Cat Chat (please go to cat chat 2)

[Cardinal]

I actually meant to adress Fuzzy's problem.. But alas! My daughter is pretty sick and thats sucks up a lot of my time!

Anyways! Since I scanned through the last page or two and never saw these questions asked or answered, I figured it worth a shot. May have missed them, or someone may have missed asking them.

So, Fuzzy: How many high places (and I mean above your head high) are there for Milo to get? I'm talking cat trees, installed shelves, etc.
How many low ground level places are there for Milo to hide?
Have you used any pheromone diffusers or any other pheromone type de-stressing agents?
How much play time does he get? What tools do you use?
Is he forever confined in the room, or does he get free roam if the dogs are out of the house?

[FuzzyThePunkCat]

I actually meant to adress Fuzzy's problem.. But alas! My daughter is pretty sick and thats sucks up a lot of my time!

Anyways! Since I scanned through the last page or two and never saw these questions asked or answered, I figured it worth a shot. May have missed them, or someone may have missed asking them.

So, Fuzzy: How many high places (and I mean above your head high) are there for Milo to get? I'm talking cat trees, installed shelves, etc.
How many low ground level places are there for Milo to hide?
Have you used any pheromone diffusers or any other pheromone type de-stressing agents?
How much play time does he get? What tools do you use?
Is he forever confined in the room, or does he get free roam if the dogs are out of the house?

When he met Misty it was in the kitchen, so he could have jumped into any of the chairs or stools, any of the tables, the shelves, the counters, the fridge. When he met Wolfgang it was also in the kitchen (but a differ kitchen) so he also could have jumped onto chairs, tables, counters, the fridge, the staircase, or even back over the gate into the laundry room. In both he could have gone into another room.
In the either kitchen he could have gone under any chair, stool, table, or cabinet (he did go under the table at first when he met Misty).
When he went to the vet last he was flipping out and they used a pheromone spray on him, but it didn't have much of an effect. Hey said to try a plug-in pheromone scent in his room, but we haven't gotten to that yet.
He will chase things if I throw them to him, but other than that, if I try to play with him he attacks me aggressively. So, he doesn't play much.
He is confined to that room because he and Sahara aren't spayed or neutered and I don't want to risk it. Milo is getting neutered in the next few months so then I will be able to let him out when they dogs are outside. It is just extremely hard for me to get him back into the room.


@Saracirce, Misty barely touched him, so there's no way it hurt him. The other times he met Misty he was growling and hissing right off the bat. She attempted to approach and she was extremely fearful, but he just went after her. Now she avoids him at all costs.

[Saracirce]

You said that you growl or glare at your dogs for growling. That's a correction. I was only using yelling as an example. And you may not be meaning to correct growls and such out of your dogs but that can be an unfortunate side effect of correcting those things.

I am well aware of what it's like to work with an animal born with a fearful personality. Lolita was born fearful. Within an hour of getting her at 8 weeks old, she growled at a neighbor for trying to pet her. Her entire life was fear for 12 years and I only just learned how to counteract it and start working with her on it two years ago. Clemmy, while I didn't meet her until after a year old and she was under socialized her first four months of life, she's high strung enough to where I believe that her base personality is anxiety. When she first came to me, she was always on alert on walks and couldn't relax. Once she did get used to her route, she'd growl at inanimate objects (like a trash can) for being out of place. She was also afraid of storm drains and drain pipes. Within three months, I was able to bring out the same goofy butt I saw at home on our walks and she would run up to storm drains and drain pipes completely on her own to investigate them because I had encouraged her to in the beginning. By the end of the year, she's run up to completely new things she'd never seen before and sniff them without any encouragement from me. I only ever used positive reinforcement with Clemmy's fears and she blossomed under my care with the training and exercise I gave her. Now she's regressed because she probably doesn't get walks at all and is scolded instead of encourage in everything she does just like she was before she came to me.

Boo, while I can't be 100% sure because of his sister, might've been born with anxiety. Niles, our kitten, was or had little to no human contact in his first 8 weeks of life. Our first day with us, he only met me and he was so overwhelmed that he just slept on my lap for HOURS. When he finally woke up, I gave him a flea bath and then I set him up in the guest room so he could have his own space. It took us forever to get him to come out of his shell and even longer to stop running and hiding whenever we walked by him. Now, for the most part, he's a confident, sassy butt at only 6 months. Dogs and people coming into the house are the only things that need to be worked on. Niles has been raised almost purely on positive reinforcement.

I promise you, I don't advocate or discourage certain training techniques (or pretty much anything else) so vocally without having done my research. I don't base my views on just my experience with my animals. It comes from experience with other people's dogs, second hand experience from my friends, watching and reading what professional trainers have to say and watching their dogs and helping other people, even over the internet, with their animals and the feedback they give me on how it's worked out for them.

