We have a new kitty -- could use suggestions/advice

[Kate in Arabia]

We adopted a new cat last week, she is a beautiful Persian (I don't know if she's a gray tabby or gray tortoiseshell -- but shades of gray all mixed).

 

She has had a sad history for such a young cat (she's estimated to be 3-4 years old). A prior owner had to leave the country suddenly (like, within 48 hours) and left the cat with a neighbor. After a few weeks the neighbor was tired of the cat and threw her out to fend for herself. I still can't believe that. I can't imagine how the cat survived, between such thick fur in this climate, never having had to find its own food, and the large number of feral cats in the area, it is nothing short of a miracle that she survived. She started approaching another woman who lives here, who took her in and had her fixed up. She had injuries from feral attacks, and was so emaciated they thought she was a kitten (I saw pictures).

 

The woman who resuced her has had her completely "overhauled" -- shots, spaying, the whole nine yards. She wanted to find a good home for her, the kids and I stopped by her place last week to see how we all got along. We brought her home on a trial basis, but I'm pretty sure we're going to keep her.

 

I will say first that this is one of the sweetest cats I have ever known. She is very gentle and not at all skittish. I have been trying to acclimate her more to being around us. It isn't that she hides from us, rather she'll come around to be petted (she loves to be brushed) for a few minutes then wander off to a quiet spot on a bookshelf or in the basement. I have been picking her up to get her used ot being held, she's fine with it for maybe 15 seconds then squirms to get down (I put her down immediately).

 

Usually we just leave her alone, she'll spend a lot of the day on her own; if I approach where she is she'll come out to me on her own to be rubbed on. But if I didn't approach her I think she'd stay aloof most of the time.

 

So my first question is should I try and engage her more or let her be?

 

Second, I've only ever had short-hair cats, this is my first experience with a long-hair breed. Thankfully she really likes to be brushed, we brush her at least once a day. I have read/heard conflicting things about other care, like baths. I never gave our short-hair cat a bath, but it is different with long-hair cats? Any other grooming advice?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.. she is lovely and has such a great temperament, especially considering the trauma she's been through.

 

Oh, and I was able to arrange the litterbox so that it is in a storage area and well away from the kitchen ;)

[Osmosis Mom]

Sounds like a really sweet cat who finally has found a loving home. I a not a cat-expert except I know you never force a cat to love you.

 

My children are really cat people and have the different cats really love them up. However, they never force the love onto the cat and I think that has made all the difference.

 

Just pet the cat as she likes it, but when she wants to move on, let her. She'll most likely come and ask for it.... My kids used to bring the cat into bed with them and the cat might leave later on. However, now this latest cat (as with earlier ones) comes into someone's bed to cuddle during the night and just stays there. It's cute -as long as it is in their bed, not mine!

 

Our cat has never hurt our youngest even though he obviously has not always been on his best behaviour. However, she knows we respect and love her and has been very patient.

[elise1mds]

My first thought is to leave her be. If you are kind and affectionate, she will know it is safe to come out. She may never be a real snuggly cat, though. I have six cats - well, four cats and two kittens. Five of them love to be loved on at any given time, and the last one loves to hide behind the living room drapes 99% of the time and comes out only once or twice a day to receive his daily dose of affection. A few minutes of that, and he's done. He's been raised the same as the rest of them, but that's just his personality.

 

As for bathing, I've never bathed my long-hairs. As long as they are brushed on a regular basis, they should be fine unless there are fleas. You may need to trim the fur in their paws, depending on how that grows, when you trim the claws (assuming this cat has claws).

 

Congrats on your new, sweet kitty!

[mooooom]

but don't forget that she will need an adjustment period to get used to a new house and new people, new sounds, etc. As she is so sweet, it is quite possible that once she forms bonds with you she will become more affectionate.

[Kate in Arabia]

You didn't say how long you'd had her

I mentioned we adopted her last week, we haven't had her for quite a full week yet. I imagine she will become more relaxed, I wasn't sure if I should seek her out more or just let her come to us -- I'm not sure if I should think of it like a therapy or whether she would have any lasting issues because of the difficult time she had. To my knowledge she was never actually abused by anyone (aside from being abandoned outside - I mean, I don't think she was teased or beaten, etc.)

