afford to be a strong, negative reaction - a firm NO, or moving the animal to a different area. With a traumatised animal, it can be as simple as withdrawing the positive reinforcement they had been getting and ignoring them for a short while. So stop patting them or stop playing with them or put them off your knee.

The shortness of attention span in the cat is precisely why you need to react the moment the cat does something - ignoring her while she scratches you four times in a day, until by that evening you're sick of it and don't want to be with her - well yes, that will confuse her.