# Figuring out how your cat was raised?



## ricostrong (Dec 5, 2013)

Hi! I got my cat when he was 6 months old from a shelter. Is there any way to tell how he was raised? I'm curious and wonder if he was around his mom, was abused, or anything like that. The shelter said someone brought him in but that's the only info.


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## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

Hmm...since that was what you were told, then I wouldn't bother to dig further. What is important is his future with you, how he is being raised by you. He is only 6mths old, still young, so the past isn't important, IMO, what is important is what he had been fed at the shelter and continue feeding it and slowly transition him to new food that you planned on feeding, just to make his tummy feel better. Where behaviour is concerned, I believe you still have a chance to mould him, though their personality may change as they get older. Oh well, I've never dealt with kitties that young, maybe somebodyelse will tell you more.


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## 0ozma (Sep 22, 2012)

The shelter usually doesn't have any more info than that. A good shelter will disclose every detail possible with you about the cat you're adopting


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## ricostrong (Dec 5, 2013)

Well hes about a year older and loves sleeping with me, doing that thing where they rub on you with paws while biting and purring, and is very friendly with everyone. I think hes happy with me


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## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

That's more than good enough, forget about the past.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I've always wondered this as well about MowMow. He had very particular habits when I got him as a 4 year old and I'd love to know what sort of people had him before and know what his life was like.

Book is a little different, I got him as a 5 month old and he lived with a foster family until he came to the rescue with his littermates. I know he was with his momz for a LONG time and I can SEE what an amazing job the foster family did with him. As much of a pain in the butt he was around the house (breaking things/torturing his adopted brother/stealing things) he was SUPER SUPER gentle with me. He was always careful (and still is) with his teeth and claws. MUCH more so than MowMow ever is. I credit an amazing foster family raising him well for it.


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

Sometimes we know information and we share it (e.g. owner passed away or litter box issues) and we certainly disclose if we're told their was a medical/behavioral reason for the surrender. If we know the treating vet, we'll check their records as well. But often, there's just no info provided to us so we can't pass any past life information along. With my Penny, the only info on the turn-in sheet was "likes fish flavored treats".

I want to add that we will disclose if a former owner said there were behavioral issues, but sometimes we just don't see it at the shelter or adoptive home, so we don't necessarily put a lot of credence in that.


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## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

Kitty-The-Cat said:


> That said, within just a day or two after I got her I had the distinct impression she had already been living in someone's house. She needed absolutely no training whatsoever to use the litter box - she obviously knew what one was when I first brought it into my apartment. Other little things like that also gave me the impression she had already been "trained" to some extent.


ET knew from Day 1, to use the litterbox, so that got me to think he may have lived indoor before too. Other things, like having 2 more white cats abandoned at our stray cat feeding location, makes me more sure, they are all (ET + 2 new white cats) from the same family. That family must have liked white kitties. All 3 white kitties (including ET) were severely malnourished when abandoned.

Anyway, that's just my assumption, there is no way I will know and no way am I going to start wasting time searching for his previous owners or his past lives. I'm curious, no doubt, but don't wanna waste time and energy on that matter.


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## ricostrong (Dec 5, 2013)

Mine likes to scratch and bite me!! I read this means he wasn't around his mom to much to teach him jot to do those things


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## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

Urgh? doesn't all cats scratch and bite? Kitty mom don't teach their kitties not to bite and scratch, right? We human moms trained them not to. Hahaha...you really make me crack my head for once by that sentence, lol....


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

Mothers teach their kits (and siblings teach each other) how to play and NOT hurt each other. If a kitten gets too rough mom or siblings will cry out and sometimes smack them. This is why it's desirable to keep kits with mom/litter for 12 weeks. It gives them times to learn this social behavior.

People try to train them not to scratch/bite but personally, if they are careful I don't mind it.
Book scratches and bites at me but he's INCREDIBLY gentle. He always keeps his claws sheathed and he never presses his teeth hard against my skin. He's always been very conscious of what he's doing.

MowMow.. he's another animal. When he gets worked up he's out for blood..and he draws it every time.


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## 0ozma (Sep 22, 2012)

MowMow, the vampire kitty


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

B.B. was rescued from a shelter and has mixed moments on the biting and scratching bit with me. With other cats, I am happily surprised she has never hurt the girls with her swats. Never.

Around me the girls are VERY well mannered. I've never been bitten or scratched, and I credit Sadie's mother for that. Sadie ALWAYS greets Belle with little licks on her cheek. Belle is not as demonstrably affectionate in her greetings but will easily welcome cuddles from Sadie. 

But with Sadie all her affections and manners are to her "family" ONLY, outsiders will not get the same considerations.
Belle is a quiet soul and will just retreat rather then confront.


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## Cat'sHouse (Apr 5, 2012)

*figuring out how to raise your cat*

might be a better subject line. Yes, it would be nice to get a history report of life before you but that is hardly possible unless you had the litter mom in your house and viewed behavior for 8 weeks or so.

