Should have tried this with Mimi yesterday.....
By scribe1
@scribe1 (1207)
United States
June 24, 2007 7:58pm CST
This afternoon, I placed Mimi and her carrier in my spare room, next to the closet. I left the carrier door open as usual and placed a dish of water nearby. When I turned away to do something else, Mimi ran out of the carrier and into the closet.
She's still holed up in the closet and growls at me when I check on her.
But in a day or so, she'll probably come back out. Maybe in a week or two, she'll be out and start interacting with me and Columbus and Waffles.
When I first bought Waffles home from the shelter, she ran to the closet right away and hid there for two days, before shyly coming out. She's still shy after all of these months, but that's ok.
1 response
@mrrtomatoe (800)
• Canada
25 Jun 07
I'm assuming Mimi is a cat. Usually cats aren't that shy for such a long time. Perhaps you should try tricking her out of the closet. Get a cord and drag it on the ground in front of her so he/she chases it, and run all over your house and try to play with her. Perhaps she had some tramatic experience in her past, so she doesn't trust humans. I'm not sure what to tell you but i think you just have to try to regain her trust...
@scribe1 (1207)
• United States
25 Jun 07
I'll wait another day or so. She'll probably come out once everything gets quiet again. In her old home, Mimi was the only cat. Now she's in a multi-cat household and may need a little more time to adjust.
Waffles behaved the same way, minus the growling. Then little by little, she stayed out of the closet longer and longer. Now even though she's still shy and a bit skittish, Waffles seems to have totally forgotten about the closet. She sunbathes herself in the morning, next to Columbus, and sleeps in the bed with me.
Mimi will probably behave the same way. If I bother her too much now, she'll wind up distrusting and hating me. Her owner is also taking a wait-and-see attitude before he reluctantly takes Mimi to a shelter. If things work, Mimi will be here and he will be able to visit her.
