about four days ago, we rescued a kitty from the shelter. she was so cute and purred constantly and we fell in love. they said she is most likely an adult cat (about a year and a half) and other than that, they had no other information. we took her the day we adopted her to the vet. to get spayed and even the girls at the clinic commented on how sweet and gentle she was. the day of her surgery, she was obviously pretty mellow. but the day after she started getting super hissing and mean! we have three dogs and two other cats (ALL adopted from the shelter) and at first we thought maybe it was the intial "meeting" but now it has been three days and she STILL is SO mean. she swats and attacks all of the other animals and even us! she doesn't let us really pet her and if she does, it is only for a second and then she bites us! we have never had a problem like this with any other animals... i don't know what to do. and i am not going to just give her back to the shelter. any suggestions?
2007-09-17 05:03:03 · 17 answers · asked by Melissa 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
first off... please don't tell me that it is not right for me to have so many animals... you have NO idea how much i love each and everyone of them. i am definitely a very good pet owner. i volunteer at the local shelter and at a vet clinic.
ALSO, my bad, but i forgot to mention that the animals are not all just thrown into a room... i know how to gradually introduce them... she has been in a seperate room and a slowly let one cat (in a crate) in the room to meet each other, take her out and switch. i didn't just throw her in a house with a bunch of animals. ALSO THE SHELTERS MAKES IN MANDATORY TO SPAY/NEUTER CATS BEFORE YOU TAKE THEM HOME.
2007-09-17 05:40:51 · update #1
Geez nothing like rushing her through her acclimation period. Let's see you are finally getting comfortable in your environment and then you are whisked away and major surgery is preformed on you. You have yet to trust your new owners but you are thrown into a environment that is completely foreign. You have never see a dog and now you are confronted with several while trying to heal from your surgery.
Are you stupid??
It would appear that your kitty is a lot smarter than you are!
Remove her from the rest of the household and place her in a quiet room allowing her to heal from her surgery and EVENTUALLY allow her to interact with the rest of your pets expecting this acclimation period to last a month
2007-09-17 05:13:09 · answer #1 · answered by chicki 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Pain and a new place makes for an unsettled cat. Three days after major surgery and she'd definately still be feeling pain so I don't doubt that she's hair trigger.
Can you get her into a quiet room with her own litter box and food and let her recover for another 4 or 5 days? They've put stitches in three layers of skin, she's not going to be feeling comfortable for a while and the less stress around her the better.
Though she could use some quiet talking and someone just being with her without pressing on anything that hurts, to help her feel at ease. Keep touch limited to her head and neck, nothing further back. She may tighten her skin in anticipation of being handled, and that makes things feel worse.
Did the vet give you any pain meds for her? It sounds like she may need them for a short time.
2007-09-17 19:08:17 · answer #2 · answered by Elaine M 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Four days isn't very long. She's just been moved into a new environment, with new people and animals, and she's recovering from surgery. I think you're probably expecting too much from her too soon.
Give her her own room with her food, water, bed and litter box. Sit in there with her a few times a day and talk to her, but don't make any demands on her - let her get used to you at her pace. She and the other animals will sniff each other under the door and get used to one another's presence.
In a week or so, or when the cat seems to be more comfortable and is recovered from her surgery, start leaving her door open a bit. Let her come out and explore at her own pace, and give her the option to retreat back to her room if she needs to.
2007-09-17 12:23:55 · answer #3 · answered by daa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
well, I have heard of some cats having a bad reaction from the anesthesia and then after surgery having a complete personality change ffrom sweet to mean.
I have a cat that I adopted from the shelter, and she is like a Jeykl/Hyde. She will be all sweet and purring one minute and then turn around and bite you the next.
I almost took her back because she is so mean. BUT, I kept her and as she has aged, she is now about six, she has mellowed out some. And we have learned to watch for the signs of when she is about to turn from nice to naughty and get our hands out of the way. She has also always been mean to the other animals, just attacks sometimes out of the blue for no reason. They have all learned to give her a wide berth.
