When you stare at them you are challenging them. I know it is fun but you need
to look at them thru almost closed eyes. You are threatening to them. I found
out the hard way. I thought you could stare down a cat like you can some dogs.
NOPE. They are CAT.
If you have men who will
exclude any of God's creatures
from the shelter of compassion
and pity, you will have men who
will deal likewise with their
fellow man.
St. Francis
----- Original Message -----
From: Caroline Kaufmann
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 4:30 PM
Subject: RE: socializing barn kittens
Yes! That is exactly what I told my mom! That's the comparison I used.
That they make me feel bad about myself b/c of the way they look at me when I
come in the room...they look UP at me like I'm the giant from Jack & the
Beanstock and I'm there to eat them...and when they scamper away from me...I
know I shouldn't let it affect me, but it hurts my feelings. The way they look
at me makes me feel like a big, fat bumbling idiot! And it's in such contrast
to my "upstairs room" of overly-socialized, babyfied, spoiled boy cats- Yoda,
LeeRoy and Possee! I go in that room and they all knock things over trying to
get TO me as fast as possible! If I bend over, LeeRoy jumps on my back and
lays on it- licks my head, neck, hair- whatever. He greets anyone that walks
in the room like a dog- wags his long tail and "talks." Possee licks me to
death on the face in the morning; Yoda tries to play it cool with me, but when
I was gone Friday into Sat. for 24 hours, when I came back, wow, it was a
love-fest...lil nerd missed me and couldn't help but purr and let me hold him.
So I'm not used to that terrified look and it does make me sad. I get pouty!
I know Monkee's at the Rainbow Bridge laughing is black & white a$$ off at me!
caroline
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: RE: socializing barn kittens
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:09:39 -0500
The little guy I fostered first latched on to my youngest (and smallest and
most playful cat)> He followed him around continuously and played non stop.
Then he latched on to my Tucson who just didn’t know what to make of him taking
over her favorite ‘napping’ spot. Soooo, I think it does help to be around
socialized cats who can sort of show them the way.
One other thing—we must look like huge monsters to these little guys. He
got more scared if he saw me coming to pick him up than if I just sort of snuck
up behind him and scooped him up! It just got to be a game where I’d scoop him
up, nuzzle him a bit, and then put him down… but it seemed to work with him…
Christiane Biagi
914-632-4672
Cell: 914-720-6888
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Katrina Animal Reunion Team (KART)
www.findkpets.org
Join Us & Help Reunite Katrina-displaced Families with their Animals
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Caroline
Kaufmann
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 4:31 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: RE: socializing barn kittens
Thanks! That makes me feel better! I do leave the TV on their room all
day to force them to get used to human voices. As far as food bowls and litter
box- no problem (except for the inevitable laying in the litter box!). Nothing
is going to stop these little pigs from eating...trust me. Especially when I
bring them their wet kitten food at night (wh/ I'm sure they've never had)- I
sit in front of their condo and stare at them-- they HATE it, but it's so funny
to watch the test of wills going through their heads-- watching me, thinking
I'm going to grab them, thinking they really want to eat that food, etc. EVERY
TIME, those pigs opt for eating their food- licking the bowls clean, while I
hover over top of them! They use the box fine.
I haven't mixed them with my older cats yet- I plan to, because one of
them, LeeRoy, really likes all cats and is a great cat ambassador. But I
didn't want to stress them out so much so soon after their surgery...so maybe
in a few days we will try that. Supervised of course.
caroline
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: RE: socializing barn kittens
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:16:55 -0500
Fostered a little guy that somebody had dumped .. he was a real problem to
pick up—he’d hiss and curl up just as you described. He’d also run a whole lot
faster than me and could get under things! LOL
I just made it a point to pick him up as much as I could. He was around my
cats and I think that helped a whole lot cause once he started playing with
them and watching what they did, he figured it was OK. I fed him with the big
guys and just being around, figuring out that the strange noises (TV, vacumn,
etc.) were OK, making his way to the food dish and the litter box and the
toys—all those things clicked and within a couple of weeks he was ready to go.
