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Some cats are isolated all day long in a tiny apartment or room. The owner doesn't come home until late and doesn't interact with it. The cat doesn't even get a cat companion. It must be a nightmare for these animals to live this way.
Beats getting eaten alive by a coyote. Which happens all the time in areas people feed feral cats.
There are videos all over Youtube with cats behaving like this at the vet. It's not uncommon. That's why they have those heavy falconer type gloves.
I've seen it with rescues before. There is no treat in the world that is going to stop a panicked, cornered cat from freaking and lashing out. You can usually work with them and modify the behavior to some degree. But if the trigger factor is deeply ingrained, it's going to be a hard thing to overcome.
I had a very nice cat who scratched the vet pretty badly. She did not want to be there. Never happened before but it was her first vet visit and she was still young.
Overall if you have pets you need to read their behavior and understand what they are trying to say. Cats are good at communicating. I get there are cats that were mistreated and you have to be careful with them. Some will never trust anyone fully. I went and stayed at a friends house a while back. She had a cat that would be fine and then be somewhat close to you and then scream and slap your hand a few times and run off. If you approached him he might try to bite you and would not let you close. She said she could not real close to him. After a few hours I got him to relax with me. I would slowly move my hand near and scratch his head. He would sit somewhat near me on the couch. But then when he was done with you he would slap your hand a few times. You had to respect that he was saying back off. There are times when you make a movement that does not seem like anything but that cat takes it as being aggressive. Just a quick hand movement can be enough. If you avoid that the cat may relax.
Anyways I stayed in the guest bedroom with the door open. I wake up in the middle of the night and the cat was sleeping in the bed right up against me. Never happened before my friend said. To be honest I was not totally comfortable with that. I could move in my sleep and the cat might go nuts. But it was nice to make progress and make a new friend.
I had a very nice cat who scratched the vet pretty badly. She did not want to be there. Never happened before but it was her first vet visit and she was still young.
Us too. But it turned out not to be the cat's fault. That vet was hurting her with the vaccine needle. He did the same to our other cat before we realized it wasn't them reacting badly. The vet was the bad one!
We found another vet pronto. The cats are fine with our current vet. Never a hiss, swipe or hiss in her presence.
Being as I am a bonafide non-dog/cat person, I just shake my head in amazement when I read this kind of news and ask, why?
I shake my head that people actually call the police on their own pets, "When officers arrived, a woman told officers she alerted police after she found her two cats were fighting one another."
My ex SIL called the police on her dog once because it crashed through her back screen door.
I shake my head that people actually call the police on their own pets, "When officers arrived, a woman told officers she alerted police after she found her two cats were fighting one another."
My ex SIL called the police on her dog once because it crashed through her back screen door.
Who does that.
Someone that feels threatened and they are unable to handle it. I don’t see anything wrong them doing that. But they should never have had that animal in the first place.
I have a feeling that if my posts were favorable towards our 500,000 feral cats, you would be willing to allow me a bit more latitude.
I understand and agree that the native bird population needs to be protected from feral cats in HI. However, that differs from your position on cats and "how much grief humans should be forced to tolerate from them", which seems to be a negative attitude applied toward all cats, IMHO.
Someone that feels threatened and they are unable to handle it. I don’t see anything wrong them doing that. But they should never have had that animal in the first place.
Perhaps in "my animal is rabid and I am being attacked", Cujo style but not my cats are fighting, or my dog ran through my screen door.
Dear OP, Some people just shouldn't own cats, because you never REALLY own a cat. In their kitty minds, they are free entities and you are blessed to have their company. After all, they are furry and purry as one of our fellow forum-ites here put it, and the ancient Egyptians believed they could see into the spirit world. If someone wants obedience, they should get a dog.
I had a very nice cat who scratched the vet pretty badly. She did not want to be there. Never happened before but it was her first vet visit and she was still young.
Overall if you have pets you need to read their behavior and understand what they are trying to say. Cats are good at communicating. I get there are cats that were mistreated and you have to be careful with them. Some will never trust anyone fully. I went and stayed at a friends house a while back. She had a cat that would be fine and then be somewhat close to you and then scream and slap your hand a few times and run off. If you approached him he might try to bite you and would not let you close. She said she could not real close to him. After a few hours I got him to relax with me. I would slowly move my hand near and scratch his head. He would sit somewhat near me on the couch. But then when he was done with you he would slap your hand a few times. You had to respect that he was saying back off. There are times when you make a movement that does not seem like anything but that cat takes it as being aggressive. Just a quick hand movement can be enough. If you avoid that the cat may relax.
Anyways I stayed in the guest bedroom with the door open. I wake up in the middle of the night and the cat was sleeping in the bed right up against me. Never happened before my friend said. To be honest I was not totally comfortable with that. I could move in my sleep and the cat might go nuts. But it was nice to make progress and make a new friend.
Good post and great examples. It's sweet that your friend's cat came around to you like that. It's amazing how they can calm down and start to relax around patient people they feel comfortable and safe around.
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