 

About the claws, I have never actually felt her claws at all -- even when I have held her and she's on my chest/shoulder, she has never extended her claws even to hold on. I did see her scratching the carpet on the stairs -- but now I'm not 100% sure if she was really using claws or maybe her claws were removed and she's still going through the motions? Or maybe they have been clipped recently -- I need to ask the prior owner that. I don't think she would let me hold her long enough to see.

[2cents]

Congrats on your new family member! Cats are great companions. She sounds like a sweet kitty. We adopted one of our kitties from animal rescue and she was pretty messed up too. She is very shy and only comes out when she wants to snuggle. Things have to be quiet and settled for her to make an appearance-usually at night when it is more quiet. Most of the time she finds a cozy nook to curl up in and watches things. She has been this way since we got her about 4 yrs ago. Some cats are just shy that way. One of our kitties has been declawed and even though she has no nails she still 'sharpens' them on a chair once in awhile. We say she is faux-sharpening. I bathe all our kitties (4) every month or two and our long hair gets shaved every 6 mos because it is so hot where we live. He likes his shortie haircut and gets very frisky with all the hot hair off. Your kitty may be a little too old to acclimate to a shave so as long as she lets you brush that is really good. If you can't bathe her (some cats hate it), you can buy cat bath wipes that are pretty good too. Have fun with your new friend! I'm glad she has found a nice home! :)

[TravelingChris]

I bet she is declawed if she doesn't hold on. My cats are always declawed (fronts only) and they all go through the scratching motions. I only have one now and he has medium length hair. I have never bathed him and he looks and smells fine.

[Guest Katia]

Ahhh, she sounds so very sweet! How awful of someone to toss a declawed house pet out to fend for herself. She deserves the loving home you are giving to her. Thank you!

 

About the loving, holding, etc.......just pet her, talk to her nicely and supply her with food, clean litter box, a window with sunshine and toys. Otherwise, let her be.

 

We got a cat from the humane society that had been dumped as a 1yo kitten and then she was at the humane society in a cage for a year. Poor dear! She was so sweet, too.

 

We just let her be and she mostly hid. It took her 1 YEAR before she started coming out and socializing with us, and another TWO YEARS for her to fully trust that we wouldn't abandon her.

 

After we'd had her for FIVE YEARS.........this sweet kitty that let us pet her, throw mice for her and would sit in the living room with us when we watched tv.......FINALLY started jumping up in our laps for more than 5 minutes at a time.

 

Now, at SIX YEARS since we adopted her, she is actually a lap cat and she loves to cuddle with us in bed at night. But....it took six years for her to gain that confidence.

 

Give your kitty time. I was telling this story to our vet, and he said most people just don't give adopted cats the time they need to settle in. They give up too quickly and cats just need T-I-M-E.

 

We also had an outdoor cat we rescued and she didn't take hardly any time at all to settle in...she knew she had found something better than starving and freezing outside and she showed it with lots of love and cuddling. Each cat is different.

 

Sounds like you are doing great! Just keep it up.

[Ellie]

Congratulations. :-)

 

If she's *gray,* then she' not tortoiseshell. Torties are black, red and cream; dilute torties (aka blue-cream or blue tortoiseshell) are blue and cream mixed (could be spots). See? Here's a link that describes the colors. Here's a link to the Cat Fanciers of America site, with purty pictures of Persians. Maybe yours in in there. :-)

 

Personally, I wouldn't try too hard to engage her, not at this point. There have been big changes in her life; she probably just needs to assimilate them, KWIM?

[Kate in Arabia]

Thanks for the further comments... I noticed an improvement even just today -- this morning she actually came into the kitchen while I was in there making coffee, and when I put food out she came and ate. The past week she has only been eating at night when everyone is asleep. So looks like she is starting to settle a bit.

 

Thanks for the links, Ellie. I guess she's a gray tabby? Her main color is a medium gray, but she has kind of swirls of darker gray, small touches of white/light gray, and I noticed yesterday a couple of spots of taupe (light brown). It looks more spotty to me than stripes, but it's kind of hard to tell because she's so poofy.