Content

• Steps
• Part 1 of 3: Creating a calm, secure environment
• Part 2 of 3: Getting Started
• Part 3 of 3: Coping with Negative Behavior
• Tips
• Warnings

Rehabilitating a physically abused cat is an incredible undertaking in terms of the level of joy it receives, but it takes a tremendous amount of patience. If you have taken home a physically abused cat / cat, then he / she is unlikely to be willing to communicate with people.Based on the past experience of the animal, communication with people leads to pain, so the cat / cat does everything to cope with the situation: either it hides when people approach, or behaves aggressively towards them.

Steps

Part 1 of 3: Creating a calm, secure environment

1. 1 Take your cat / cat to the vet as soon as you bring him / her home. When you bring home a physically abused cat for the first time, your best bet is to show it to your veterinarian.
   • Ask your veterinarian to see if the animal's physical injury has completely healed, and if there are any other areas that are painful to touch.
   • This will allow you to assess the medical needs of your cat / cat and ensure that all treatments are completed. It will also help you understand if the animal has body parts that should not be touched.
2. 2 Provide your cat with everything you need. Bring the cat / cat home and let him / her into a quiet room with everything the pet needs. This includes water, food, a place to sleep, and a litter box. Give toys, but don't be offended if your cat ignores them for weeks.
3. 3 Give your cat / cat time to get used to the new environment. Early on, this means giving the cat / cat time to feel safe in a new place, even if the space is very small.
   • Unless you have loud, violent pets that can invade the cat / cat's space, upsetting him / her, you can leave the door open. If you have such favorites, close the door.
   • When the cat / cat feels confident, he / she will be able to calmly explore the whole house at his / her own pace.
4. 4 Make sure there are enough places in the room for the cat / cat to hide comfortably. Cats feel safe when they are protected from all sides and can see the way out (which is why they love cardboard boxes so much). Provide a variety of shelters, perhaps boxes of different sizes, lying on the side, and make them more comfortable by adding a blanket or fleece fabric.
5. 5 Let the cat / cat hide. It may take days, weeks, or even months until the cat / cat emerges from the hiding place. Remember that you are following her pace, not yours.
   • However, once the cat / cat realizes that this environment is very different from the place where he / she was physically abused, you should notice a change in the animal.
   • The first step for the cat / cat is to understand that he / she has a place (shelter) where he / she can always hide. And as soon as such confidence appears, the animal can begin to more actively explore the environment.
6. 6 Make sure the cat / cat can easily reach food and water from their shelter. Resources like water and food are very important for a cat / cat. Most likely, where the cat / cat experienced physical abuse, access to food and water was limited, or it was dangerous to search for food / water. Thus, the stress level of the animal can be reduced by making food and water readily available.
   • If the cat is hiding under the couch, place a saucer of cookies near the edge of the couch so the cat can eat without having to cross the scary unfamiliar room.
7. 7 Always give your cat / cat an escape route. If an animal crawls out of cover, do not stand between it and the cover. If it seems to the cat / cat that the retreat to the shelter is blocked, he / she will start to panic.
8. 8 Do not force the cat / cat to interact with people. If you find out that an animal is suspicious of people, never force him to communicate. When guests come to visit, take the cat / cat to a safe room, or make sure they know exactly that the cat / cat should not be looked at or approached the animal. This will at least reduce the visibility of the threat in the eyes of the animal.

Part 2 of 3: Getting Started

1. 1 Do not try to establish contact with a cat / cat in the first 2-3 days. For the first 2-3 days, do not intentionally come into contact with the cat / cat.Make sure your pet has everything it needs and keep the litter box clean. Add fresh water, add food and nothing more.
   • Give the animal a chance to get used to its new environment, new sounds and smells. If the animal wants to get out of the shelter, and it will be comfortable to explore everything - fine. If not, that's fine too, leave it as it is.
   • Always speak in a low, gentle voice, even if the cat / cat attacks you or is violent in any other way.
2. 2 Refrain from eye contact. Never make eye contact with the cat / cat when meeting the gaze of the animal when it is in its hiding place. Looking directly into the eyes leads to the fact that the cat / cat feels threatened, because in the feline language, such a look means a manifestation of power.
   • For cats, a direct look in the eyes means that the cat who is looking wants to be in charge, and this is the last thing a cat / cat who survived physical abuse needs in a new home, where the animal should feel calm and confident.
3. 3 Start building a relationship with your cat / cat by being in the same room with him / her. After 2-3 days, start spending some time in the same room with your cat / cat. Grab a good book and a bag of cat treats, and sit down to read the book with a piece of the treat in your hand.
   • The point is for the animal to get used to your presence and see that you are doing nothing other than sitting still.
   • As a result, if the animal feels enough courage in itself, it will take a tentative step out of its hiding place.
4. 4 Throw a treat for the cat / cat. Let the cat / cat look at you for a few minutes, then carefully throw a piece of treat towards the animal. If the cat / cat eats the treat - great! If the animal gets scared and runs back to the shelter, do not worry, this is to be expected.
   • Just now, you will need a huge amount of patience, because you will have to sit like this for an hour or several hours every day.
   • Even so, some animals take weeks to start taking treats.
5. 5 Lure the cat / cat for a closer look with the treats path. When the cat / cat grabs the treat from a distance, start throwing the treats closer each time, making a path that will lead the animal closer to you.
   • Ultimately, the purpose of this is to attract the cat / cat close enough so that he / she can take the treat from your hand and you can gently pet the cat / cat.
   • Thus, the cat / cat will get used to the treats, which will help the animal associate your presence with pleasant events.
6. 6 Consider lying on the floor to avoid looking intimidating to your cat / cat. This is a hint on how to gain the trust of the cat / cat: when the animal decides to leave the shelter, lie down on the floor.
   • In full growth, a person seems terrifyingly huge to a cat / cat. If you lie down on the floor, you will look less scared and the cat / cat will feel more secure when approaching you.
   • Make sure to have the treats close at hand so you can scatter them on the floor when the cat gets closer.
   • Again, when the cat / cat is exploring everything around, never cut off his / her escape route, in case the animal suddenly has to hurry back in its tracks.
7. 7 Be patient. Remember that behind fear and timidity is a beautiful cat, which needs to be re-learned to trust people. It will take some time, but if you are patient and kind, these animals will repay you a thousandfold for your kindness. You will have a lot of fun for months ahead, which will reveal an incredible change in the animal.