[Keriae]

Guys, no offence, but can you please stop debating/arguing? We've had pages upon pages of you countering each other, and it's starting to get tiresome and a little childish. You have different opinions on things, and that's fine. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm bored of seeing you counter each other on every little detail.

On another subject, does anyone have any of the "wild" breeds? Such as Bengals (and Cashmere Bengals <3) and Savannah cats?
My uncle owns a Bengal, a beautiful boy called Simba. As I recall, his friend bought the cat but for some reason or another that I'm not sure on, he couldn't keep it anymore/didn't want it, so he literally gave it to my uncle for free xD

[The Lost soul]

Yeah. It is pretty stupid.

I do not have any wild breeds. I only have mutts. No purebreds for me, just rescued mutts without a chance.

[Cardinal]

I actually meant to adress Fuzzy's problem.. But alas! My daughter is pretty sick and thats sucks up a lot of my time!

Anyways! Since I scanned through the last page or two and never saw these questions asked or answered, I figured it worth a shot. May have missed them, or someone may have missed asking them.

So, Fuzzy: How many high places (and I mean above your head high) are there for Milo to get? I'm talking cat trees, installed shelves, etc.
How many low ground level places are there for Milo to hide?
Have you used any pheromone diffusers or any other pheromone type de-stressing agents?
How much play time does he get? What tools do you use?
Is he forever confined in the room, or does he get free roam if the dogs are out of the house?

When he met Misty it was in the kitchen, so he could have jumped into any of the chairs or stools, any of the tables, the shelves, the counters, the fridge. When he met Wolfgang it was also in the kitchen (but a differ kitchen) so he also could have jumped onto chairs, tables, counters, the fridge, the staircase, or even back over the gate into the laundry room. In both he could have gone into another room.
In the either kitchen he could have gone under any chair, stool, table, or cabinet (he did go under the table at first when he met Misty).
When he went to the vet last he was flipping out and they used a pheromone spray on him, but it didn't have much of an effect. Hey said to try a plug-in pheromone scent in his room, but we haven't gotten to that yet.
He will chase things if I throw them to him, but other than that, if I try to play with him he attacks me aggressively. So, he doesn't play much.
He is confined to that room because he and Sahara aren't spayed or neutered and I don't want to risk it. Milo is getting neutered in the next few months so then I will be able to let him out when they dogs are outside. It is just extremely hard for me to get him back into the room.


@Saracirce, Misty barely touched him, so there's no way it hurt him. The other times he met Misty he was growling and hissing right off the bat. She attempted to approach and she was extremely fearful, but he just went after her. Now she avoids him at all costs.

Eh, i see a lot of problems and they could be some of the root causes of why he's still so aggressive and fearful.

1. He has no territory besides the room. No safe places. A table or chair doesn't cut it as high places and hidey holes, I'm talking things that are above your head high with several ways to exit and hidey holes that are enclosed, comfortable, and secure. 3 cats? I'd have three cat trees. Amazon has wonderfully amazing deals. I'd have multiple hidey type holes in ever room, $3 cat-cubes from walmart generally work great, or you can make pop-up tents using a couple of wirehangers and a t-shirt. He needs territory. He needs places to feel secure in his enviroment. Quick escapes and nice high perches to survey. Theres are awesome ideas for easy cheap DIY: http://jacksongalaxy.com/category/catif ... -perching/

2. No play time. Play therapy is SO SO SO important. No matter where you look you're going to come back to play theraphy time and time again. Invest in wands. I really love Da Bird as its cheap, hold up wonderfully, you can buy replacements, and it has a nice really long rod on it. I've found it moves much more like actual play than a lot of the wand toys on the market. Also, interactive feeders. He should -never- be eating out of a bowl unless its wet or raw, stuff that kibble into a treat ball or other interactive feeder so he has to work and think. Tire that kitty out. Heck, harness and leash train him then take him outside. Build a cat coop for those pretty days and let him outside.

3. Feliway is your best friend. Combine with calming treats (easily found on amazon and very cheap).

4. Let him out of that room. Let the dogs outside or shut in another room. Shut up the females. Let him out. He needs to get used to dog scent WITHOUT dogs present. Let him out daily for atleast half an hour. Let him wander, smell, relax. Heck, feed him amazing things in the busiest stinkest place in the house. I'd have all his cat trees/shevles, and hidey holes set up way in advance before this.

5. Baby gate his room and start leaving it open for long periods after he starts comfortably wandering. Gate that sucker to the roof if you have to.

Finally I'd read Think Like a Cat by Pam Johnson Bennet, she's awesome.

[FuzzyThePunkCat]

I actually meant to adress Fuzzy's problem.. But alas! My daughter is pretty sick and thats sucks up a lot of my time!

