Special needs kitty

[purplemuffin]

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!

[Jessica Loesch]

I love her she looks like river rocks, so the name fits well

[mommanessy247]

very cute.
when did you guys start first handling the kittens? kittens learn most of their socialization skills from mom and each other. if the mom is fearful she'll actually inadvertantly teach that way of being to her kittens.
my family had cats all the time growing up & we went through alot in those years. we learned that some momma cats will allow their babies to be touched & will even bring 'em to you while we've had 1 momma cat that abandoned then killed her entire first litter that we touched & then abandoned another litter but we didnt let her kill that litter too cuz as soon as we realized she'd stopped feeding them we took over.
but it sounds like your momma cat is not feral.
sounds to me like you got a jekle & hyde kitty, lol. we've had a few of those.

[Annarose15]

Pretty! She's got a calico look to her. Not that it's much help, but I've never met a calico that wasn't a little crazy! It sounds like the time you're spending is helping her, so just stay patient and keep it up. I don't normally advocate drugging anyone or anything, but if she is overly stressed by vet visits, the vet can give you pills to give her before you go to calm her down.

[ballpythonluvr]

What an adorable cat!

[JLC]

Awwww...she's adorable!

How does she react to being scruffed? It seems to calm most cats, or at least turn them "off" so they don't fight being held or picked up. But I understand it doesn't work with all.

Does she like to jump up on tall things...hang out up high where she can look down on the world? From what I've read and seen, that is a source of a lot of indoor cat anxiety...they want/need to be up high...but the home they're in offers little-to-no chance to do so. Just thinking out loud, so to speak, since I have no idea how your home is set up.

I'm glad to hear she's in a good home with a family that is patient and willing to work with her. Too many people just give up and get rid of pets that are "special." Mama kitty and her surprise litter are very blessed little kitties!

[rabernet]

What a beautiful muted tortie! Calicos and torties are some of my favorites. My vet said that he's never met a calico that wasn't an evil witch, however - I've been blessed to have two sweet calico girls in my life, and even my vet admits that the one I have now is pretty darn sweet. Besides, she's a princess (or so she wants everyone to think).

As Judy said, she's pretty lucky to be with you!

[purplemuffin]

Mama kitty(we never actually named her, hehe, she's just always been Mama) has always been a real sweetie and would bring the kittens closer to us. She was never feral, we actually suspect she was an abandoned pet.

She sort of responds to the scruff, but she can fight it. It'll stop her for a second(if we need to get her into a kitty carrier) but she will struggle and break free pretty quickly.

We actually have built in floor to ceiling shelves that we give the kitties access to, they love to climb up and down them. It's true, she is more calm when she is at a higher level(we aren't towering over her anymore), so I try to encourage her to be up there more so she can build her courage a bit.


Her pattern always confuses me! She's sort of calico, but doesn't have the thick chunks of fur color, her pattern is almost more like a really pale tortoiseshell cat! My favorite thing is her 'fingerless gloves" she has, her toes are super cute.


Her mom actually spent less time with her than any of the kittens. We had to intervene when she was younger. Mama would take all the kittens to us sometimes, but would leave river with us when she went back to her "den". Never really was too nurturing, mama acted more like a kitten herself and just wanted to play most of the time. The little river couldn't quite keep up with her brothers, she was the last to walk, last to run, last to play, etc. Runt! So I really think she didn't learn all the things kittens are supposed to learn.

Last night she slept on the bed with me, which was good. Usually she just sleeps as close as she can to my room without actually being in the room(right in the doorway)


I'm glad we took so long to look for homes for the kittens. We actually only ended up rehoming one of them to a family friend. We were going to rehome her, but the older she got the more we realized she wasn't just a shy kitten! So with us she stays, along with her brothers Forest and Russel!