Rescued a wild cat from work, where she hid all the time. Brought her home and she has not let me hold her?

Question

She is about 4-5 months old. Siomise(spelling?) has her own room and everything she needs. There are 5 people in the home, she hides behind the washer and in her cubby home. I want to hold her but she constantly hisses at me and the rest of the family. We own an older cat who does not even recognize the kitten, when the kitten hears the old cat meow that is the only other time she meows, I want so much for this new cat to fit in

Jean

Answer 1

Aww..bless you for taking in the cat.

The cat will need lots of time to feel comfortable and trusting enough to let you, or anyone else hold her. She has been out in the wild, no human contact..so it is not natural for her. Plus, there are other cats about, that she can smell and likely making her nervous. Just let her do her thing..hide where she wants to..but make sure she has food and a place to do her buisness. Give her time..lots of time...you will eventually see her peeking over at you..and coming up to you for a cuddle or 2.

Answer 2

No easy answers for you, Jean. This cat is feral. She may or may not adjust to life as a domestic house cat. My sister rescued a feral cat that had just had a litter of kittens in her garden, none of which survived. She came in initially because she was hungry and cold, but over time she adjusted to her family. She is still partly feral, will not allow strangers to touch her, and definitely has her own mind, but will allow her family to touch her and love on her. It took the better part of a year before she would even let my sis be her master, so to speak.

I would be very concerned with her lack of ability to trust humans. Cat bites are extremely painful and are an infection waiting to happen. I know this because I just got a pretty serious bite on my finger from a stupid cat at work 3 days ago. It is infected even though I do what the Dr. says and terribly painful. (He got me when I had my guard down, but would have tried anyway. He is a mean SOB.) They have staph and pasturella in their mouths all the time, even my cutie pie kitten. That is why the rate of infection is so high. You cannot get feline diseases from a bite or a scratch, however.

Keep all people and animals away from her. You don't know if she is positive for any feline diseases as well. If you can get her into a kennel take her to a vet and have her tested.

We have ways to deal with feral cats. she really needs to be tested for feline AIDS and feline leukemia. It's a simple blood test. If the tests come back neg, then you can get her vaccinated and start trying to integrate her into your home. If the tests come back positive, you have some decisions to make. They can live fairly healthy lives as felv/FIV positive cats, but they are only cats, as these diseases are contagious between cats. Most owners will keep a positive cat if it is an only cat, but in your case, I don't know what I would do. Another option if positive is humane euthanasia. But that isn't the only option. You could foster her with someone who doesn't have cats, and they could integrate her easier than you can and find her the right home. They will have health issues that arise from a compromised immune system and will need regular vet care.

Take it one step at a time and go get the testing done, get her vaccinated and spayed, wormed, and go from there. GL

Answer 3

Get a bottle of Rescue Remedy from a health food store for about $15. Shake the bottle well and put four to five drops on a small cloth and put it with her in her hiding place. "Refresh" the cloth with drops four times a day. It will help ease her tensions in her new surroundings. The flower essences are energetic in nature and treat emotional imbalance in the cat (right now fear of humans). The key is to use the RR frequently - the power of it increases with repeated applications. It is utterly benign and cannot harm her in any way.

You can also put a t-shirt or something with your scent on it in her hiding place - that way she can get comfortable with the smell of humans, especially you.

When she comes out a little you can put three or four drops on the fur between her ears. Do that four times a day at least.

If you happen to use the swifter dry dusters on the long holders you can also stroke her body gently with that. Don't start that right away - give the RR some time to do its work. Also a wild kitten will be most comfortable if you wrap her in a towel to hold her at first. You can also stroke her firmly on the space between the bridge of her nose up between the eyes when you are holding her wrapped in the towel. Stroking both her ears from the base of the ear out to the tips when she is wrapped in the towel will help her. That stimulates all the acupuncture points in her body and will focus her attention on your kind ministrations.

