I picked up a foster cat yesterday morning. She is a four year old tortoise colored cat. She was rescued from a hoarding house with 13 other cats. A lot of them seemed traumatized. One of the other rescued cats was very aggressive. Mine is skinny, clearly underfed (while the aggressive cat at the shelter from the same house was a little chubby - seems this hoarder house may have been a fight for food type of place). Anyhoo, Nebula is the cat’s name who I am currently fostering. On the way home, I was scratching her & petting her through an opening in the carrier. She popped her head out & was talking to me quite a bit. Very sweet cat. I noticed that she had bits of matted hair & very bad dandruff. So first thing I did getting home was brush her all out & bathe her. She is obviously traumatized - taking every chance to run & hide, curling up in a tight ball with her head tucked. But she hasn’t bit nor scratched me whatsoever. I have my own cat Cleo who thankfully gets along with every animal/foster I bring home. When I’m not home, Nebula must be roaming my apartment, because as soon as I get home I see her run & hide. The entire time I’m home, she hides under the couch. I read tips below to help her adapt. I can wait weeks, months if needed, but I’m afraid she’ll never open up. And I of course want her to get adopted eventually. I assume I shouldn’t force anything, so I’m just trying to be patient. Any advice?
- Give them a place to hide (she likes under my couch)
- Be calm around them
- Be patient
- Speak often so that they get used to your voice
- Play noises from the tv & such to acclimate them to various sound
TLDR/ I am fostering a very traumatized, extremely shy yet sweet cat & I want to give her the best environment. Tips?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/mkcpoe/advice_for_my_very_shy_traumatized_yet_sweet/
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