Perhaps it's easier if I break it down in the hopes that someone out there can offer suggestions/pointers (believe me, I'll take all the advice I can get):
What I Do Know:
- she likes to sit in the window and watch the birds/squirrels
- she likes dry kibble
- she loves having her face, chin and head petted & rubbed
- she prefers to hide, closets, under beds, in boxes, anywhere and everywhere that is closed away
- she likes to chat
- she enjoys cloth mice
What I Don't Know:
- why she scurry's around the upstairs of the house like a raccoon with her tail between her hind legs
- why she LOVED about 3 days of brushing (purring and rolling around), and is now seemingly terrified of the exact same instrument
- why every noise appears to terrify her and sends her once again into hiding
- why she comes for petting but then just as quickly becomes defensive
- why she can be playful one moment with a toy; but any interaction with the same toy can then have her growling, hissing and swatting
- why she just can't seem to relax; her eyes become wide as saucers at every little sound
- why she prefers to spend the majority of her time by herself
I think that about covers it for now. I keep coming back to the opinion that she's been in a home where she was very loved by one person and yet very abused and tormented by someone else. Here's once again one of the frustrations in fostering.............you want to help them back on the road to security but sometimes that same road can be filled with alot of bumps, and wrong turns and there are moments when you just want to pull your hair out because you can't figure out what your doing wrong.
She likes upstairs and she loves it under our bed; but the reality is that she can't live there and we'll never get her adopted if I can't help her to stop jumping out of her skin everytime there's a noise.
Your thoughts/interpretation seem to fit her behaviour well. It sounds as though one person was trying to gain her trust, while another person was trying to destroy it....of course, it could be one and the same person who had been doing this , rather than two separate individuals.But one thing is clear, she was given mixed messages that have left her feeling frightened.Poor baby. I hope she allows herself to feel safe with you.
ReplyDeleteSophie and the critters in the cottage xo
well LM, sounds as though she is still trying to get used to her surroundings and all of you. Some just take longer than others. Look at Flossy ... took her quite a while to get used to you, the boys, the house, and yet when she did, she was your best friend when you needed it most. Is she alone in the spare room when you are all at work ? Or does she have access to the entire house ? Do you think perhaps that Rocky is asserting himself when you are not around ? She'll come around eventually, we're all praying for Addy and all of you,
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