# Skittish Rescue Cat



## Jenna84 (Apr 19, 2012)

Hi there, 

We got our cat Izzy from a Cats Protection Foster home just short of 4 weeks ago. Noone is sure how old she is but best estimates from the vet and CP are that she is 2.5 years old. 

Izzy is my first cat but my boyfriend grew up with cats. The problem we are having is that she is incredibly skittish. When she came to us she was very thin, very jumpy and would not under any circumstances let you near here let alone touch her. She would hide under the bed all day long except when she needed to eat or use the litter tray. 

Now we are able to have a quick scratch behind the ear, she tends to come and sit in whichever room of the house we are in and she sleeps on the foot of our bed. 

The problem is that she turns very quickly and delivers a pretty bad bite or scratch. She will hide under the kitchen table and jump out and dig her claws into the backs of your legs or your feet. We are unsure what to do about this for the best. We obviously don't want the behaviour to continue especially when our 1 year old neice comes to visit in a few weeks and we are worried about it getting any worse. 

At the moment we are keeping her as a house cat due to her nervous nature and the fact that there is a rather large dog in the garden that backs on to ours! 

Any advice would be greatly received. 

I should note that she was spayed in February. 

Jenna xxx


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## Ingrid25 (Oct 1, 2011)

Sit down in a room with her and read a book aloud to her, she will get used to your voice and feel more comfortable this way with you also get your bf to do this too.
Call her name and see if she will let you strome her at her meal times too.


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## Kirstyx69 (Oct 17, 2009)

Hi, my first rescue cat was like this when we got her. It took ages for her to come around at lot of patience and small bits of raw chicken is needed. We also spent a lot of time talking complete nonsense to her, now she sits with us for hours but still runs in to the room when anyone comes over.


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## Jazzle (Apr 18, 2012)

All my cats have been either feral at somepoint or had no human contact, although their basic needs were being met by people. May sound ridiculous but I made up wee songs for them and sang it when in the same room with them, now if I sing at all they all come straight to me! Very friendly cats now, trust takes time. It took 7 months before my tom would let me touch him, he's a complete snuggle bum now.


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## Jenna84 (Apr 19, 2012)

Thank you all so much. I shall definitely try talking to her more. I have lots of studying to do so I shall start reading my books aloud see if that works. 

I am having problems when people come to the house they force themselves upon her and when I ask them to leave her alone I get the same response 'its ok I had a cat once' argh! It's so frustrating! She is an absolute angel and we don't want to give up on her so any suggestions are welcome xxx


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## Kyria (Oct 29, 2011)

Hi when my cat first came to live with us last summer he used to bite and scratch alot. Ive been told it was because he wasnt handled enough as a young kitten (he used to belong to my neighbour but he was always outside all the time)..Since coming to live with us the biting and scratching has eased off alot, although he does still do it from time to time...He is a very loving cat but also doesnt like to be forced into anything We are still trying to teach him to sit on our laps and be held as this is one thing he doesnt really like but Im starting to do that with treats now and hopefully over the next few months it will improve..Dont over pet your cat as sometimes this will make them lash out at you they can be purring one minute and the next second bite you..I usually can tell this by my cats body language especially the tail, but must admit sometimes he does it without any body language and will just turn round and bite. Just be very patient with him Im sure after a few months you will see a big difference. Goodluck. Kyria x


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## broccoli (Jul 1, 2011)

have you tried feliway? its a pheremone that helps with stress

also try to spot 'warning ' signs - see sticky about aggression 
my cats are clear ( clawless paw hit) 
my friend's cat - i cant see the warning, but my friend does


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## Jenna84 (Apr 19, 2012)

I thought I would drop by and give you all an update on Izzy!  

She is doing so well I am so proud of her! She will let us pet her, and occasionally pick her up and have a cuddle. She knows now that we will put her down when she has had enough. She will take treats out of our hands and always comes and sits in whatever room we are in! 

Thank you all for your advice, I think we are both feeling much more relaxed now

xxx


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