Answer 4

I and my girlfriend once lived on a street whose tenants were constantly changing. They would often let there pets loose and just leave them. The dogs would be picked up by animal control but the cats where too fast for them. I discovered that the life of a alley cat is short and brutal. Toms are always fighting and dying for dominance and even imature females are pursued by older toms for sex. Deseases are common, the worst being an ear mite that caused deafness., being deaf many of the cats never knew what hit them as they crossed the street. We started inticing them into the house. We found that it takes a long time for a cat to learn that it is safe. One cat called the "Tyke" took three months just to come onto the porch to eat something. After another two and a half months he just walked in and scared the hell out of Brucie, Eilleens cat. For the next week the Tyke sat before the fire and ate everything in sight while Brucie hid under our bed. We had him neutered and had his ears cleaned. The vet said he was within a few days of losing his hearing. We finally placed him. GiGi (GarbageGuts) came to us starving, underweight, scared stiff and pregnant. We got her cleaned up and got her weight up. We never tried to place her. She finally went outside six years after she first joined us.
Cats are little people in fur suits that we will never understand. Patience,time, kindness and lots of food will usually do the trick.

Answer 5

It takes a ton of time and patience. I have a ferral cat that stays on my porch and has been here since she was only a few months old. She now rubs against my legs but will not let me touch her, before she'd run when I open the door. I think in time they will learn to trust especially when they see who is feeding them. Just have to wait and not do anything to scare her.

Answer 6

i'd have stated initially no longer to the contact the rabbit yet because you stated it develop into youthful and small you likely will opt for to maintain it. I merely desire you recognize taking care of a rabbit is a significant dedication they could stay a lengthy time period. you may flow to a feed shop and get rabbit pellets and a water bottle. you may also get salt and mineral licks for them besides a small cage may be perfect with a board placed interior to enable the bunny to get off of the cord so they don't get sores on their feet also favor to get it appeared at by technique of a vet to be particular it doesn't have any ear mites because even kin rabbits can get them also it could be sturdy to double verify that the cat did not damage the bunny because had you no longer intervened that cat may have maximum in all likelihood killed it. i exploit to augment rabbits for 4H desire this helps.

Answer 7

I also rescued my cat it took a long time for him to stop hiding but now he sleeps with me just be patient and give your cat time. I know its hard but wait its worth it. she may have had bad experiences with humans in the past like my cat had but she should turn around. my cat still does not like to be held but will always sit on me and loves to be petted (if thats a word). what I did was When he started to come out of hiding I left him alone(did not aproach him) I let him approach me (so that it wouldnt seem like i was going after him ) they will get curious (curiosity killed the cat) but may run if you reach out to them (my cat used to now he runs tward me). I hope I helped you by sharing my story.

Answer 8

definitely get her checked for disease so your other cat will be safe. keep them separated. get her vaccinated and spayed. let her hide and you be the only person she sees. never approach her, sit quietly away from her and speak softly after placing something yummy for her to eat. eventually she sees associates you with something positive. my feral cat took 6 months to approach me and rubbed against my legs one night when i was sitting on the porch, i nearly fell off, i couldnt believe he'd ever do that. after about 2 weeks of this, i petted him gently on his tail, he gave me a wary look but didnt run. after a year of slowly petting his tail, then his back, then his head, now he runs to me and i can pet and scratch him and recently even picked him up! just have great patience and follow the cat's indications if she's ready for any contact. don't rush, its worth a year of waiting in order to have a lifetime of trust and affection. my feral, now tame, blacky is proof. and he was feral for a few years in the neighborhood before choosing me. :)

Answer 9

Just let her come around at her own pace. She is scared and does not know what to make of her new situation. All cats or different. so what works for one cat may not work for another one. They all have there own personality. She will come around. you just can not force it. Good luck

Answer 10

Let her get used to her new surroundings at her own pace. 5 people is a lot of commotion for a cat. She'll find you when she is ready.