Caturday: Shy Cats

 


A cat rescuer friend called urgently. She had just been told by the local shelter that she had to take back and find a barn or some safe street local (Those exist? Right?!) for the tiny kitten who was "unadoptable." He was so scared in his tiny cage that he would not move from one spot -- not to eat, and, ugh, not to pee.

Could I take him, asked my friend? After all, I do have a reputation of domesticating feral cats and integrating new cats into our healthy, bonded cat family. 

I thought I was at the limit of household cats - 6. But the house is big, and one never notices the lot of cats because we have a cat room and a catio as well as five other rooms. And they are quiet, well integrated, happy.

I am pretty good with the patience required to integrate a new or shy or feral cat with the others. So, the little black-and-white kitten moved in. We called him Moo because his coloration was that of a Holstein cow. 

Within a couple of hours, he was following Bear around. Not sure why he latched onto Bear, but perhaps Bear, who is our newest before Moo, will become the beta cat to replace Happy Cat, who can manage little more these days than keep moving one paw after another to water dish, food, litter, and couch (and right now, vaporizer for his URI). So, Bear started showing Moo the ropes, and Moo started following him everywhere -- to the food, to the litter box (quick learn), to the water, and to the toys. The following day I sent my friend a video of Moo playing with the toys attached to the midlevel platforms on the cat tree, a happy camper. Unadoptable? Really?

This is a plea for people to give scaredy cats and hissy cats a chance. It just takes patience -- rarely only a day as with Moo and sometimes as much as a year as with Simone, but, in my experience, they all do become loving cats over time, with consistency, and if allowed the level of independence that they need at any given time.

Watch for a forthcoming book on Kindle -- a little thing but stuffed with experience -- Herding Cats (for Real): Building Bonded Cat Families by Leaver. MSI Press blog will announce it when it is released (quite soon).

  
Moo following Bear into the litter robot

Moo playing hide-n-seek

Moo having fun on the cat tree


See more Caturday posts.

Read more posts about cats.




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