Tips for Dealing with a Traumatized Cat?

Hi everyone! My sister and I found an abandoned litter on our doorstep one rainy afternoon. Their mommy was a stray cat that would eat at our house at night. It was raining hard and she was nowhere to be found that day and the poor kitties were soaked and scared while huddled by our door. We knew that she had 4 of them, but only 3 were at our door so we suited up and went looking for the 4th. We found him laying in my neighbor's yard and looked like he was on the brink of death. It turned out that he hid in my mom's car to keep warm and she found him in there after she drove for a block. He wasn't hit or hurt, but he had a little oil on his face. It didn't look like he suffered any burns and we had the vet check him out and he recovered within 3 days, but now that he is 9 months old he is extremely shy.

He runs when we walk near him, he hides all day and "parties" in our living room at night by running in circles and hides under the bed when we have company. We hold him and give him lots of love to socialize him (he JUST started letting us hold him for longer than 30 seconds) and was wondering if anyone has any tips to get him to not be so scared. He doesn't like going outside at all and is afraid of grass. We do have a 4 year old cat who plays with him indoors, but other than that he is always scared and nervous. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

I'm interested to see if there are any experts out there with advice for you. As a longtime cat owner, my advice would be to just let him be and continue to work with him as you are doing. I used to volunteer for a horse rescue....it would sometimes take months for an abused, starved, or otherwise traumatized horse to allow a human being into its space. Many of the horses would start to trust their human caregivers, but it took patience, "out of the box" thinking, kind words, time, and a willingness of both parties to be open to bonding. Good luck to you. You'll have to keep us all updated on your (and his) progress. Also, thank you for rescuing them......they needed a good home and I am glad that they landed on your doorstep!

 

I have had a kitten with a similar incident years ago. I drove down the road with her under my hood without knowing it. When I got to my destination I heard her crying and lifted the hood and there she was. She was a bit skittish the first day but seemed to warm up to humans very quickly. I found another rescue later on and gave it to my mother. This kitten has never liked humans. She won't let anyone come near her, and when no one is around she rips and romps running all through the house. My advice is the same as mentioned above, I would just let her be and see what happens. She may always be kind of skittish. I have noticed that girls seem to be more standoffish and less loving than the boys sometimes. As far as trauma goes the car ride was bad I am sure, however I just had a cat return after 4 weeks missing with 2 broken hips. We still don't know exactly what happened but he showed up at the door last thursday at 4 am with a hip bone sticking out of his flesh. The vet said both hips had been broken at some point and that once they had healed enough to hold his weight he had traveled back home. He is already back to his sweet loving self and seems to be unfazed by what I am sure were four weeks of sheer terror and pain. I guess in the end it all just depends on the cat. Give her some time, she will probably come around. I have found that sitting in the floor with a can of tuna in my lap will bring even the most frightened cat around eventually.

 

I am not an expert on these things but I saw some things on 'my cat from hell' that seem pretty helpful in this matter. A cat behaviorist called Jackson helps out people with all kinds of different questions and needs considering cats that are skittish, aggressive or display any other type of unwanted behavior. When Jackson meets a cat he lies down on the floor and presents the cat with his glasses (these smell like him but aren't as threatening to the cat as his hand). When he makes eye contact with a cat he slowly blinks. When a cat returns the slow blink he knows that he is excepted by the cat and that it's save to progress. If a cat needs more time, he tries to gain confidence with food/treats. These were all adult cats, but I hope there is something in this reply that will proof itself useful to you. Good luck with the kittens!

 

Wow I had not heard of anything like that but it does make sense to put your glasses or something that smells like you out first. I have laid on the ground to get a kitten to come to me but the minute I move my hand they are often threatened. I will have to try this next time I have a skittish one.

 

I always love to watch Jackson because he explains why he does certain things. There is a lot to be gained in social interaction with cats if you know how they interact with each other and how you can show them you mean no harm. I guess that's half the job when a cat is skittish.

 

I think the idea about letting the cat have something that smells like you is great. Maybe wear a really cozy old sweater for a day and then give it to the cat to sleep on. Then the cat would get used to your scent being a cozy, positive thing and might associate you with calmness. Also, you might want to try Feliway- the plug in ones were a huge help when my skittish girl cat had to deal with a fairly sudden move into a house with an unfamiliar person and unfamiliar cat.

 

I think that if he has started letting you hold him is a good sign that he is gaing trust in you, Serenity, after being brought to what I thought was going to be her new home, hid and cried for hours after I doipped her off and I got a call to come and take her back, I think she may have been frightened of the two huge adult cats the lady had even though Serenity was used to being with other cats ( her siblings except for Sunny) After bringing her back home Serenity would not let any of us near her and when we walked past her she would swipe at us. I kept talking to her and putting my hand out for her to smell but for about a month she would swipe at my hand. We can now pet her but she is cautious about it and does not like to be picked up she will tense up at first then relaxes a bit after a few light circular motions made on the top of her head with one finger, which seems to work to relax most kitty's. I think in time your cat will be fine.

 

Patience is the key word with cats that are traumatized and skittish. Lots and lots of patience...

 

I don't know if this will work. I always take my cats to bed with me. Maybe you can try that. It might just give your cat the re-assurance that it needs. I think it's still suffering from what it had experienced as a kitten.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone! I really, really appreciate every single one of them. The can of tuna idea totally got him to not run away from me so much! I'm hoping he'll associate with me feeding time and come around more. I will keep everyone posted with pix too! So many great ideas and I'm excited to try some new methods. Right now he's sleeping on my bed, but I know that as soon as I go into my room he'll run out. I'm going to try some more trust and bonding activities soon. Thanks again and happy holidays to everyone who posted!

 

Try cuddling him after he has eaten a full meal. Cats are like people in feeling sleepy after a heavy meal. Of course, let him go to the toilet first.

 

I've never even thought about that Victor. I just wanted to report some progress today everyone. He came up to me and cuddled up next to me while I was watching TV. I was so excited and just kept petting him without being too forceful. I'm hoping that this continues and he isn't so afraid around us. Thanks again for the tips.

 

I'm sure he will warm to you more in time. I have a cat who was very nervous when we first had her and would only socialise with me for the first few months. We just let her do her own thing and although she is still shy, we were pleasantly surprised the other day when she sat on our lodger's lap and went to sleep