Californiablonde
Well-Known Member
A couple of months ago we adopted a twelve week old kitten after our beloved cat Tigger passed away unexpectedly. I have been a cat owner all my life. I am a total cat lover. Unfortunately I just cannot seem to bond with our new cat. We have had her since late April and she is totally 100% the opposite of almost every other cat I have had before her. She is not very affectionate or loving. Our previous cat had anxiety issues, which is why we had to ultimately give him up, but he was the sweetest most affectionate cat I have ever owned. I cannot help but compare our previous cat Tigger to the new one we have now, who is named Lily.
Tigger loved to be petted. He would rub up against me and purr. He would sit in my lap and let me pet him while I was watching TV. He would sleep with me and purr the whole time he was with me. He loved affection. This cat does not. I try to pet her and she attacks my hand. She is just a five month old kitten so I know that part of it has to do with her wanting to play, but still, it seems like she never has a calm moment. Not ever. She is hyper. She is destructive. She jumps up on the kitchen counter and takes all of my sponges down from the sink. I find her playing with them in the middle of the living room. difficult child 1 has her artwork spread out over the table and counters in the living room. The cat attacks the paper and rips it to shreds. I have to keep the bathroom door shut at all times otherwise the cat rips apart the entire toilet paper roll.
I have never had these problems with any of my previous kittens. Oh, and I totally wanted an indoor cat like my cat Tigger was. I think it's going to be next to impossible to keep this cat indoors. Every morning before work she sneaks out as soon as we open the door. The kids and I try to catch her but she runs fast and hides under cars. We have missed the summer school bus twice in the last two days because we were too busy hunting her down and dragging her back inside after she had escaped. I think she is too young to be outside, plus I really wanted to avoid getting flees at all cost. I really was hoping she would be content in doors but she has proven that she is not. I have had several cats get hit by cars in the past so I am very paranoid about that happening again. Lily is still so small and I'm afraid it might happen to her.
I don't know what I should do. Should I just cave in and buy her a collar and name tag and hope for the best? Or try and force the cat to stay indoors at all times? I've never had this problem with any of my other cats so I don't know what to do. I really wish I could bond with this cat but I still feel like she's a stranger. Totally rare for me. And difficult child 1 says she does not like her because she is not affectionate enough. I tend to agree with her. She prefers to sleep by herself in the dirty clothes basket instead of sleeping in the bed with any of us. I totally miss my Tigger and all of his love and affection. This new cat just isn't the same...sigh.
Tigger loved to be petted. He would rub up against me and purr. He would sit in my lap and let me pet him while I was watching TV. He would sleep with me and purr the whole time he was with me. He loved affection. This cat does not. I try to pet her and she attacks my hand. She is just a five month old kitten so I know that part of it has to do with her wanting to play, but still, it seems like she never has a calm moment. Not ever. She is hyper. She is destructive. She jumps up on the kitchen counter and takes all of my sponges down from the sink. I find her playing with them in the middle of the living room. difficult child 1 has her artwork spread out over the table and counters in the living room. The cat attacks the paper and rips it to shreds. I have to keep the bathroom door shut at all times otherwise the cat rips apart the entire toilet paper roll.
I have never had these problems with any of my previous kittens. Oh, and I totally wanted an indoor cat like my cat Tigger was. I think it's going to be next to impossible to keep this cat indoors. Every morning before work she sneaks out as soon as we open the door. The kids and I try to catch her but she runs fast and hides under cars. We have missed the summer school bus twice in the last two days because we were too busy hunting her down and dragging her back inside after she had escaped. I think she is too young to be outside, plus I really wanted to avoid getting flees at all cost. I really was hoping she would be content in doors but she has proven that she is not. I have had several cats get hit by cars in the past so I am very paranoid about that happening again. Lily is still so small and I'm afraid it might happen to her.
I don't know what I should do. Should I just cave in and buy her a collar and name tag and hope for the best? Or try and force the cat to stay indoors at all times? I've never had this problem with any of my other cats so I don't know what to do. I really wish I could bond with this cat but I still feel like she's a stranger. Totally rare for me. And difficult child 1 says she does not like her because she is not affectionate enough. I tend to agree with her. She prefers to sleep by herself in the dirty clothes basket instead of sleeping in the bed with any of us. I totally miss my Tigger and all of his love and affection. This new cat just isn't the same...sigh.