However, if she really hurts one of you, like a severe bite, you may have to change your mind about what you are going to do. You cannot keep an animal that is dangerous.
That's just my opinion.
2007-09-17 12:14:57 · answer #4 · answered by txassgirl 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sounds to me like the poor thing is scared to death. She may never have been in a home with dogs (or even with other cats). First of all, many cities have 4 pet rules, meaning no more than 4 in a home for a variety of reasons. I don't think it's quite fair to an animal to be thrown into a home with so many other pets competing for attention. It could be that she is just better suited to a 1-pet home, so why continue to stress her, the other pets and yourself? She may have been attacked by a dog in the past - or she may actually have personality issues, hard to know when it is a stray originally. Your heart was in the right place, but perhaps you could place an ad on petfinders (free) and find her a home where she would be the center of attention, which I am guessing is what she needs and prefers. I can't blame her for being miserable if she is afraid of other pets and noise. You have to be thoughful of HER needs, not just the needs of your pets and self.
2007-09-17 12:12:15 · answer #5 · answered by ? 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Just give her time. I adopted one of our cats from a co-worker several years ago and she was friendly and happy until I got her home. At the time she was about 6 or 7 years old and we had one other cat at home. She stayed under the futon for about two weeks just sneaking out to eat and use the litter box. She was terrible to us and the other cat . . . every time we tried to coax her out and give her attention we were sure to get scratched or bitten. Eventually she came around and turned into a sweet kitty again . . . I think the situation was just very stressful to her. Maybe you can give the new kitty a "safe" place for her to hide-out. Somewhere where she can be alone without the other other cats or the dogs bothering her.
2007-09-17 12:16:22 · answer #6 · answered by thatgirl 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, first of all, she's in a completely new place with new people and animals she doesn't know. As if that's not bad enough, she just had major surgury, she doesn't feel well and there's all these other animals she thinks are a threat to her.
Put her in a spare bedroom (or a laundry room, bathroom, etc) with food, water and a litter box. Let her recover in peace and quiet. In another week or so, introduce her to the other animals in your house one at a time. Gradually let her spend more and more time with them until she's adjusted.
2007-09-17 12:18:28 · answer #7 · answered by kritten 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Maybe you could take her back to the vets. Could she be uncomfortable from the surgery? It's only been 3 days. It would be worth getting peace of mind there. It took our first kitten who was from a good home, like 3 weeks to stop looking lost and meowing all the time. Give her more time. You don't know her history either; she could have been really badly beaten or something. We found a 'trust' thing was to show ours our flat, open palms for him to sniff at a bit before petting him. He liked that. Just be patient and consistent.
2007-09-17 12:11:02 · answer #8 · answered by Ricky 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
First of all, you have to remember that this kitty just came out of surgery, so part of her body is sore, and possibly in pain. Introducing her to a new home environment with several other animals will make her feel pretty vulnerable, and her defense is to attack anything and anyone that comes near her.
Keep her in a room by herself for a few days to allow her to heal in peace. Let the other animals know she is in this room, but they will not be allowed to interact with her for a while.
The appropriate way to introduce a new pet to a home filled with other pets is to keep the new pet in a separate room for a couple of weeks or more. The other cats will want to play pawsies with your new addition - sticking their paws under the door where your new kitty is living. The new kitty will be curious, and stick her paws under the door, too, and that's how the cats will interact with one another for a while. The important thing to remember is that the trauma of the surgery combined with being introduced to a new home filled with cats and dogs is going to be extremely stressful to the new member of your family.
Give her plenty of time to integrate with your furry family.
2007-09-17 12:17:13 · answer #9 · answered by Angelica W 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I have news for you, sometimes it will take up to a year for a cat to accept it's new surroundings. Maybe longer. I brought home an adult cat. (I already had two), he was terrible. It took him about 2-3 years to finally be friends with the other two. The cat I brought home was abused before I got him. Yours might have been abused to. It will take time. All you can do is give the cat as much attention as you can. It will pass, but will take time.
2007-09-21 11:09:57 · answer #10 · answered by Phantiger 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