He got adopted the 2nd day I brought him to the shelter (I made a deal to bring
him there during the day and pick him up at night).
My only suggestion is to do what you’re doing—handle each of them as much
as possible, let them be kittens and find their food bowls and litter boxes,
and I bet it will work out…
Christiane Biagi
914-632-4672
Cell: 914-720-6888
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Katrina Animal Reunion Team (KART)
www.findkpets.org
Join Us & Help Reunite Katrina-displaced Families with their Animals
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Caroline
Kaufmann
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 3:59 PM
To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org
Subject: OT: socializing barn kittens
My other issue is that is took in 3 female barn kittens last Sat. We are
estimating they are about 8 wks (just got spayed on Mon and all weigh almost 3
lbs). They were born in a barn in Indiana- mom was dropped off on this man's
farm and had her kittens in the barn. I don't know too many details, but after
they were born, they started coming out of the barn a little so they were
noticed by the farmer and his daughter. They were not taken into the house as
far as I know they stayed in the barn until they were caught and brought to me.
So my contact at the adoption agency obviously wanted to get them fix and out
of the bitter bitter cold and wants to see if they can be socialized enough to
be adopted out. If not, they will have to re-released to the barn. She
doesn't have the time/resources to take on this project right now and she was
given my name and number as the newest "kitten rehabber" on the block I guess.
But I'm a rehabber of sick kittens- that's my forte! And these babies are the
healthiest lil piggies I've seen in a loooooong time (aw the irony). (By the
by, 5 of the 7 kittens that I have nursed through illnesses and fostered since
Sept. have been adopted! The remaining ones are Yoda- who shows badly b/c he
thinks I'm his mommy and he has no intention of going anywhere...and the little
booger is growing on me daily anyway; and Possum (aka "Possee"- my little
struggling underweight darling who's finally growing and moving around now that
we've gone through a whole thing of Nutrical! He's not caught up to Yoda yet,
even tho they are the same age, but there's been improvement. He isn't
show-ready yet so I haven't even tried to adopt him yet.).
Anyway, I don't know what I am doing with these barn kittens! Other than
just generally "forcing" myself on them, I am kind of at a loss. They're not
really wild like feral cats or anything, they just would prefer it if you
didn't touch them. They kind of go into this panic mode when I do pick them up
by the scruff where they will just curl up their body like a ball and they just
kind of go to their happy place-- like lapse into a trance and don't engage.
So people who don't truly know cats think they are darling little docile things
you can just hold forever, but it's not so. I know if you put them on the
ground, they would be off and under something and you'd never find them again.
It's like they go into survival mode when you hold them, so people think they
are fun to hold, but really, these little things are dying on the inside while
you are doing it! They never purr when I scratch them or handle them. They
will hiss sometimes when they first see me or I reach for them, but it's really
baby hissing and I totally ignore it. Of course, they are scared of sounds and
some toys I originally gave them, but we are making headway now b/c they love
the cat teasers with feathers, so I can get them to engage, but only for the
purpose of playing.
Other than forced holding of them, what can I do to work on getting them to
engage with people- and even like them? I hold them together as a group all
wrapped up in a towel- I thought that would lessen the trauma by them all
having each other. Plus, the farmer's daughter (hee hee!) favored only one of
them and held only that one kitten- so it's more socialized and easier to hold
than the other two. It's actually really sad to see the effect that that
favoritism had on these babies! I just want to be doing all that I can b/c if
they can't be socialized, they will have to be released and I will feel like
it's partly my fault-- I feel like I can't fail here. It would be especially
sad b/c these little things are cute cute! They have those big round "apple"
heads and pudgy faces and huge round eyes and they have medium fur that is
really fluffy and poufy- very distinctive looking and I know if they didn't
have "people" issues right now, they would literally fly off the shelves at
adoption day! They look little bear cubs basically...insanely cute!
Suggestions very welcome at this point!
thanks,
Caroline
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