Quick update about my beautiful big boy Ninja :D

[Snoof]

I think most of you, by now, have heard enough about Ninja to know he's very shy and skittish. Well, a while ago (about a week, I think, but I've been ill and unable to sleep so I could be very wrong!) he came streaking through the kitchen just as I turned away from the sink and I walked into him :oops:

Nobody got hurt, but feet are his all-time greatest fear. So he's been sitting in his safe place in the conservatory, near his exit from the house and his foodbowl, and not coming in (except for last night when I left the lounge to find him by the stairs - he did bolt, but it's still progress).

Dinahsmum suggested I try treats, so when I was in town on Tuesday I got him 3 different kinds (he seems to be allergic to the Whiskas ones - they make him vomit :() and I've been giving them to him in small increments once or twice a day, in his safe place in the conservatory. He wouldn't take them off my hand, so I'd put them next to him on his pillow, scritch his forehead and wander off to let him associate my coming with yummy nummy treats (chicken, seafood and catnip flavoured - I don't get that much variety!).

Just now I was in the conservatory to get milk, and he was in his safe place, so I reached over and spent about ten minutes scritching him all over. He loved it - kept turning new spots towards me to get scritched.

So when my hand got tired (I have to lean on a counter with my left while scritching him with my right - he's good at picking hard-to-reach boltholes) I went into the kitchen and got him some seafood treats. Only when I got back to the conservatory he'd moved onto a bunch of shelves and we were much closer to each other than I (or he!) expected, so he hissed at me when I walked in... Quite understandable really. I reached out the hand with treats in (he hisses when he's scared, but he's shown tremendous care about not hurting me, which just makes me go :smt049) and he ate them right from my hand and then licked my hand clean :D

I'm so proud of him right now :) He's slowly overcoming his fear of humans. Now to get him into his carrying case for a vet checkup and his shots... Does anyone have a hockeymask I could borrow...?

[Mags]

I'm so pleased to hear you are making some progress with Ninja, Snoof....I'm sure with a lot of patience you will get there.

I don't hold out much hope with the cat carrier.....I'm still having trouble getting Cassie into hers after 8 years!:roll: :lol:

[CathyW]

i have to drug one of mine to get him to the vets :roll: but good luck with him. sounds like hes doing well.

[Snoof]

I'm thinking ham... :lol: Or chip-shop fish. Sigh :lol:

Edit: I'm now being laughed at because I said I would get it the night before (we have a walk-in vet clinic nearby between 10.30 and 11.30) and then microwave it in the morning because he prefers it warm :D

[dinahsmum]

Really pleased to hear Snoof is thawing! :)

[Snoof]

Really pleased to hear Snoof is thawing! :)
I was never frozen! :shock:

[yola]

Aw ~ Snoof, excellent news about Ninja . . . it does indeed seem that you're making progress . . . I hope it continues even though it might be in small steps.

Oh, and don't mind DM . . . . sometimes she gets a little confused ;)



*runs for cover . . . *

[Snoof]

:lol: Trust me, after living with my boyfriend, no amount of confusion really upsets me :lol:

[LMC]

That's great news, he's a lucky boy to have such a patient and understanding owner.

Re: cat carriers - I thought cats weren't supposed to be able to stick their legs out at right angles :shock:

[Moli]

Brilliant news Snoof, so pleased he is begining to trust you.......

[Mags]

BTW if you put your cat into the carrier back end first, you will find it a lot easier:-P Good luck!

[Snoof]

That's great news, he's a lucky boy to have such a patient and understanding owner.

Re: cat carriers - I thought cats weren't supposed to be able to stick their legs out at right angles :shock:

My second cat ever was a very small tabby-and-white... Except a lady in the neighbourhood started feeding him and by the time we figured out who it was and what was going on he weighed 18 lbs :shock:

Try fitting that into a standard-sized cat carrier... :lol: Wasn't a picnic in the park!

[Snoof]

BTW if you put your cat into the carrier back end first, you will find it a lot easier:-P Good luck!

Thanks, I'm thinking I'll try to lure him into it by laying out a trail of ham or something... I'm slightly worried about your suggestion, however, because his front end has far more sharp bits :lol:

[Moli]

My second cat ever was a very small tabby-and-white... Except a lady in the neighbourhood started feeding him and by the time we figured out who it was and what was going on he weighed 18 lbs :shock:

Try fitting that into a standard-sized cat carrier... :lol: Wasn't a picnic in the park!:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: The only one of mine I have trouble with is Leo, he puts his feet out against the carrier, and wriggles so much, I have him lying in my arms and put him in upside down!!:-D

[Snoof]

Problem one with Ninja is that he doesn't allow picking up. Before I walked into him he would allow me to lie on the floor with an arm around him and cuddle him (you need to be a contortionist to cuddle him successfully :lol:) but he doesn't allow picking up at all. He meows and freaks out and runs away as fast as he can.

So luring him is my only option at the moment. I could wrap him in a towel and then put him in the box, but I'm hoping to keep it as stress-free as I possibly can as he already has trust issues.

[Moli]

If you left the box open on the floor, and went away would he go in it??

[Snoof]

No :( The box lives in the kitchen and is permanently open. A while back (six months or so) he liked sitting inside it, but he hasn't done that in ages.

Ah well, I'll try a few things, I can always give up hope later :lol:

[Moli]

Two of mine like the carrier so much, they squeeze in it together:roll: :-D

[Snoof]

:lol: Moli, please tell me you have pictures of this!

