Rescue cat hell- he's made an escape :(

dizziblonde

I just put an old newspaper in the bottom of the litter tray (or political party leaflets) - seems to last longer than a tray liner, soaks up anything that does get to the bottom and means the whole lot comes out into the rubbish bag in one piece rather than having to scrap caked on stuff off the bottom which is a job I always hated. Yes it gets scratched up when the cat tries to dig to Australia to have a number 2 but never to the extent of being a problem.

My rescue wasn't violent but was incredibly skittish when we got her - she'll still bolt for hidey holes if scared or my mother comes around but she's so much better than she was (she barricaded herself under the bed for 4 days, behind the fireplace for another couple, got under the kitchen cabinets etc). Just took time, now it's like a furry limpet mine stuck to you.

glossgal

This might be unpopular but...do you want to keep him?

I speak as someone who adores cats btw but has experience of adopting a mental one! 3 yrs ago we adopted ours, the rescue centre never said a word about her 'behaviour' but from day one she has behaved as though semi-ferral. At first we turned a blind eye to the biting, scratching, climbing etc because we assumed she had been treated badly but I'm sorry to say to this day she is still a handful. She is very affectionate in other ways eg always follows us round the garden, jumps on you when you get in from work purring etc but the affection is very short lived. After that she is a menace, she has wrecked the front door by hanging off it 6ft up and attacked my OH best friend leaving scars two months later. As much as I hate to say it I really wish we had taken her back to the rescue.

In our case the shelter we got our cat from have such a weird view of their animals (they look you up and down and generally act like you are adopting a child) and it was fear of being treated as timewaster or worse that stopped us from returning her. I would give your little man a few months but if he hasn't improved then I would seriously consider returning him-you cannot train an adult cat!!

nementai

I'm reading 'The Cat Whisperer' at the moment, as I'm planning to adopt soon too.
It has lots of explanations about cat behaviour and advice on problems - I'd recommend it to you (though I'm sure there are many other good cat behaviour books out there).
I think most of the advice given above is sound. The idea of the spray bottle is that it's an 'act of god' - it's not the human punishing bad behaviour, but just something that happens if the cat does a specific thing. The same can be applied to scratching or jumping up by using piles of cans or something similar which fall and make a lot of noise if disturbed. This gives the cat a certain amount of caution about doing whatever triggered the noise again. If it's obvious the spray comes from you, I don't think the effect will be quite the same. Plus, I think it's likely that any truly 'problem' cat will just get used to it!
Have you tried Feliway? I think that using some sort of pheromone diffuser or spray can help the cat to feel more secure where it is.
Also, as has been said, make a bit of a fuss when the cat is good (but you initiate, and then leave it wanting more) and hiss or completely ignore bad behaviour. Turning your back is cat for s0d off and it might start to get the message!
With regards to the scratching and biting, it's probably partly to do with fear. If you try to look out for changes in body language before the biting happens, stop petting and walk away at that point - you shouldn't get involved in any scraps if at all possible.
It might be worth looking at toys and games for the cat too - to keep it mentally and physically stimulated while it's indoors. You could even have a go at clicker training. It seems as though it works just as well for cats as it does for dogs. There are also herbal medicines for animals available, which could be used to help calm it down (I don't mean tranquillisers - more like a cup of chamomile tea), look out for skullcap and valerian in the mixes and cat nip can be useful for drugging your cat in a guilt-free way!
I hope you see an improvement soon, the cat is probably scared, frustrated and really uncertain and you're doing a wonderful thing by trying to nurse it through. I'm sure with some time and perseverance it'll start to come around.

lolababy

Hi the cat will calm down eventually. I had a stray about six years ago that I found half dead in our cellar. It took a long time to get her well and used to people around her. I found that just being in the same room and not forcing attention onto her helped.
Our youngest cat scratched bit and climbed the walls but now almost two years on is the most loyal loving cat. It takes time and lots of patience. One thing you could try is a place for the cat to hide so that he has somewhere he feels safe. Maybe a box of some kind.

butler_helen

I wanted to reply to everyone although I can't work out how to do multiple quotes!

To pick up on the comment above about patience... I plan to give him until either we can't cope or the house can't cope, which should be a while. If we can't cope, the pet rescue ladies were lovely and understanding about his behaviour and im sure would understand if we gave him back.

He is showing signs of being lovely, he was cuddling up the virgin engineer this morning! Although he still doesn't like my boyfriend...so we're working on getting him to react the same to us both. Could tone of voice and pitch of voice be the problem? or even his confidence in whether or not he will get bitten, as I've grown up with cats and am possibly better at reading the signs of a potential attack.

Also- I'm glad the poster who commented on the cat whisperer liked it, as we've just ordered it from Amazon.

lorac3

You need to take it slowly so he learns to trust you. I have over the years had 11 semi ferals and they were all different. I used to give them cat nip drops and then they would roll around scent marking the house.
Not sure if it would work for you but I think that they did settle better with their smell around them.
Do not allow outside access untill he comes when called.
Good luck !

dizziblonde

Cats come when they're called?! Mine never got that memo and only answers to the jangle of the catfood packet.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I am of course assuming that your cat isn't a highly intelligent and literate soul named 'Felix' 'Whiskas' of 'Kit e Kat' then.....

butler_helen

weirdly the cat comes to the food bowl but doesn't always then sit and eat it...sometimes he checks it out and then walks away for a bit.

butler_helen

Ok so the rescue cat who doesn't like us and who we are still training has made an escape... I asked my boyfriend to put the washing out, which he did, but in the process he let the cat out!

he spent around 5 minutes exploring our garden and our neighbours gardens and now he has disappeared - I'm really worried as the people opposite (massive fence between) have a dog and he is barking like mad (im imagining bootsie as lunch for said doggie).

How can we get him in? or has anyone got any ideas for a humane trap for him? we've got oily tuna in his bowl at the moment and are calling him, although it isn't working - he's clearly either a) lunch or b) enjoying the hot weather!

any help or reassurance would be welcomed. Obviously my boyfriend is feeling bad and so it'd good for his peace of mind and mine if we hadn't let the cat get hurt