Scardy Cat

[masma]

Daughter has taken in a little stray cat, owners have moved and left the cat behind. He's a tiny little thing, frightened of his own shadow. Thing is he keeps being attacked by other cats in the neighbourhood. Has anyone any idea's as to what can be done to help him?

[tonyav]

Could your daughter keep little scaredy cat indoors, masma.

[Duncer]

I'd do that initially, at least until it settles down and gets a bit of confidence in it's surroundings.

[Tuvok]

You might get ideas from My Cat From Hell - its on Animal Planet

[masma]

She's keeping him in as much as possible but he really doesn't like it, he's been outside all his life (vet said he's about a year old) Thanks for your help.

[B00]

"owners have moved and left the cat behind"

What is wrong with people? What a terrible thing to do, sincerely hope karma bites them on the arse one day!

[Psybbo]

B00, how are you coping with your scary cat?

[B00]

Shes still scary, bad tempered, noisy and a general pain in the rear, but I find her endearing.

She on the other hand probably couldn't care less if I dropped dead tomorrow, as long as I could carry on feeding her- she likes her food (and the dogs food, and ours if we aren't quick enough!)

[DrFilth]

the poor thing has probably never been loved and hugged and it will not know if it is going to be dumped again

[wolf63]

Maybe your daughter could try a Feliway spray or adaptor. It emits pheromones that are meant to make the cat feel safe. http://www.feliway.com/uk/

Some cats are timid by nature but this one seems to be suffering quite a bit from it. Cats are by nature bullies so maybe that will be harder to resolve.

[wildwood]

Hope you get it sorted out. What really disturbs me is that the owner just left the cat behind when they moved. Surely that amounts to cruelty and should be reported!

[DrFilth]

wildwood a lot of people do that

[DrFilth]

should have said sadly do it

[nungate]

As has already been suggested it be best for the little cat to be kept indoors for a while. Our youngest cat is also about a year old and his pregnant mother was left behind when her owners moved, luckily the new mum and her kittens were found by a neighbour and taken to PDSA and one of them to us. He was very very timid and nervous at first (we have 4 other cats) but he settled eventually, and though still very nervous he is getting much better, it will take a lot of time until he settles, best to keep him/her away from the bullying neighbour cats for a while. On the plus side, a suicidal mouse (had to be to come into a house with 5 cats) was caught by our little, very timid cat a few weeks back, he's the last one I would have thought to be a mouser. Lots of patience and love required I think

[Wharton]

Perhaps the cat panicked during the removal and bolted. If you know their address let them know you're looking after it.

[bunkmoreland]

Our cat was a really timid,scared neighbourhood cat,bullied by a sibling tom. She was from a multi cat household and just plain scared of everything and everyone. I had put out saucers of warm milk during those awful snowy winters and she crept up to the house to feed. She began to trust as I made it all on her terms as far as being close. She then wanted to see into our house and we let her do this on her terms,slowly. Its all about letting the cat feel safe in your world and now that wee scared cat sleeps on the bottom of our bed every night:-)

[masma]

Thanks for all your answers - he was difinitely left rather than running away. He's got a good loving home now though.

[Greedyfly]

Our kitty is a scaredy cat and also an outdoor puss. Most if the other cats give him grief so we only let him out during certain times of the day and slowly but surely he wins. Unfortunately he gets comfy again and a new puss seems to move in and the process starts again. We try to leave him to it and if things get really bad then we are in hand with a water gun to chase the terrors away.