[dandysmom]

The only way I could get mine into a carrier was to bring it downstairs at night & hide it in the closet...then, in the morning, grab him/her after the post-breakfast wash-up and pop in the carrier before he/she realized what was going on..:-D Loud cries and lamentations all the way to the vet's!. But since Ninja has these trust issues, don't know what to suggest:roll: Is whatever he's going in for able to be postponed for a while until he feels more secure??

[Snoof]

He needs his annual checkup and shots... And he's already a bit overdue because we wanted to wait till his trust issues become better :S

I don't want to risk him becoming ill over them, KWIM?

[dinahsmum]

Hi Snoof - poor Ninja - I don't know what to suggest. Think I might leave his vet trip for a while, but others may disagree. Have you phoned the vet to ask? Mind you, I think the vet is likely to think of their bottom line and suggest that the cat should be seen :roll:

If he needs to go in the carrier, is there any way you could temporarily take off the door, pop the carrier over Ninja whilst he's in his safe place, leave it there for half an hour till he's not bothered and then gently tip it and put the door on ???? Might work. Remember he'd have to go back in the carrier at the vets though. :( Poor boy.

What about a herbal 'quietener'? Is it Valerian or Scullcap or a mixture thereof? Dorset Hebs or some such name do a lot of dog/cat herbal remedies. I'll go off and see if I can find a link for you
http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_22_18.gif

Here you go http://www.dorwest.com/ (and it looks like it is Scullcap and Valerian you need) Give them a ring/email?

[Snoof]

Thanks DM, I'm a little bit worried about sedatives because I've been told they don't stop the cat from feeling fear, merely from acting on it. I think if that's true he'll get even more frightened and regress, trust-wise, even more than he would if he were given the chance to act on his fear.

Of course when he takes my arm off, I might not feel like this was such a bad idea :lol:

Edit: It looks like those calm nerves but don't affect his ability to do things, so I'm discussing getting a bottle of them with my other half.

[Elaine]

Have you tried some rescue remedy? That can help calm a cat down too. Sorry if this has been mentioned before.

[Donna]

That's great news, he's a lucky boy to have such a patient and understanding owner.

Re: cat carriers - I thought cats weren't supposed to be able to stick their legs out at right angles :shock:


:-D @ LMC!!!

[Mags]

Snoof, if you do manage to get him in the carrier and to the vets, I don't think you need worry about how you are going to get him back in again to bring him home. I don't think there is a cat yet who hasn't dived willingly into it's carrier when the vet has finished:lol: That's the easy bit!!:lol:

[Snoof]

:lol:

I was just telling my friend, I've only ever had trouble a) getting cat into carrier at home, and b) getting cat out at the vet's. Never the other way round :lol:


Edit: And while I'm here - earlier Ninja took some treats off my hand and then licked my hand without paying attention to the leftover treats, and started cuddling it and then licking it some more and then cuddling it some more :smt049

Bless his little black socks :)

[Mags]

Ooooo....progress!!! Hope it continues Snoof!

[Donna]

Dont ever give up Snoof!!! He loves you in his own way now and will love you more and more every day!

[Snoof]

I know Donna :) I was thinking earlier about the way he will not tolerate strangers near him unless I'm also there (or my boyfriend is), and it hit me just what a huge, if quiet, display of trust that is...

I used to have friends who would complain because I don't want a dog, because "cats are so uncommunicative". Always looked at them like they'd just sprouted an extra pair of ears :lol:

[dandysmom]

I think most of you, by now, have heard enough about Ninja to know he's very shy and skittish. Well, a while ago (about a week, I think, but I've been ill and unable to sleep so I could be very wrong!) he came streaking through the kitchen just as I turned away from the sink and I walked into him :oops:

Nobody got hurt, but feet are his all-time greatest fear. So he's been sitting in his safe place in the conservatory, near his exit from the house and his foodbowl, and not coming in (except for last night when I left the lounge to find him by the stairs - he did bolt, but it's still progress).

Dinahsmum suggested I try treats, so when I was in town on Tuesday I got him 3 different kinds (he seems to be allergic to the Whiskas ones - they make him vomit :() and I've been giving them to him in small increments once or twice a day, in his safe place in the conservatory. He wouldn't take them off my hand, so I'd put them next to him on his pillow, scritch his forehead and wander off to let him associate my coming with yummy nummy treats (chicken, seafood and catnip flavoured - I don't get that much variety!).

Just now I was in the conservatory to get milk, and he was in his safe place, so I reached over and spent about ten minutes scritching him all over. He loved it - kept turning new spots towards me to get scritched.

So when my hand got tired (I have to lean on a counter with my left while scritching him with my right - he's good at picking hard-to-reach boltholes) I went into the kitchen and got him some seafood treats. Only when I got back to the conservatory he'd moved onto a bunch of shelves and we were much closer to each other than I (or he!) expected, so he hissed at me when I walked in... Quite understandable really. I reached out the hand with treats in (he hisses when he's scared, but he's shown tremendous care about not hurting me, which just makes me go :smt049) and he ate them right from my hand and then licked my hand clean :D

I'm so proud of him right now :) He's slowly overcoming his fear of humans. Now to get him into his carrying case for a vet checkup and his shots... Does anyone have a hockeymask I could borrow...?
Snoof, please enlighten this Yankee.. thought I was conversant with British English but am confused about "conservatory"...means greenhouse over here, so am puzzled about your going in for milk??:roll: Is it like a larder or pantry? Not really relevant to this thread, but am just curious...hang in there, poor little Ninja.:cry: