Short situation sketch: we have three cats: Traumacat, Neurocat and Rather Normal Cat.
Traumacat is a small female, 14 years old. She suffered a trauma when she was a kitten (we were told a dog attack) and frankly never got over it. She had an eye infection and ear infection when she came to us and the fact that we had to manually medicate her didn't help matters and for eight following years she despised and feared physical contact. Due to family dynamics we left her pretty much to herself. After that she out of a blue realised petting was cool and now will come for stroking, at an extended arm's distance. But no more. She lives and eats upstairs and only comes outside on the balcony.
Traumacat does not get along well with the other two, male cats. Neurocat out-right attacks her and Rather Normal Cat mostly like to chase her for play since she will always, always run. When Neurocat chases her she often pees in fright and it will always end in a fight with flying fur. In the beginning she wouldn't be seen for the rest of the day after an attack, but now she will come out far quicker. Therefor, Neurocat is banned from her rooms but he's sneaky. Rather Normal Cat is not as fixated on her but he will playfully (at least from his perspective, not hers) chase her under the nearest bed and then make off with her leftovers. Rather Normal Cat is a glutton.
I'm pretty sure I can never improve relations between the cats (and the one with Neurocat is probably unsalvagable already) without Traumacat gaining more confidence. So for the last few years I have tried some socialising: I've taught her to come up on the computer table for petting, increased petting to two hands rather than one, introduced a brush and even occassionally teased her unto my lap for a few seconds without panicking. I've put up some pillows on higher places like the desk because she seems more confident and happy when she can sit on top of something than hiding beneath things. She now accepts treats and very ocassionally will play with one of the toys, she has never done either in earlier years. But I'm pretty sure that will be the limit of what I can do for her, she only trusts me so far.
Recently we've switched the bed (that she wasn't using) from Traumacat's room to a folding sofa/bed. There's a hole underneath which Traumacat knows but the other two have not discovered yet. Now Traumacat seems to hole up there pretty much indefinitely and she's getting more withdrawn which I don't think is good for her. She doesn't come for petting at the computer anymore and grows more skittish. The two seem connected. The less social contact Traumacat has, the scaredier she appears to become. When we left on holiday once and boarded the other two so she had the whole house to herself without fear, we thought she'd rise to the occassion. But she was actually more scared when no one was around to attack her than she was before. She even started losing her hair and barely ate. It took days for her to go back to her normal self.
So I've been thinking of closing up the hole under the sofa, forcing her to reclaim the pillows on top, but my dad thinks that's a bad idea. If she's happy to stay hidden away underneath the sofa, he reasons, shouldn't we leave her that hideout? She likes it enough to spend most of her day there. So, yeah, I'm torn. I want Traumacat to be happy or at least as happy she can be in this household--which isn't easy with the cards stacked against her as they are-- but she does still continue to improve socially at her age, at least towards me, which I want to encourage.
Any advice about what would be best? Letting her hide in the hope she decides for herself to resume contact, or making her keep in touch with the rest of the world by closing off her hidey-hole?
Traumacat is a small female, 14 years old. She suffered a trauma when she was a kitten (we were told a dog attack) and frankly never got over it. She had an eye infection and ear infection when she came to us and the fact that we had to manually medicate her didn't help matters and for eight following years she despised and feared physical contact. Due to family dynamics we left her pretty much to herself. After that she out of a blue realised petting was cool and now will come for stroking, at an extended arm's distance. But no more. She lives and eats upstairs and only comes outside on the balcony.
Traumacat does not get along well with the other two, male cats. Neurocat out-right attacks her and Rather Normal Cat mostly like to chase her for play since she will always, always run. When Neurocat chases her she often pees in fright and it will always end in a fight with flying fur. In the beginning she wouldn't be seen for the rest of the day after an attack, but now she will come out far quicker. Therefor, Neurocat is banned from her rooms but he's sneaky. Rather Normal Cat is not as fixated on her but he will playfully (at least from his perspective, not hers) chase her under the nearest bed and then make off with her leftovers. Rather Normal Cat is a glutton.
I'm pretty sure I can never improve relations between the cats (and the one with Neurocat is probably unsalvagable already) without Traumacat gaining more confidence. So for the last few years I have tried some socialising: I've taught her to come up on the computer table for petting, increased petting to two hands rather than one, introduced a brush and even occassionally teased her unto my lap for a few seconds without panicking. I've put up some pillows on higher places like the desk because she seems more confident and happy when she can sit on top of something than hiding beneath things. She now accepts treats and very ocassionally will play with one of the toys, she has never done either in earlier years. But I'm pretty sure that will be the limit of what I can do for her, she only trusts me so far.
Recently we've switched the bed (that she wasn't using) from Traumacat's room to a folding sofa/bed. There's a hole underneath which Traumacat knows but the other two have not discovered yet. Now Traumacat seems to hole up there pretty much indefinitely and she's getting more withdrawn which I don't think is good for her. She doesn't come for petting at the computer anymore and grows more skittish. The two seem connected. The less social contact Traumacat has, the scaredier she appears to become. When we left on holiday once and boarded the other two so she had the whole house to herself without fear, we thought she'd rise to the occassion. But she was actually more scared when no one was around to attack her than she was before. She even started losing her hair and barely ate. It took days for her to go back to her normal self.
So I've been thinking of closing up the hole under the sofa, forcing her to reclaim the pillows on top, but my dad thinks that's a bad idea. If she's happy to stay hidden away underneath the sofa, he reasons, shouldn't we leave her that hideout? She likes it enough to spend most of her day there. So, yeah, I'm torn. I want Traumacat to be happy or at least as happy she can be in this household--which isn't easy with the cards stacked against her as they are-- but she does still continue to improve socially at her age, at least towards me, which I want to encourage.
Any advice about what would be best? Letting her hide in the hope she decides for herself to resume contact, or making her keep in touch with the rest of the world by closing off her hidey-hole?
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