So since I'm going to be moving back home, I need to get some of my mom's cat's issues sorted out (at least to a livable extent). Right now she's doing kitchen renos (which won't be done before we move in) so I'm hoping I can clear her waste out of the basement to toss my extra furniture in (it'll fit in a tighter space since I'm good at packing), then have Koda's crate in my room (she also has one downstairs for when we visit right now, which will stay downstairs if I can keep it there for emergencies).
His problems:
-Territorial to a huge degree and redirects towards people
-Scared of everything, especially Koda
-Major fear of guests
-Even worse fear of my mom's bf, and his kid
The plan of attack:
-Fix all the covers on the windows, he keeps tearing them down
-Add shelving and organization to my mom's living space, since she's awful at it and everything is a trap waiting to happen
-Add shelving for Fuzz specifically, if possible (at just below eye level....not his FAVORITE idea ever but he'll still have the space and my mom won't have to worry about her eye being taken out again)
-Give him more spaces in every room to rest at or hide away in
-Get him a harness, and take him on walks (I'll check if Sandy's harness will fit him, if not I was looking at puppia....). My mom will fight me on this 'in case he gets loose' but he really enjoys being outside, after he hurt her eye he walked decently on leash inside, and I think it will help him a lot.
-Make him a new flirt pole, his old one died
-Make new toys for him to play with on his own
-Cat trees, if possible
-More scheduled playtime
-If I'm allowed, hand feed him. Gradually work on CCing to me, and being handled. If I'm there long enough, CC him to Koda (through a barrier). I'm hoping if my mom's bf can see how Fuzz acts with me, and how he can go from a terror with Koda and totally freaked out to at least partially calm, he might be willing to try some CCing with him, too. Koda's reaction to him so far (and most cats) is to stare but do absolutely nothing, and if she's on lead she'll totally ignore them, so although not the BEST dog to CC with she's not the worst, and I don't expect her to freak out
A bit of an aside, but she's also going to have to get used to being crated more often when Sandy gets her playtime and is out, since I can't just put her in the living room anymore. Koda struggles more with Sandy than she has with cats...I think prey drive kicks in differently so I'll take this slowly and safely.
I don't know what my mom is going to be okay with, it's already a battle to get her to fix the covers on the windows that he keeps tearing down. She refuses to let Fuzz outside on leash anymore (normally she would put him out there only half supervised on leash but he'd get more aggressive over time if she didn't bring him out, so he stopped getting to go out). Walks are different and I'm pretty confident he's going to just shut down the first few times whether I CC as much as possible or not. He's given up on trying to be friendly, and is quick to react (because that's all anyone would respond to, rather than his more mildly irritated signals).
Am I missing anything? Do you guys have any ideas on how I can convince my mom that walks, more exercise, and allowing me to handle his food will be better (when we go over right now she leaves it out and Koda scarfs all of it, yet another thing to address..if I have my way he won't be eating from a bowl ever again)? It's going to be constant crate and rotate, but because everyone likes Koda and nobody but my mom and I like Fuzz, it's really not going to be much rotation unless I can get his fears at least to a level when he's less of a threat. Koda will need the downtime away from people, too, or she'll get irritated so we might as well actually rotate over having both locked up.
His problems:
-Territorial to a huge degree and redirects towards people
-Scared of everything, especially Koda
-Major fear of guests
-Even worse fear of my mom's bf, and his kid
The plan of attack:
-Fix all the covers on the windows, he keeps tearing them down
-Add shelving and organization to my mom's living space, since she's awful at it and everything is a trap waiting to happen
-Add shelving for Fuzz specifically, if possible (at just below eye level....not his FAVORITE idea ever but he'll still have the space and my mom won't have to worry about her eye being taken out again)
-Give him more spaces in every room to rest at or hide away in
-Get him a harness, and take him on walks (I'll check if Sandy's harness will fit him, if not I was looking at puppia....). My mom will fight me on this 'in case he gets loose' but he really enjoys being outside, after he hurt her eye he walked decently on leash inside, and I think it will help him a lot.
-Make him a new flirt pole, his old one died
-Make new toys for him to play with on his own
-Cat trees, if possible
-More scheduled playtime
-If I'm allowed, hand feed him. Gradually work on CCing to me, and being handled. If I'm there long enough, CC him to Koda (through a barrier). I'm hoping if my mom's bf can see how Fuzz acts with me, and how he can go from a terror with Koda and totally freaked out to at least partially calm, he might be willing to try some CCing with him, too. Koda's reaction to him so far (and most cats) is to stare but do absolutely nothing, and if she's on lead she'll totally ignore them, so although not the BEST dog to CC with she's not the worst, and I don't expect her to freak out
A bit of an aside, but she's also going to have to get used to being crated more often when Sandy gets her playtime and is out, since I can't just put her in the living room anymore. Koda struggles more with Sandy than she has with cats...I think prey drive kicks in differently so I'll take this slowly and safely.
I don't know what my mom is going to be okay with, it's already a battle to get her to fix the covers on the windows that he keeps tearing down. She refuses to let Fuzz outside on leash anymore (normally she would put him out there only half supervised on leash but he'd get more aggressive over time if she didn't bring him out, so he stopped getting to go out). Walks are different and I'm pretty confident he's going to just shut down the first few times whether I CC as much as possible or not. He's given up on trying to be friendly, and is quick to react (because that's all anyone would respond to, rather than his more mildly irritated signals).
Am I missing anything? Do you guys have any ideas on how I can convince my mom that walks, more exercise, and allowing me to handle his food will be better (when we go over right now she leaves it out and Koda scarfs all of it, yet another thing to address..if I have my way he won't be eating from a bowl ever again)? It's going to be constant crate and rotate, but because everyone likes Koda and nobody but my mom and I like Fuzz, it's really not going to be much rotation unless I can get his fears at least to a level when he's less of a threat. Koda will need the downtime away from people, too, or she'll get irritated so we might as well actually rotate over having both locked up.
