About a year and a half ago, my parents took in a stray cat who had been roaming mom's friend's neighborhood for a while. She was a sweet girl, and there were a lot of coyotes in the area so we decided outdoor life was not the life for her. Well, turns out she was pregnant and ready to have kittens very soon!

We came home to her with three boy orange kittens, but nearly 48 hours later there was another kitten born. This one a greyish kitten who was much smaller than the others. Also a girl!

We don't know if she suffered oxygen deprivation or just being the runt made her special, but we've always struggled with her fears. She's a VERY easily frightened cat, and if you'd never known her, you'd think we had just taken a wild animal from outside and just let it run around in our house. Trying to pick her up is like picking up a raccoon that crawled into your attic.

It didn't help that our 'mama kitty' was never really the best mama to her babies. She played rough, especially with the girl, and the girl was never really too good at getting food, and never got that mama love. We tried to help, but even since she was born she's been cripplingly terrified of us.


Now, in the past few months, she's gotten a lot better. She will climb in your lap, she actually purrs if you pet her, and enjoys being closer to us. She is the most comfortable with me as I have been spending late nights just to be with her on her own time and comfort level. Still can't pick her up, I almost feel like she has some kind of vertigo problem? It's like the movement of it scares her.


The more I 'get to know' her, the more I see why she acts the way she does. It's almost like she never figured out how to react to things correctly. She follows our dog constantly, cries when she can't get to him, and treats her like she's her new mama...But then she'll try to nudge the dog sweetly but will suddenly freak out, and attack the dog. She does this to people too, she'll enjoy being pet, but randomly seems get angry and bite. Well, in the late night snuggle times, I decided to see what happens if I just sort of let her grab me instead of backing away. What she did surprised me--She just held onto my hand and pushed it against her forehead where I had been petting her earlier. After this point she freaks out if you try to walk away or stop petting her. But I mean really, she freaks out. Like, severe separation anxiety panic.

But at the same time, she's still very intimidated by big scary humans, but clearly wants our attention. She's actually a very very good cat, just is a hassle to hold her(which makes vet visits exciting and painful)


Has anyone ever dealt with a cat like this before? I feel like I'm taming a wild, shy animal. It's very rewarding when I am able to get closer with her, I can't tell you how sweet it was to finally hear her purr from a human touch. It's just very strange, I'm not used to cats like this. She turned out the opposite of all of her brothers too. They are all bold, brave, and much more likely to snuggle up to you. Thankfully she can stand up for herself against other cats--and if you saw her with the other cats you'd think she was just a normal house cat. Just us big scary people I guess.


Anyway, just felt like sharing the story of our little girl. Everyday is a learning experience with her, as she shares nothing in common with any cat I've ever raised before!

Here's some pictures. She's cute, in a really strange way. She has an odd pattern and her face looks like a sphinx cat that happens to have fur.

the babies


As a kitten


growing up


Two of her brothers and mama


This is her pretty much now


Oh yeah, her name is River!