Traumatized Rescued Cat

by Leasa
(Chester County PA)

Hi,

Thank you for a fabulous website! I rescued a cat Mother's Day weekend - she is approx 7+ years old, diabetic we discovered (now on lnsulin and proper food) and a lovely cat. She is declawed and spayed - but also about 16 pounds with bad teeth. It appears that she was once well cared for and loved, but she must have been outside for quite a while (and there were some really bad thunderstorms during the time right before we found her). I have kept her safe in a small bedroom, she is mostly calm except for sudden noises and will bite at me (not playing!) if i touch her wrong. she usually stays hidden, except sometimes comes out and lounges in front o fthe window. I had tried to introduce her to my 4 yr old Caly, but am fearful because she seems to be so unpredictable. She is also losing her fur in clumps and now has a growing bald area on her back haunches. I guess my question is do you think she will eventually be less fearful and is it ok for her to stay in the small bedroom alone?? i go in and pet her and try to engage her in play (she is too fearful even to play) several times a day - but is that enough? I guess it's also that my Caly lost her best friend in April, the only other cat she has known and is wanting a playmate... whichi this new one is obviously not.
Any suggestions or comments or advise would be greatly appreciated!!

Answer by Kate
Poor cat she does sound like she has been through a lot but i do think that with time and a lot of care she will find her confidence again and could be a very happy pet again.
As for keeping her in a room on her own this is an excellent idea for the first few weeks or so, it will allow your cat to become confident in a smaller area, far less traumatic, but it may be an idea to start to spread the other cats scent around the room and visa versa for the other cat. this way they sort of get to know each other by smell first before any confrontations. then i would start the introducing cats procedure found on my cat training pages. This procude is slow and allows controlled introduction in small steps allowing both cats time to adjust before fully being introduced. After which time you can start to allow your new cat access to the wider home.
I'm sure that with time your new cat will settle in, it may just take longer as she has obviously been through so much along with her health issues as well. Make sure that her teeth are not painful as this can cause a very grumpy irritable cat, my own cat had to have some removed by the vet as she too ws becoming a litle more distant than normal.
Also please see my page here under cat care called bonding with your cat, it may help to stregthen the bond your new cat will have with you in the long run.

Thank you for contributing to my site and thank you for the nice comments. A lot of hard work goes into this site and it is nice when someone acknowledges that. Kate

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