Topic

Kara;9603 wrote: wrote:

Aww I'm actually really upset mate. Me & Sookie were getting along so well and I think she was really happy and now she just flinches when I try & stroke her.

:grouphug:The only thing I can suggest is to persuade someone else to do the eye-drop thing:dunno:

Kara;9598 wrote: wrote:

The next chapter ~ Sookie's Revenge

Well I woke up at 5am this morning and went into the living room to have a cuppa tea as I couldn't sleep properly. Then Frank came in and we had an argument about something ridiculous like where we should position the lizards' vivariums in the new flat (I love moving house! :rolleyes2: ) anyway after laughing it off we went back to bed only to find that Sookie had exacted her revenge for the eye drops! ...On my side of the bed was a gigantic poo and on Frank's side of the bed was a huge puddle of pee! :cus: :censored:

I cannot believe she's done this... she has always used her litter tray since we've had her! I just don't understand as before I woke up she was sitting happily purring on me... hmm... unless she was luring me into a false sense of security. :skeptical:

Anyway I had to discipline her which I've never had to do to an animal before so I just shouted at her a teeny bit (which felt awful) and she's been hiding in the wardrobe ever since.

I really am at a loss as to what to do at this point. I've tried showing her everything's ok now but she's not having any of it. I really do hate these ****ing eye drops... talk about the cause of so much crap! :frown:

actually after picking myself off the floor from laughing, that is natural behaviour for a cat it is an expression of stress, dont feel guilty, it is for her own good (I have been here before) dont discipline her but dont praise her either, it will just add to the stress and make things worse, the best way to discipline a cat is to withdraw your affection for a short period (an hour is adequate) she will see the eye drop sessions as being punished and it will all be confusing for her, to cut down the period of stress, drop a towel on her and wrap her up, give the eye drops then let her go, she will go to a "safe place" for a while, just ignore her and she will come to you when she calms down.

once all this is behind you, you can start building up trust again, it is heartbreaking but you have to be strong for her sake.

good luck

David Aiketgate;9614 wrote: wrote:

:grouphug:The only thing I can suggest is to persuade someone else to do the eye-drop thing:dunno:

There isn't anyone else really. Not who can come round twice a day anyway!

Gos;9623 wrote: wrote:

actually after picking myself off the floor from laughing, that is natural behaviour for a cat it is an expression of stress, dont feel guilty, it is for her own good (I have been here before) dont discipline her but dont praise her either, it will just add to the stress and make things worse, the best way to discipline a cat is to withdraw your affection for a short period (an hour is adequate) she will see the eye drop sessions as being punished and it will all be confusing for her, to cut down the period of stress, drop a towel on her and wrap her up, give the eye drops then let her go, she will go to a "safe place" for a while, just ignore her and she will come to you when she calms down.

once all this is behind you, you can start building up trust again, it is heartbreaking but you have to be strong for her sake.

good luck

Aww thanks so much for you advice mate. So a towel is better than holding her down? I'll give it a go. Ok so if she poos/wees on the bed again just ignore her. It's just such a funny way to show stress... I mean she literally made sure she covered both mine & Frank's side of the bed... just felt a bit vindictive!

Kara;9627 wrote: wrote:

Aww thanks so much for you advice mate. So a towel is better than holding her down? I'll give it a go. Ok so if she poos/wees on the bed again just ignore her. It's just such a funny way to show stress... I mean she literally made sure she covered both mine & Frank's side of the bed... just felt a bit vindictive!

if you think about it, cats dont have much in the way of tools for communicating, altho most verbalisation from cats is for human benefit as they try to talk to us, but mostly they communicate thru posture (body language) and smell (mostly crap & pee) but more subtly from scent glands around the body.

the seemingly vindictive behaviour on the bed is simply a message directed at you that she is not happy with your behaviour (giving eye drops)

the towel method is something I picked up from the vet, drop a towel over her then wrap it around her legs (a bit like you would wrap a baby after a bath) this will stop her struggling/scratching/biting it will also make it easier to administer the drops and speed up the process therefore cutting down the time under stress for you and sookie.

she will get more used to it (altho will never completely) as she realises you arent actually hurting her. keep faith with her, I'm sure you will be mates for a long long time xx

Kara;9627 wrote: wrote:

It's just such a funny way to show stress... I mean she literally made sure she covered both mine & Frank's side of the bed... just felt a bit vindictive!

I think you are crediting her with too much intelligence. If she had spelled out "I hate you" in poo, now that would have been vindictive.

I sent Merle to bed the other day for whinging and he looked at me as though I was responsible for everything evil in the world. They do get over it. Dogs tend to get over things quite quickly, unless they have been abused. One of my last dogs was a rescue and he always acted as though I was going to beat him whenever I moved suddenly. Now that is sad.

I shouldn't laugh Kara but what lovely presents for your cat to leave in the bed rofl. WHen mine was ****ed off with me she would lift the carput up and hide one there to fester lol.

Ah miss that cat were were like a couple of bad tempered old ladies. I woudl get in from work she woudl shriek and whine, I woudl shreak at her to be quiet and we wold have an entire conversation before a cuddle bles her.