Psycho kitty - Any advice?

**shoiji** · 11-21-2009, 02:09 PM

Well, I have decided something is bothering my cat. This is the first cat I ever had that behaved this way. She doesn't seem to like men. Period.

She acts like she wants to get to know other new people but when they go to pet her she hisses. Yes, I do think she is also scared. So I tell people to just ignore her. As long as they ignore her she goes about her normal business.

Yesterday someone came over to visit. She ignored the cat and wouldn't you know the cat came over to her and let her touch it with out any hissy fit. Then the woman's husband comes over and she stands on the top of the stairs hissing, swatting, and spitting at him. He is all calm and in a gentle voice saying it is ok, what is the matter, it is ok. And the cat just keeps on acting like it has gone psycho. She is more angry it seems with men.

I did get her from an animal shelter. And the paperwork said that the brother couldn't keep her. So I don't know if something happened when she was only a kitten. (Apparently I wasn't supposed to read the paperwork.)

Any ideas to get her more socially acclimmated to strangers? Really don't want to keep her locked up in the bedroom everytime someone comes over. (She gets really upset about being locked up. And lets you know it for two days.)

She really is sweet but it is hard to tell that to someone who is watching a cat go off on them. lol

**lottaLove** · 11-21-2009, 02:31 PM

I don't know if there is any way to train a cat. I've owned several, and each one has it's unique personality. The only thing I can think of is always make sure you do your best to show the cat she is in a safe place. Do your best not to raise your voice around her, or do anything that would startle or intimidate her. It might take some time, but maybe she will eventually come around.

**pinetree** · 11-21-2009, 04:05 PM

I Have a cat that won't even go around other people. Someone knocks on the door and shes gone. She will sometimes come out on her own and look around, but with some people she wont.

We have one afraid of thunder, we use to make a big deal over it, but our vet said to ignore it, and now shes going alot better, so maybe just dont pay any attention when people are there, and she will get over it too. Good Luck, let us know how it goes.

**Contrary Housewife** · 11-21-2009, 06:15 PM

She may have had a bad experience with a male adult, and has not been socialized out of it yet.

I would say, since she is ok when she can approach people on her own terms, that next time she has a hissing fit you try to remove her from the room and let her come back when she has calmed down. Pick her up and soothe here if she will let you, take her away, but don't lock her up.

If she comes back to your visitors, reintroduce the male guest when she is calmed down.

I think cats have about the intelligence of a 2 year old. They can learn cause and effect, and they can be taught (though many still will not care if they are breaking the rules). With some cats it takes longer than others. Be patient and gentle, soothe her if you can, and she should eventually learn she is safe in your home.

**shoiji** · 11-21-2009, 09:31 PM

OK Contrary Housewife, I will try that. One problem though she doesn't like to be picked up. I did remove her when she was acting up but she literally ran back to the top of the stairs and continued where she left off.

I also think cats have the intelligence of a two year old. I think I will have to train guest more though. Even though I tell people to ignore her they still want to reach out and touch her.

All I know is if she was a watch dog no one would get by her. When she was young I did have a dog. She always seemed to think she had to go out when the dog went out. So far she has kept three six foot tall men at bay by her antics.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Hopefully she will start getting calmer.

**Contrary Housewife** · 11-21-2009, 10:57 PM

You can get her used to being picked up, just do it every day and hold her as long as she will let you. Hold her by the scruff of her neck if she gets fussy, but if she really struggles let her down.

Our shelter cat did not like being picked up or held either, he was caged for 6 months with little human attention and was not used to being touched. It took us a lot of repeated picking up to get him used to it. He still does not care for it, but now he will not panic and we can hold him for a minute or so.

**Debbie-cat** · 11-21-2009, 11:11 PM

I would continue to ignore her when she acts up and tell your guests to do the same. She should eventually come around but it seems as if she had a previous bad experience. Good luck.

**Palooka** · 11-21-2009, 11:36 PM

Get psycho kitty another cat to play with.

I agree with CH's advice though.

**shoiji** · 11-22-2009, 10:08 AM

She does have another playmate. On the rare times she is locked in the bathroom because someone is fixing something she will hiss at the other cat if it comes to close for two days. The other cat just hides till everyone goes home.

I will try to hold her more. Would you believe when I was picking them out in the shelter one of the requirements was that I could hold them without them struggling to get down. And yup they both snuggled and purred. Got them home and let them out. Everytime I tried to pick one up they ran in opposite directions. One will let me pick her up, the psycho one goes ninja most of the times with paws reaching in different directions.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. Just want to make things easier for her instead of having her be all scared and frightened any time someone comes over. I have had many cats and really this is the first one that goes off.

**mnmarty03** · 11-22-2009, 10:17 AM

Hey. Does she have a "safe place" to go? Some place she can hide, that is away from people, where she feels safe and comforted and knows nothing will happen to her there?

My cat has her safe place where she spends.. at least 75% of her day (not cause she's scared, she simply just LOVES her space). It consists of a chair in front of a window she likes to look out, a crinkle tunnel (crinkles when she goes in it, I got it from wally world for like 8 dollars and she loves loves loves it) and her scratching post. These are mostly items she's had since she was young, but they are things that give her a hiding space and safety.

Does your cat have a space like that? It could be a corner of a room, or a specific room (like the bathroom), etc. If not, maybe set one up for her so that she can go there when guests are around and feel safe. Let her know it's her space - give her treats in that area and always make sure it's very calm.

Hope this helps. I agree with previous posters.. definitely let her come to strangers on her own terms - and ignoring her bad behavior is probably best.

**shoiji** · 11-22-2009, 01:01 PM

Yes, my cat does have a safe place. The bedroom. But she would rather come out and see what is going on. She was sleeping in her bed that is at the foot of my bed. But when the door bell rang she game running out to see what was going on. Then she started having a fit.

Maybe she really does think she is a dog.