Cat mommy at her wits' end.

[kellinator]

I don't know what the hell is up with Heidi these past couple of days. I thought I was making real progress with her, what with her climbing up on me and licking my face. But the past couple of days, she's been skittish as hell -- maybe moreso than she was when I first got her home. She's not hiding, but she's not having much to do with me. Remember the Calvin and Hobbes strips where Calvin would be interacting with strange aliens who turned out to be his parents? That's how she's looking at me. Like I'm some strange alien. It's not that she's snooty, she's just not even in the same universe.

I was so concerned with doing the right thing for her that I didn't think about the right thing for me, what I wanted (which I realize now was a nice kitty, probably orange, that would climb all over me like B.J. and Nick used to), and now what I most feared has come to pass: I have a cat that doesn't like me.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Cats are just odd. It's part of their charm. All of the above sugggestions are pretty good, especially the getting her to associate you with food and comfort. So, instead of expounding on how it's not you, it's her, or vice versa, I offer an object story.

We have a cat named Hobo. Hobo came to us an a rescued refugee from the crackheads that once lived next door to us. Hobo is also most likely fairly inbred, as we're sure he came from the cattery down the street. (Cattery being my term for that house that has cats, and never has any of them fixed. They keep having babies, and as the babies mature, the just disperse through the neighborhood.) I took Hobo in the night I heard the two snooty siamese from next door trapping him under our car, and making him scream. When I fished him out from the car, he was growling. I brought him inside growling. I set him at the food, and he kept growling. He ate growling, drank water growling, growled at our other cats, and walked over to curl up in my husband's computer chair, still growling. He growled in his sleep. I just knew he wouldn't be the most well adjusted cat. And he wasn't. I tried not to worry about him too much. I was just kind to him. I petted him as much as possible. I allowed him to hide when he was over stimulated. He grew to like me. For awhile he disliked my husband, who also was not consulted when I brought him inside. Brian would call him meanish names as well, though nothing too mean. I finally pointed out that Brian wouldn't like Hobo either if Hobo called him a little asshat. So Brian stopped and began to be more proactively nice to Hobo. It was like a miracle. Suddenly Hobo began to like Brian more, and stop hiding from him. The kind of cat that Hobo has grown into is abit of a brawler. He still dislikes strangers, and hides when there is alot of activity and loudness. He sneaks up on the other cats and picks fights from the back. He'll show love by jumping in your lap, and kneeding, his eyes glazing and becoming very far away. He still often rejects casual petting by lowering his body away from your hand, his expression becoming panicked, as if you mean to hurt him, even though we never knowingly have. Not even accidentally. If you took Hobo at face value, you'd think he was very antisocial, but no...He's just a weirdo, with some personal preferances for how to be handled. And he is sensitive.

Your lady may just be still adjusting to her new situation. She's had alot of changes. She's gone from having babies, to being fixed. She's gone from a house filled with other cats, to being the single queen. Not to mention that she now has you. She may even be worried now that you plan to take her back, or will get rid of her like her last people. I know that's abit humanish, but animals do have emotions and memories too. Hell, she might be testing you, to see how you'll react.