We had a litter from a mom who jumped on my shoulder late one night in the pitch dark as I was exiting my back porch....Yes, just out of the dark she leaped on me. When I realized she meant no harm, I took her inside riding on my shoulder. A thing we found she was fond of doing. Well, mom was very pregnant and had a collar and tag but the phone was not in service and flyers didn't find an owner. We had the litter in our living room, two females and two males. We found homes for all except little Kermit whom I wanted to keep. Kermit didn't stand when the others did and would pull himself along with his front legs. ( I thought chariot for a cat?)...but two days later he was up with the others but they kinda ignored him so I would call out "Kermit, where's my little Kermit?" and he would crawl out from mom and she hesitantly would let me pick him up when he was barely a week old. I would sit in a rocker with him up by my neck and we would nap (or he would) for a long time and then I would put him back. This became a norm behavior till he got much too big for the neck but he has always been near me or in the same room with me for twelve years now. Or with the wife who is home always, we figure he just likes humans to be there with him. 

Now, would that show up if someone else had him? I guess not but he might seek that closeness with another? He was kind of rejected by the others during play maybe because of his size? We don't know. At about 8 weeks, he did play more with the others tho, it just took extra time.

Our last two strays were rejected we think. Maybe gotten as live toys for toddlers and then when they bit or scratched they were shown the door? I have seen this happen in the city more than I want. Marble adjusted well and I like to play (too rough the wife says) with my cats. She bite hard at first and would scratch to tell me things but soon leaned to hold back. She 'knew' when she went too far and so did I. We just had to learn from each other.

The past was, the present is and the future is que sera.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

yes, I'd forget about the past, too. I adopt seniors and adults and sometimes you have to undo some bad habits, but in almost every case you can reshape them into what you want with love and food, but sometimes they shape YOU into what THEY want!! LOVE these animals!


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## Venusworld21 (Oct 23, 2012)

I often wonder this about my fosters too. Trying to piece together bits of their past so I can help shape their futures.  Nala acted jumpy and shy at first, but she knew the sound of a catfood bag shaking, so she was obviously fed by someone at some point. Juno liked to reach out and "grab" with her paws/claws and hold on. Some of them scarf down food and it's obvious they aren't accustomed to regular meals. It's hard trying to figure out what could be a quirk of how they were raised and what is just part of their individual cat natures.


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## Cat'sHouse (Apr 5, 2012)

As a youth and young adult we took in strays and sometimes rejected dogs. With them you could more easily tell if they were abused, caged, or just neglected. With cats it was harder to guess their past.

Marble was very wary of us but since she came to our open window to 'talk' with our cats, and climbed a tree and over our roof to our almost enclosed balcony to sleep, we felt she was one of the brighter bulbs on the tree so to speak. Once we took her in the first thing we noticed was that she was very protective of the immediate space around her and she was 'head shy'. Been swatted before no doubt.

Well, that all went away and she is the perfect addition to our clan.


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## ricostrong (Dec 5, 2013)

I guess what im trying to get at is does a cats friendly or angry behavior have a lot to do with how they were raised by cat parents? I guess its like humans.....it really just depends! Some people are always angry or always nice even with perfect and horrible childhoods.


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## ricostrong (Dec 5, 2013)

Cats House, not trying to get off subject but how can you tell with dogs? Thank you.


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## gizmothecat (Jun 26, 2013)

Gizmo was with a foster mommy  and she did a beautiful job with gizmo...really!! Marshall came from a lady that had LOTS of cats...they didn't say hoarder. He is an amazing cat...sweet, gentle, quiet. He did have litterbox issues...(He hated litter and didn't like litter boxes). but he's a lot better...he doesn't cover...but sometimes my gizmo will cover his business for him. Which reminds me...I need to send piccys of gizmo...the foster mommy wanted to see her


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## fanwoodguy (Oct 14, 2011)

Smokey was found as a 7 or 8 week old kitten. He was basically raised by us. Used the litter box the moment is saw it, never scratched in anger and defended his yard right to the property line.

Lexi was about a year or less old when she arrived. Came into the house after neutering. Loved the bathroom from day one which led us to believe she knew what a house was at some point. For the first six months, anytime I put on a belt she ran in fear. Apparently she had an encounter with someone with a belt. She has since grown out of that fear.

Buddy was a rescue cat who was apparently left in an apartment to die (who does that?) He reached out of the cage to play so home he came. His original name was frisky which does fit him. Active all the time except when he is sleeping he was apparently treated well as a kittten.


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

Even if you did know about the background, it wouldn't be the be all and end all. My two latest adoptees are full brother and sister and pretty much identical to look at. I know quite a bit about their background (they came from the same home as a whole load of other kittens and a few queens and they were badly malnourished before going into the shelter, etc.). They are two little darlings, totally loving and fun but not the same in behaviour despite both the same genes and the same background. Whatever a cat's background, he / she is still an individual and it is those personal quirks that atter most.


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