Could Sammi be part feral?

Hello all,

I hope you all had a great holiday. I am still quite busy but I'm in need of some advise......

Most of you remember Sammi, the kitten that was thrown from the car that I rescued and gave to my sister. Well...I went to my sisters house for Christmas Eve. This was the first time I have seen Sammi since I gave her to my sister (she is about 6 months old now) As soon as I saw her I picked her up and was petting her. She was very affectionate and was smelling all the scents on me from my other animals. Without warning she swiped at my face and growled. I also found that you can't pet Sammi without her attacking your hand and being very aggressive. Hissing and growling. She will then just walk away and start playing. My sister tells me that she has been like this for a while now. Other family members were saying things like "maybe she is part feral"...could this be?? When I had her as a baby she wasn't like this at all. How could she have changed this much??

My sisters two kids are 14 and 10. I did catch my niece "teasing" Sammi a little but not in any way harmful. When Sammi swiped at her, my niece teasingly swiped her hand back...not touching her but swiping her hand in front of her. I said she shouldn't do that...that if Sammi gets aggressive like that she should just walk away so Sammi doesn't think it's a game. They told me they normally do that but nothing has worked in stopping this behavior.

I was sitting on the couch and Sammi came over and lay next to me....looking like an angel....I very gently started petting the top of her head under her chin. She seemed to be enjoying it and then BAM...swipe swipe growl hiss!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!

I did notice at one point when Sammi was on my lap that she was chewing on my pinky with her back teeth. Could she be teething and perhaps in discomfort because of this. Could this be one of the reasons she doesn't like being pet near her mouth? Could this be one of the reasons for her aggression?

Also...she will be getting spayed in January. With this help?

Sorry this is so long......I've been feeling awful about this......I'm trying to find something to help them. I'm thinking of getting them some Soft Paws. At least if Sammi swipes she can't hurt anyone. I'm going to do more web searching today. Will Feliway help? Or Rescue Remedy?

Any suggestion would be appreciated?

 

no way of knowing if she's part feral...could stem back to her former life which was mostly likely abusive if someone was cruel enough to toss her out of a moving car chances are good her life wasn't very good.

My Zeus has panic attacks when we have people over - he was picked up as a stray kitten at 7 weeks old. He's so fearful of people I can't help but wonder what may have happened to him. I mean fearful - you can see the panic in his eyes when someone comes to the house.

You could try Bach's REscue Remedy to start. Have your sister add some to Sammi's drinking water.

Your sister might also want to remind her children (they are more than old enough to understand) that not knowing the history of Sammi they might want to be a bit more gentle in their play with her. She might be misunderstanding what they are trying to do - she might think that when they are bringing the hand to her that they are going to hit and she's reacting to that.

 

Is the Rescue Remedy something that can be used regularly? I would like to try this. Anyone have a good web site I can buy this from?

 

you can get Bach's Rescue Remedy at GNC or any natural food store...save yourself shipping costs. Stuff isn't cheap

 

Lots of kittens love to play "rough" but I'm surprised about the no warning swipes. I sure hope Sammi will outgrow it. The kids' teasing will make Sammi worse. Hopefully, she'll mellow out with age and spaying. Maybe she's the type that wants to be petted when she initiates it. :0011: Good luck with Bach's rescue remedy. Let us know if it makes a difference. :m10:

 

I'm sorry to hear this. I found some links that I think you might find helpful. Good luck.

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/cathumag.htm
http://www.catsinternational.org/articl ... to_people/
http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/aggression.html
http://www.fabcats.org/nervous-aggression.html
http://www.pethealthcare.net/html/body_ ... d_tr1.html
http://www.perfectpaws.com/agg.html

 

Thank you all for the replies!

I'm going to put together a care package for my sister. In it I will include a set of Soft Paws, Bach's Rescue Remedy, and all those article printed out. I sure hope this helps.....