How do you deal witha PTSD Kitty...

[Lithos]

33. I did Feral rescue for several years

Ended up keeping a large set when we moved many years back. The last are finally aging out at ages of 17-20+ years.

We had several who had been attacked and abused before we were able to capture them.

The advice several are giving here is good.

1) Be very respectful. Be slow and obvious to what your intent is.
2) If you do look eye-to-eye, blink and defer. I'm an extreme introvert - this came naturally to me.
3) There are some de-calming sprays you can buy - they sometimes help.
4) Add lots of cat-friendly stimulation things to the environment. Catnip, toys, etc.
5) Provide treats - and when you do, use a consistent friendly voice. Never push their boundaries, be passive.
6) Constantly talk to them - always in a pleasant voice. Say nice things. Yes, this is corny, but they do understand more than you realize - especially emotion.
7) Patience is a virtue. It takes years sometime to build trust
8) Never expect anything.
9) Understand that they pick the time and place - you may have a rapport one day, then they regress the next day.
10) It might help to have a cat who is not Feral and/or PTSD which they can model. Also, some of the ferals developed friendships first with the non-ferals. This helped them develop the trust to us. If you do get one, then pick one who is very evenly tempered. We were lucky in that we were able to get several kittens while they were still imprintable who grew up to be the bridge.

It took me 15 years for one before he would have anything to do with me. But the last 2 years were wonderful. And thankfully so as it allowed me to give him appropriate palliative care during the last 6 months when he was sick.