My cat acts like a Feral Cat

I adopted a pregnant barn cat one time. It was an abandoned domestic calico, but the father of the kittens was feral. All of the kittens had lots of human interaction from the time they were born. Some were good pets but some were very wild and were not able to be domesticated, especially the ones that looked like the father. One of them viciously attacked a toddler and had to be euthanized. In this case it seems that the feral quality was in their genes. They were farm cats that had never been fully domesticated.

I've got two pound kitties adopted as young kittens and are now full grown five year old cats. Neither one likes to be held or picked up. The big one will come drape himself across my lap when he wants me to know who's boss, and the ninja cat will curl up next to me at night, but the only time they want attention is when they initiate it. Or when their food bowl has been empty for too long.

They tolerate me petting them as I walk by and sometimes I will walk by the big one and he will reach out a paw and swat me because I didn't pay him his due reverence. I pet him and he allows me to continue on my business of tending to his castle.

Over all though, neither of them wants attention unless they initiate it. I think that is just a cat trait.

My cats still play rough. We call them the El Gato Loco Death Matches. lol

I never said my cats don't love me. My red headed bastard can't stand to be parted from me. I only flicked him once and he has never tried to bite me since. Our fat cat is totally devoted to our son. And yes I have pushed them away when they charge. Btw, big difference between pushing away and kicking them away.

What I would never do is spray them with water. That is the worst thing you can do to your pet. We have just spent 5 years getting our parrot not to react in fear when we are using a spray bottle.

All 3 of my cats were abandoned and feral. The first two were feral as kittens.

Dh found Macavity in the engine compartment of his car at work. A coworker's office overlooked the parking lot, and she saw Macavity's tail sticking out and thought it was a racoon. Thankfully a few of dh's coworkers happily volunteered to help dh get the kitten out. Macavity got stuck in the wheel well, and the side front panel had to be removed to get to him. Our apartment neighbors told us that they had seen a few feral kittens around the parking lot, so we figured out that Macavity was trying to stay warm by sleeping in the car overnight. None of dh's coworkers ever saw any cats around work, which is why we think Macavity got into the car at our apartment. 

Macavity was teensy and so malnourished when we got him. His head was bigger than his body. He was fully weaned, and he soon grew into a gorgeous, large cat. The vet thought he was part Bengal because of his gorgeous coat of different shades of brown and black with stripes and leopardy spots. 

Macavity always loved to be held and rubbed, but he was also quite aggressive in his play.

I worked beside a little pet supply store that didn't sell cats or dogs, but someone had found a litter of kittens in an old warehouse and brought them to her. She was trying to get them adopted by giving them away with the purchase of a bag of kitten food. She begged me to take one. So when dh came to meet me for lunch, I took him over to look at the kittens.

The cage was at eye level, and as soon as dh put his hand into the cage to pet the kittens, Gris sashayed herself all the way up to his shoulder and just sat there, purring. The store owner told us that we should definitely get her since the best relationships between people and cats were those where the cat chose you. 

Macavity calmed right down with Gris. They did fight a bit too aggressively at first, but they soon were the best of friends. Having another cat to play with helped both of their dispositions. So when they curled up with us, it was when they wanted to be petted and held, not practice their ninja fighting skills, sharpen their nails, etc. 

We got Ziggy a few years later. He looks very similar to Macavity. We were in Petsmart buying food, and we felt these eyes on us from halfway across the store. We looked over, and this Macavity doppleganger just mesmerized us. His coat has the same Bengal pattern markings, but Ziggy is also much larger like a short coated Maine Coon and has the eyes and colouring of a Russian Blue. His first owner had died, and when a rescue group was trying to move him to a foster home, he escaped. He was feral for several months until a volunteer at the rescue group feeding cats at the local McDonald's recognized him. (Ziggy absolutely LOVES McDonald's french fries and bread--he'll choose carbs over meat or seafood anyday) 

Ziggy doesn't act like a cat. He loves to be petted and held like a dog. He never gets enough attention or love. He'll sit on your lap for hours and hours. If you don't pet him when he jumps up beside you on the sofa or bed, he'll keep bumping your arm until you do. It's like he understands and appreciates that you rescued him. He loves it when you give him a french fry or chip--potato or corn--he'll gently take it in his mouth then jump down off the sofa and sit on the floor, licking all the salt off, then break it up with his paw and eat the little pieces. If it's a pringle, he'll break it in half so he can flip it over since the shape makes it hard to get to both sides evenly. 

I used a spray bottle with Macavity and Gris. I only did it after telling them "no" to keep them off the counters, etc. didn't work. All 3 of my cats are very well trained. They don't get up on counters, they don't scratch the furniture, etc. Gris and Macavity were never aggressive when they were being petting. Ziggy has learned not to nip at us. A firm no and pushing him off our laps has worked for us. 

