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Putting Yourself In Their Paws
Putting Yourself In Their Paws
The cats are in a tricky situation and it is important that we understand why they may be feeling/behaving a certain way.
Moving is stressful. All of the cats have moved at least once from:
The foster home to SAFe
Other rescues and organizations to SAFe
Long car rides and plane rides to SAFe
and more!
Being homeless is scary. They are in an unfamiliar environment:
They are unsure about the new sights, smells, and sounds
They are unsure if humans can be trusted
Their current experience with humans may have been negative:
Their background with humans may be traumatic
Humans have trapped/crated, vaccinated, and moved the cat to an unknown location
Rescue Environment
Rescue Environment
It is the responsibility of the staff and volunteers to create a safe environment for the cats in our care. We can do this by:
Maintaining a quiet, calm, relaxing space as much as possible. This builds trust between cats in humans and allows them to rest and recover comfortably.
Monitoring our movements and speed around the cats. Not cornering, entering personal space, or surprising them allows them to trust human movement.
Maintaining a clean environment to ensure the health of the cats. Sick cats have a longer stay at SAFe and delays their ability to get adopted.
Respecting their space, needs, and position.
Stress Behaviors In Cats
Stress Behaviors In Cats
Cats in a unfamiliar environment for the reasons listed above are often under a high amount of stress and they will show this through body language such as:
Hiding
Running away
Freezing
Avoiding
Not grooming
Growling
Hissing
No eye contact
Going outside of the litter box
Pacing
Swatting
Aggressive play
Escape attempts
Vocalizing
Wide eyes
Lip licking
Flat ears
Not eating
Tail flicking
These behaviors are often an attempt to get away from the source of stress or the source of their overstimulation, it does not mean it is an aggressive cat, just that it is a scared, stressed, or overstimulated cat.
Check out this video to help you recognize ways we can reduce feline stress in our rescue!
Check out this video to help you recognize ways we can reduce feline stress in our rescue!
*some measurements/quantities/types of supplies may be different at SAFe than what is reflect in this video
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