Anyways! Since I scanned through the last page or two and never saw these questions asked or answered, I figured it worth a shot. May have missed them, or someone may have missed asking them.

So, Fuzzy: How many high places (and I mean above your head high) are there for Milo to get? I'm talking cat trees, installed shelves, etc.
How many low ground level places are there for Milo to hide?
Have you used any pheromone diffusers or any other pheromone type de-stressing agents?
How much play time does he get? What tools do you use?
Is he forever confined in the room, or does he get free roam if the dogs are out of the house?

When he met Misty it was in the kitchen, so he could have jumped into any of the chairs or stools, any of the tables, the shelves, the counters, the fridge. When he met Wolfgang it was also in the kitchen (but a differ kitchen) so he also could have jumped onto chairs, tables, counters, the fridge, the staircase, or even back over the gate into the laundry room. In both he could have gone into another room.
In the either kitchen he could have gone under any chair, stool, table, or cabinet (he did go under the table at first when he met Misty).
When he went to the vet last he was flipping out and they used a pheromone spray on him, but it didn't have much of an effect. Hey said to try a plug-in pheromone scent in his room, but we haven't gotten to that yet.
He will chase things if I throw them to him, but other than that, if I try to play with him he attacks me aggressively. So, he doesn't play much.
He is confined to that room because he and Sahara aren't spayed or neutered and I don't want to risk it. Milo is getting neutered in the next few months so then I will be able to let him out when they dogs are outside. It is just extremely hard for me to get him back into the room.


@Saracirce, Misty barely touched him, so there's no way it hurt him. The other times he met Misty he was growling and hissing right off the bat. She attempted to approach and she was extremely fearful, but he just went after her. Now she avoids him at all costs.

Eh, i see a lot of problems and they could be some of the root causes of why he's still so aggressive and fearful.

1. He has no territory besides the room. No safe places. A table or chair doesn't cut it as high places and hidey holes, I'm talking things that are above your head high with several ways to exit and hidey holes that are enclosed, comfortable, and secure. 3 cats? I'd have three cat trees. Amazon has wonderfully amazing deals. I'd have multiple hidey type holes in ever room, $3 cat-cubes from walmart generally work great, or you can make pop-up tents using a couple of wirehangers and a t-shirt. He needs territory. He needs places to feel secure in his enviroment. Quick escapes and nice high perches to survey. Theres are awesome ideas for easy cheap DIY: http://jacksongalaxy.com/category/catif ... -perching/

2. No play time. Play therapy is SO SO SO important. No matter where you look you're going to come back to play theraphy time and time again. Invest in wands. I really love Da Bird as its cheap, hold up wonderfully, you can buy replacements, and it has a nice really long rod on it. I've found it moves much more like actual play than a lot of the wand toys on the market. Also, interactive feeders. He should -never- be eating out of a bowl unless its wet or raw, stuff that kibble into a treat ball or other interactive feeder so he has to work and think. Tire that kitty out. Heck, harness and leash train him then take him outside. Build a cat coop for those pretty days and let him outside.

3. Feliway is your best friend. Combine with calming treats (easily found on amazon and very cheap).

4. Let him out of that room. Let the dogs outside or shut in another room. Shut up the females. Let him out. He needs to get used to dog scent WITHOUT dogs present. Let him out daily for atleast half an hour. Let him wander, smell, relax. Heck, feed him amazing things in the busiest stinkest place in the house. I'd have all his cat trees/shevles, and hidey holes set up way in advance before this.

5. Baby gate his room and start leaving it open for long periods after he starts comfortably wandering. Gate that sucker to the roof if you have to.

Finally I'd read Think Like a Cat by Pam Johnson Bennet, she's awesome.

2 cats and I do have two cat condos, they just weren't in the room where he met the dogs. I also have 2 cat cubes and a walk in cat bed for them. I am not able to harness train him because I can't pick him up or he attacks me. If I try playing with a wand he gets extremely angry, not sure why. I would also love to held an outdoor cat enclosure that is secure, but idk how.

[blazesong]

Guys, no offence, but can you please stop debating/arguing? We've had pages upon pages of you countering each other, and it's starting to get tiresome and a little childish. You have different opinions on things, and that's fine. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm bored of seeing you counter each other on every little detail.

[Cardinal]

Fuzzy, does he like food? Clicker train him. Desensitize him to handling. Train him to sit, down, stay, jump through hoops ect.

[FuzzyThePunkCat]

Fuzzy, does he like food? Clicker train him. Desensitize him to handling. Train him to sit, down, stay, jump through hoops ect.

I've tried to teach him tricks (Sahara does tricks), but if I try to hand him food he hits my hand extremely hard. I don't now why he hates everything good. He likes food if it is thrown to him.