Spring 2011 - Mother's Day Kittens
At the beginning of May a call went out to the fosters that they were getting a mamma kitty and 5 babies. Since I my last crew had gone off to the shelter, I volunteered to take them in. The babies were only a couple of weeks old but very frightened and would hide under the furniture every time I came into the room. The mamma kitty turned out to have a split personality. When I would first enter the room with food, she was extremely friendly and eager for attention. By the time she'd finish eating, she became completely unsocial, hissing, growling and biting. And not necessarily in that order. We know she wasn't a feral cat because the fur around her neck was partially worn down from wearing a collar. However, we don't know what kind of life she had, whether she'd been abused or neglected.
First I had to address the babies and began with my usual means of taking canned kitten food on my finger and sticking it under whichever piece of furniture they were hiding. Because I couldn't see them, I had to go by sound to tell when I was getting close to one. Invariably, there would be some hissing and spitting followed by them approaching my outstretched finger covered in nummy kitten food. Slowly I began easing my hand from under the furniture while coaxing them to come out of hiding and eat out of the little bowls of food I prepared. It took a little while but eventually their tummies won out over their fear.
I also tried working with mamma kitty, using treats and clicker training to get her use to my presence and associate positive things with being around humans. I also engaged the kittens in playing with a cat teaser toy and tried to get mamma kitty interested in playing with us as well. Unfortunately, nothing I did seemed to have much success. After eating she would hide under a bench in front of the window. In an attempt to help her feel more empowered and less fearful, I bought a cat tree so she could get up and have the safety of a high perch to look down on the rest of the room. Unfortunately, she would never use it (though the kittens eventually decided it was their favorite place to hang out).
Because of her multiple personalities, I decided to name the mamma kitty Sybil and her babies after the different personalities mentioned in the book. Sybil, it turns out, was also suffering from a bad case of worms. I came in one day to find she'd thrown up a bunch of round worms on the floor. Fecal tests proved the both Sybil and the kittens had round worms and the kittens also had coccidia. So all were put on a de-worming regimen. I had hopes that perhaps the worms were making her feel bad and was the reason for her behavior.
Because she could turn in an instant and without provocation, I began to get worried for her and for the kittens. If we couldn't modify her behavior, her prognoses for finding a new home was bleak. If they felt she was a danger to people, she would end up being euthanized. One time as I was cleaning the litter box, I was turned away from her and she suddenly lunged at me, biting my arm. Fortunately, I moved just in time so only got a grazing wound instead of a deep puncture. In addition, her outbursts were upsetting the kittens making their socialization more difficult. Several times, she even turned on her own kittens when they attempted to play with her.
Finally, one day as I was picking up the food bowls on the other side of the room from her, she suddenly rushed me in an unprovoked attack. Again, I was not facing her or making any threatening moves toward her but this time, seeing her coming out of the corner of my eye, I turned and yelled "STOP!" And she did, then turned around and slunk back to her hiding place under the bench. I called the shelter and talked to the vet tech about my concerns. By this time, the kittens were eating on their own and not nursing as much so the decision was made for me to bring Sybil in and see if getting her spayed would help settle her down.
While she was awaiting her surgery at the shelter, a large sign warning people of her tendency to bite was placed on the front of her cage. Fortunately, once she was spayed, she did seem to finally settle down and became less reactive. She was still awaiting adoption as of the time of this writing, nearly a year later but I have hopes that she will eventually get adopted. He babies fared much better. Without mom as a disrupting influence, they really came out of their shell and became very social little kittens who were all quickly adopted.
First I had to address the babies and began with my usual means of taking canned kitten food on my finger and sticking it under whichever piece of furniture they were hiding. Because I couldn't see them, I had to go by sound to tell when I was getting close to one. Invariably, there would be some hissing and spitting followed by them approaching my outstretched finger covered in nummy kitten food. Slowly I began easing my hand from under the furniture while coaxing them to come out of hiding and eat out of the little bowls of food I prepared. It took a little while but eventually their tummies won out over their fear.
I also tried working with mamma kitty, using treats and clicker training to get her use to my presence and associate positive things with being around humans. I also engaged the kittens in playing with a cat teaser toy and tried to get mamma kitty interested in playing with us as well. Unfortunately, nothing I did seemed to have much success. After eating she would hide under a bench in front of the window. In an attempt to help her feel more empowered and less fearful, I bought a cat tree so she could get up and have the safety of a high perch to look down on the rest of the room. Unfortunately, she would never use it (though the kittens eventually decided it was their favorite place to hang out).
Because of her multiple personalities, I decided to name the mamma kitty Sybil and her babies after the different personalities mentioned in the book. Sybil, it turns out, was also suffering from a bad case of worms. I came in one day to find she'd thrown up a bunch of round worms on the floor. Fecal tests proved the both Sybil and the kittens had round worms and the kittens also had coccidia. So all were put on a de-worming regimen. I had hopes that perhaps the worms were making her feel bad and was the reason for her behavior.
Because she could turn in an instant and without provocation, I began to get worried for her and for the kittens. If we couldn't modify her behavior, her prognoses for finding a new home was bleak. If they felt she was a danger to people, she would end up being euthanized. One time as I was cleaning the litter box, I was turned away from her and she suddenly lunged at me, biting my arm. Fortunately, I moved just in time so only got a grazing wound instead of a deep puncture. In addition, her outbursts were upsetting the kittens making their socialization more difficult. Several times, she even turned on her own kittens when they attempted to play with her.
Finally, one day as I was picking up the food bowls on the other side of the room from her, she suddenly rushed me in an unprovoked attack. Again, I was not facing her or making any threatening moves toward her but this time, seeing her coming out of the corner of my eye, I turned and yelled "STOP!" And she did, then turned around and slunk back to her hiding place under the bench. I called the shelter and talked to the vet tech about my concerns. By this time, the kittens were eating on their own and not nursing as much so the decision was made for me to bring Sybil in and see if getting her spayed would help settle her down.
While she was awaiting her surgery at the shelter, a large sign warning people of her tendency to bite was placed on the front of her cage. Fortunately, once she was spayed, she did seem to finally settle down and became less reactive. She was still awaiting adoption as of the time of this writing, nearly a year later but I have hopes that she will eventually get adopted. He babies fared much better. Without mom as a disrupting influence, they really came out of their shell and became very social little kittens who were all quickly adopted.