Hello fellow cat-lovers.
Before explaining the “issue” upon which we seek advice, I’ll briefly describe our “cat-world”…
My husband and I live on a 5 acre farm in rural Portugal. 5 years ago we acquired 2 cats - Ginger and Blackie - brothers, about 10 years old, from a couple who were returning to England. They were always outdoor only cats but now are “free-range” - there’s a cat-flap for them to go in and out as they please - when we go away for more than a night, we lock them out, a friend comes daily to top up the “dry food”, give some wet food and to check on them, and they have a barn with 2 exits for sleeping. It’s a great place for cats to live - land, undergrowth, live food of many sorts for the picking, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, supper on demand.
4 years ago we found a kitten mewing on an outside wall - we fed him a little, went away for the weekend and he was still there, so we took him in. Claw Dee Puss by name, he was about 6 weeks old, and of obviously Siamese descent. We’ve must’ve been bad parents since sometimes he just becomes a wild thing - his eyes go red, iZombie style, and he attacks us.
Ginger, sadly, died a few months ago. Blackie is an old cat now - he stopped grooming a year or so ago, he hobbles, he drools constantly but he seems happy enough, eats regularly and this week he even caught himself a baby rabbit!
OK - so the scene is set.
About 4 weeks ago a new cat turned up, noisily at the back door - he was in a very sorry state - one bloody ear, incredibly thin and dirty. We fed him and said that if he was still there the next day we’d take him to the vet.
He was, so we did. The Vet needed a name so we called him Fluffy because, well, he’s very fluffy! The vet estimates him to be 4-5 years old.
He spent around a week all-inclusive at the vets to put on some weight. We thought we could look after him, cone and all, while he built more strength up, so we took him home for one day - that night he slept with us on our bed (sometimes the other cats do, sometimes they don’t). In the morning he was in the cat-bed beside our bed, soaked in his own pee. We took him to the bathroom to give him some “cone-free” time and the place ended up like a scene from Sweeney Todd - every time he shook his head an arch of blood went over the walls.
So we took him back to the Vet and, after another couple of days, the Vet operated on him to remove most of the bleeding ear - it was, apparently, a tumour. We had him castrated at the same time.
After a few days recovery at the Vet, and another week at home (with cone), he had his stitches out and came home permanently - cone-free. The first few days he spent separated from the other cats, who didn’t seem to know he was there.
So - here are our confusions…
Once you manage to pick Fluffy up, he becomes most compliant - he purrs - he loves it - he particularly loves to have his tummy tickled, as well as the classic head spots. But he was spending ALL the time under our bed, coming out only for food and water and to use the litter tray (thankfully). So we’ve taken to forcibly taking him outside and sitting with him for a couple of hours, in a shady spot - he simply curls up in the spot you put him down. He quite happily sleeps, or purrs, or has his tummy tickled. He doesn’t make any attempt to run away. But we have to actually catch him in order to do this - we don’t understand why, when he seems to enjoy this time with us, he fights so hard to avoid it. When we leave him outside on his own he makes his way back into the house pretty smartly although last night he didn’t and we couldn’t find him but he was under our bed again by morning.
A few times he’s been on my lap when Claw Dee Puss has strolled by - once they even rubbed noses (although Fluffy was the rub-ee, rather than the rub-er) - after which Claw Dee Puss hissed and growled - Fluffy just yawned and put his head down again. There are no longer any barriers between any of our cats - Claw Dee Puss only cares if Fluffy is with us, which he rarely is, and even then he doesn’t seem to mind much, aside from hissing and growling. Blackie has hissed at him too (and Blackie hasn’t said anything for years), but Blackie doesn’t care as long as you stay out of his way.
That’s the situation today - we need, somehow, to bring this cat out of his shell - he needs to go outside on his own once in a while - he needs to stop fearing us - he needs to meet the other cats properly - we need to be able to leave him outside, for a few days, while we go away. Is it just a matter of time, and if so how long?
He’s a lovely cat, but we just can’t fathom what’s going on in his head, or what we should, or should not, be doing.
Of course, I have thousands of pictures, but these are the guys I’m talking about…
