Rescue BEngal behavior help! She is so scared!
Hi Folks, I need some advice on a rescue kitty we acquired early last month. She is just over a year old, spayed, has all claws. The rescue organization claimed she is a Bengal, they had a Bengal breeder take a look at her, they called her an ‘F2’ Siamese/Asian Leopard. I don’t know how they could tell with that much detail, so I suspect some fluff. She does not have the show quality/desirable Bengal pattern/colors, the rescue organization figures this is why she was dumped as kitten. She was with the rescue foster for over 6 months.
She has never been friendly, only super scared of us. We’ve never even pet her and try and avoid eye contact. We set her up in a spare room, she has a covered litter box, a little cat condo, a 72” high cat tree, and assorted empty cardboard boxes and toys to play with. I setup a large amazon box for her to hide under by cutting out half of one side and taping it up. She mostly hangs out under there. We keep dry food and water out at all times, and have used wet food to try and make friends.
At first we would just put the wet food out while sitting in the room, hoping she would come out for it. She wouldn’t, so we would leave it for her to eat on her own. After a several weeks of that, I started putting the food closer to her and taking it with me when she wouldn’t come out and eat. After a week or so of that, we have gotten to the point where she will come within a few feet and eat, but any movement shoots her back into her hiding place.
This last week, at night, we’ve gotten her interested in the string/feather and laser pointer. She will come out and play, but not too close. Still any ‘wrong’ movement causes her to hide.
At the same time as we seem to be making progress via the food and the play-time, she has also gotten super aggressive. Anytime we go near the entrance of her Amazon box or condo, she hisses and more often than not claws/swipes if she thinks we are too close. She has also just this week taken to scratching up the carpet around the perimeter of the room. She has shown signs of wanting to get out of the room, a couple of times in the evenings we she has shown some aggression at the door. I’ll open it to go in, she will be sitting there, and will pointedly look past me and stand. It takes a few more seconds than it would seem it should for her to retreat as I enter.
I did mess up huge yesterday, after several days in a row of more carpet damage, I went to feed her. I saw yet more damage right along the wall of the Amazon box she lives in, and as I put the food down, she reached out of the box opening and scratched me without warning. I lost my temper, told her ‘no’, ‘bad’ and took away the Amazon box, leaving her exposed. I didn’t yell, stomp, make any further sudden noises, and I swear its the only time I have done something other than torture her with kindness…. I just lost my cool after so many weeks of trying to make friends and another scratch. Fairly quickly I realized I shouldn’t have taken her hiding place and after about 10 minutes I put it back. She has been super upset since. She didn’t eat much overnight, and of course has just hissed and swiped at me today. I have tried to limit my interaction with her since, just feeding and the basics in the room.
But I am at a loss. She has been with us for almost 7 weeks and has just gotten more aggressive and is suddenly interested in damaging the room she is in. I think its clear that she wants out, but I am hesitant to do that in her current state. We’ve tried 3 types of treats, and she eats each one, but she certainly won’t come to get them. In fact, she hisses when I open the top of the Pounce. Though the bags for freeze dried minnows and the other one do not seem to bother her.
Anybody got any suggestions?
Posted Jul 22, 2017, 9:00 PM UTC
I tamed a feral litter of kittens once, and the biggest key point I realized is you need to become white noise to them. That is, be in the room with your cat for reasons that have nothing to do with her. Grab a book and sit on the floor near her and just ignore her. Let her explore the space around you. The bubble will shrink with time, but you must be patient. Have a couple toys near you in case she wants to play. I would also have some treats in my pocket as a little reward. Generally, exhibit behavior that will help your cat realize she can be relaxed around you. Also remember to keep your voice even and don't yell; her ears are sensitive already, and add nervousness to that and she'll get even more edgy. Good luck!
Good advice. I think you just gotta understand that an abandoned kitty, like any animals, can be rather traumatized. So the best thing is just be even more patient. I lured a street cat for weeks and weeks with wet food before she'll let me get remotely close to her, and then even more weeks to touch her.
Now, she's a happily indoor kitty for 4 years.
This! My parents had a cat that hated everyone but my mom. She would hide in the laundry room all day maybe leave to go outside. She like my mom because my mom for months would just go in the laundry room and do the laundry and total ignore the cat. I gave it a try after a few months the cat would come over to me and let me pet her, i was her friend. It took a LONG time but it worked.