There's a difference between hitting or kicking and gently but firmly pushing an animal off your lap, out of your way when they get under your feet, etc. When using a spray bottle, you don't drench the cat. Just a light stream of water once or twice to stop the behaviour. 

I've also had a parrot, and my mom has one. Using a spray bottle on a parrot is different. Some people use spray bottles to give their birds a bath. You're supposed to use warm water in a warm space with a bird that likes to bathe. So spraying a captive bird with cold water would be extremely traumatising. 

I use Downy wrinkle spray on my clothes with my cats in the room, and they're not afraid. I gently talk to them and make sure that I don't spray towards them. 

We keep our cats' nails trimmed with scissor type nail trimmers --touching their feet since we first got them as kittens helped them get used to this. We just got Ziggy used to us handling his feet by touching them when we were rubbing him. Dh also sings "Don Gato" while he trims the cats' nails, which Ziggy really likes--he calms down and doesn't wriggle. We also have different scratching posts--two of the sisal ropes of different heights--one's tall with a carpet base, and the other is a four sided pyramid wider at the bottom which they really like. They also really like corrugated cardboard scratchers--they shred all the edges of the cardboard, and you can sprinkle catnip on it, which they love. 

Companion animals are smart enough to figure out when they're misbehaving and will correct their behaviour as long as their humans communicate to their pets clearly and consistently. 

Cats are very independent animals, and they communicate their feelings by body language. When they don't want you or another animal to do something, they'll show that by their ears, etc. If you still continue, they will nip or swipe at you. In that case, it's not very fair to punish them for that. Nipping or swiping is the only way that they can communicate to you in a language you understand if you didn't understand how they were talking with their ears and body. Vocalizations are mostly used to communicate with humans, and every cat I've owned has their own language with me. Ziggy and Gris are both very vocal. Ziggy has the weirdest chirps, and he will chirp then start purring when you first wake up in the morning or walk into the room he's in. 

Dogs also communicate with their ears and bodies. They just tolerate a whole lot more than cats will. I do see a lot of 'funny' dog videos, where the dog is growling or acting in a way that his humans think is funny. Sadly, the dog is actually very frightened or nervous but is so devoted that they don't react aggressively. What I hate the most is tiny dogs being tortured by little kids. 

When you respect your pets as autonomous beings that have a choice in when and where they're petted, etc, they'll respond by being more loving to you. Like humans, some cats and dogs like being held and petted more than others. Kittens are like little kids--they also want to play and roughhouse. Kids that don't get recess have a very hard time sitting still and behaving, and won't sit calming and watch a movie with you.  A kitten is the same way. 

We adopted a two-year-old rescue cat. After hiding under a bed for a month, he came out and scratched us more often than not. One day he got out, fought with a neighborhood cat, came home, staked his claim on the bed. Now he regularly goes out catting and comes home for petting. He has worked very hard to train us but we are slow learners.

Macavity is the most brilliantly named cat ever! Love the double-meaning!

I really, really loved your post M in Carolina especially reading about how you acquired all of your cats. I loved reading about all of their different personalities. We lost Biru (my previous Siamese) and James (our shelter kitty) in the winter of 2014, and they were both elderly. James dies of stomach cancer at the age of 17 in October 2014, and Biru passed from a blood clot while at the vet's office while being treated for constipation-he was undergoing a twilight sleep procedure. It hit us very hard losing two so close together especially DH. He wasn't ready for a new kitty until this Spring when we found an absolutely wonderful breeder of traditional Siamese (the old fashioned ones with round faces) in Pennsylvania. 

We drove from MD. to PA to pick up our new sweet baby in May. We named him Jesse after Jesse Owens (who broke several world records in track at the University of Penn.+ DS voted for Jesse because of the character in "Breaking Bad") He certainly lives up to his namesake Jesse Owens because this kitten never walks anywhere. He races around the house so fast sometimes he hits the wall because he's going too fast to stop    He leaps down the stairs clearing 4 steps in one leap. It's hilarious to watch. Speaking of nail trimming we got lucky. This breeder touched all of their feet every day (the kittens) so to him it's no big deal at all, we can trim his nails easily. When we got him it was amazing-as soon as he was touched by anyone he'd start purring. She did an amazing job raising these kittens. 

He's a real love bug too. Siamese pick one person in the family to attach themselves to and he's picked me-I consider myself very lucky. He follows me around the house like a wee puppy dog. If I go upstairs he's right behind me. If I go downstairs, he's following me downstairs. At night when I watch TV, he's on my lap-stretched out facing the TV watching it too. He'll fall asleep there for hours. 

Anyway, just wanted to add a bit about my Jesse. He just turned 8 months old on Saturday. I do admire adopting from shelters and I've done it most of my life. Biru was my first Siamese and since I had him I've really grown to love the breed.