Part 3 of 3: Coping with Negative Behavior

1. 1 Identify your cat / cat's fears so you can avoid them. Rescue Services can tell you what type of animal cruelty your cat has experienced. If not, watch the animal, how it reacts and what it is most afraid of.Once you figure out what exactly your cat / cat is afraid of, you can avoid it.
   • When a cat / cat is afraid, the animal's eyes are dilated and the pupils become huge and dark. The hair can stand on end on the head, the cat / cat lifts the tail up, while the hair on the tail is bristling, and the tail looks like a bottle brush. Ears are turned back and pressed against the head
   • If the cat / cat has the ability to escape, then he / she will most likely do so, moving quickly and cuddling to the ground. If the animal feels trapped, it is likely that the cat's back will stand on end and he / she will hiss and snort.
2. 2 Do not touch the cat / cat in “prohibited” places. Such places are not uncommon for cats / cats that have been subjected to cruelty to animals. For example, if a cat / cat has a broken pelvis due to the animal being kicked, he / she will not perceive the pat on the hips as pleasant, it will be associated with pain. Therefore, if you touch a cat / cat in this place, he / she will hiss or run away.
   • If you know where your cat / cat has such "forbidden" places, respect the desire of the animal, and do not try to pet it there. Do not insist on physical contact in this particular place, expecting that the cat / cat will get used to it. This is a misconception.
   • Perhaps years later, the cat / cat will allow you to touch the "forbidden place", but before that you have to win his / her trust, which means doing exactly what the animal wants.
3. 3 Dealing with sticky behavior. Some rescued cats / cats stick to their new owner. The new owner symbolizes safety, and the cat / cat is afraid of being abandoned.
   • If this is your case, put a piece of your clothing in the cat's bed so that the cat / cat can calm down and smell your scent.
   • Sometimes it even helps to have another pet for the company. It additionally helps the abused cat / cat because he / she sees that you are affectionately interacting with another animal, which instills additional confidence.
4. 4 We cope with any aggression. Some cats / cats have been treated so violently that they become aggressive. These cats / cats can be dangerous because they violate the main feline rule - do not rush for no reason, and can fight even if you just get close to them. In their eyes, the very fact of your approach is already a sufficient threat.
   • The difficulty of dealing with this type of aggression is its unpredictability. Such cats / cats may not give warning signals such as growls, hiss, twitching of the tail, pinning the ears, dilated pupils. Instead, such cats / cats may rush without warning.
   • However, many of these animals can be won over with patience and time. Their aggression is based on fear, and attack is their best defense. To become less aggressive, they need to make sure that there is no pressure through resources (water, food), and also learn to trust people again.
5. 5 Think about safety first. There is no way you can get the cat / cat to stop being aggressive, but you can teach the animal that you are not a threat to him.
   • When in doubt, move away from the cat / cat, you do not need to provoke the animal, proving that you are not afraid. This will end up with scratches and bites on your body and a very angry cat / cat in the house.
   • Instead, step back and allow the animal to calm down.
6. 6 Use feline pheromones to reduce stress levels. There is no magic pill, but using feline facial pheromones can help reduce stress levels a bit.
   • Pheromones are chemicals released by the cat / cat when the animal is relaxed and happy. Cats / cats produce pheromones in order to communicate with each other, but there are synthetic options on the market (for example, Feliway).
   • Spray Feliway on the cat bed, or turn on the Feliway diffuser in the room where the cat / cat spends the most time, this will help the pet to feel more confident. The pheromones define this place as safe and calm, reminiscent of the relaxing music and lavender scent of a spa.

Tips

• The basic rules for caring for a physically abused cat is to give the cat everything he / she needs (water, food, bed, litter box) without the need to earn it, and to provide a calm, quiet environment so that the cat / cat gained confidence.

Warnings

• Most cats / cats who have experienced physical abuse and, after being removed from the abusive environment, continue to respond by returning to a location they consider safe and refuse to go out. Such animals do not trust people, they are lonely and in a state of depression. If you try to face a cat / cat face-to-face by looking into her / his hideout, you will increase the animal's stress and it may aggressively charge you.
• Even after months of rehabilitation, the psychological damage caused by the abuse may be too severe for the cat / cat, and he / she will not be able to fully return to normal family life.