Hi. I’ve listened to your show several times, but can’t always because I have a crazy schedule. I had to put my last cat to sleep because she had lymphoma. I went to the local shelter a couple of days later to donate the rest of her canned food. There was a cat who hadn’t been adopted-although she had spent four months in a foster home — in five months. She reached out to me from her cage with her paw and the card on her cage said that she was a lap cat, so I adopted her. I kept her in an upstairs bedroom for the first couple of days as the shelter professional recommended. Then, slowly, she was given access to the rest of our condo. It’s been two weeks. It doesn’t seem like she likes my husband or myself very much. She comes downstairs to eat and she does let us pet and scratch her, but she goes right back upstairs after. She is certainly not a lap cat. I spoke with the woman who “fostered” her and she told me that she had told the shelter to remove ”lap cat” from her tag (which they did not) and that in her house she rarely came up from the basement even though the door was opened. Is there anything that we can do so that she will actually like us? I feel kind of misled by the shelter into thinking that this cat had a friendly, ”lap cat” personality.
Thanks for your help!
Elisabeth
So I wrote back to Elisabeth:
This is a really disappointing situation for you but it’s all about patience. Two weeks for a cat who’s been bounced from place to place is nothing — you need to give her time. It’s pretty rare for a cat to come out of a traumatizing shelter situation and be their own best self right off the bat. Giving her space — yet making her feel welcome when she appears — is the best tactic. Try playing with a fishing pole toy to bring her out of her shell. THE CAT BIBLE really might be of use in understanding and overcoming her attitudes. Thanks for giving her this chance to be a lap cat again — the day she does climb into your lap is going to bring tears to your eyes when you realize what she had to overcome emotionally to feel safe and trusting there. Let me know how it goes — and if you do get The Cat Bible send me an address so I can send an autographed bookplate.
Tracie
