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Age1600
Bonita-Azul
Joined: Apr 23, 2007
Age: 23
Posts: 1831
Location: New Jersey
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 Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:00 pm Post subject: Question regarding my "autistic" cat |
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Ok, so I posted this on Autismspeaks because theres more parents on there that I thought, but only one person replied, so I'm going to post it on here... 
THIS IS LONG, BEWARE...
So I have a stupid questions. I'm not a parent, i hope to be one day, but I do own two cats whom I raised since they both were 8weeks old, one is now 9, the other is 1 and half and I am dang proud that I can even raise anything especially since I can barely dress myself lol  .
Anyways my first cat named Zeus got unusually sick, started becoming larthargic, and not himself around 8 and half months, he use to open doors by himself, coolest cat Ever, he was such a typical boy too, i looved him, well i suspected something, got him to a vet, had a rare disease that was taking his life slowly but surely, vet said we have no idea whats happening to him said maybe he ate a bug or something, and tried their best, but there was nothing they could do, so I had to put him down when he was 9months old  .
Couple weeks later, I got my Roxanne, now 9. I picked her out because she licked me in the face. The owners who had the mother said, she has a hernia, and probably will need special help. I didn't care, I wanted her. I love her, so I treated her hernia, she was a typical cat after that. I got her shots done, made sure she didnt eat any bugs. Well I soon found out she had an neurological disorder that affected her eating, she couldn't get the food in her mouth properly and chew properly either. Well right around the time I got her spayed, she blew up in weight. She went from maybe 6lbs to 16lbs in like two weeks. They said that can happen, I took her to get the rest of her shots, and noticed she lost a lot of her energy. I thought it was normal. She went from 16lbs to 22lbs in weeks after that. I honestly thought i was over feeding her, but i made sure she had plenty of exercise, the vet said put her on a scheduled diet. Another weird about her is when she was a kitten she didn't meow, she would open her mouth to meow but nothing came out, it was sooo weird, she didnt meow until she was like 1 and half, and then til now her meow is "Me Me Me Owww" I don't know what happened there either haha. So I put her on the diet, she was a typical, bad tempered, no eye contact, only wanted affection when wanted food, twitching, sleeping cat lol. I'm proud to say I raised her, I mean I can barely take care of myself, and since I'm 50% verbal, its not the easiest when needing to communicate but can't  .
Moving along,,, my boyfriend got this kitten for me, for our one year anniversary. We went to go pick out the kitten, cuttte as anything. The kitten I picked I named Sapphire, well while her sister played with the mother and older sister, Sapphire kinda played in a cardboard box, and kinda ignored everything else going around her. I went to go play with her, she ignored me, the other cats ran after my shoe string, she kinda just jumped in and out of the box over and over and over again. I picked her, they said are u sure? her sister is much more playful and interactive, but I chose her because she was gorgeous and I knew she was the one for me. Little did I know she had a lot of neurological and psychological problems. All I knew was that she was extremely tinnny, and sooo adorable  .
My older cat hated her at first, territory thing I guess. Well Sapphire started displaying weird traits, only playing with certian cat toys, and only liked watching them spin and would run around in circles around the toy, i would hold her and she would instantly fight with me, and look away, and when she did look at me, she freaking stareddd like no other. She had a issue where she wanted pressure on her, where if there was somebody about to sit down, she ran under that person jsut to feel the pressure i guess. If you went to the bathroom, she would howwlll into you let her in, then she had to watch you go to the bathroom, then HAD to watch you flush, even pushed you off the toilet to watch it flushing. I got her shots so she can be healthy, now right after the shots she started showing aggressiveness to the dogs, which was our puppy whos the same age as her and our older dog whos now 12. If you turned on the fan she went psycho, if you flipped cards by her, she went psycho, she had to have the same food or would throw up. She will attack for nooo reason either, just be upset and attack anything near. She constantly stares at the fan like crazy, just lays and stares. She is known as the bully in the house, the dogs who are a greyhound and german short haired pointer are afraid of her, she attacks them, then runs up to their face and watches them tremble and just stares at them. She rubs her body all over plastic bags, and HAS to lay on ONLY plastic bags. She also likes taking her face and rubbing it on the corner of the bags. She would run in circles for hours chasing gosh who knows what, has a tail as long as her body, whiskers 6 inches long, a tongue abnormally long, and hairy palms abnormally long. She also makes wierd noises for a cat, she goes MMM if you touch her, also if you touch her she automatically has to clean herself. She also if gets upset makes this meow that sounds like "OH NO". You cant ring the doorbell, or get too loud, or have too many ppl in the house, she will attack either the dogs, or a person.
I didn't understand what the heck is going on. There are times where my boyfriend kisses her and shes okay, then other times she literally attacks him, she attacked the plumber once then bullied him by dead on staring also with the verizon man she attacked his leg then just stared him down as well, attacked me, my mother, boyfriend, brothers gf, friends, and so on... So I had to spay her, well she gained some weight, and started having problems eating like Roxanne, she chokes on her food and can't properly get it in her mouth. So I bought her oral food, only purina though because she throws up everything else. She is obsessed with eating anything in her sight even if its ketchup, coffee grinds, pizza, noodles, soup, salad, its crazy, anything human she eats, but cat related only one type of treat and one brand of food. She likes to open and close her paw over and over and over again and watches herself while doing it too, likes to grab her tail and shove it in her face and rub her face all over her tail. I honestly dont know whats wrong with her. The vet tells me thats a neurological problem with this cat too  .
Well just last night, my older cat fell off the table, didnt get hurt, but my younger baby cat ran after the older one and attacked her! I didn't know what to do, we put Sapphire in the room and tended to Roxanne to make sure no blood was shed, Sapphire was howlling, screaming, and when we let her out she quickly ran to lick the floor, i really dont know why. She has done this to the dogs, if they fall, she attacks them, if they jump up and down she attacks them, if their too excited she attacks them. I can't count how many times everybody in the house has cleaned up blood after the cat attacked someone. My mother burned her chest one time, and freaked, well sapphire attacked the dog, then went after my mother.
I'm so confused, I just dont know what to do anymore with this kitten. Well I put her on a special scheduled diet, because she started gaining unsually lots of weight. Shes okay weight wise now except she acts like a starved orphan, but the other one is probably 25lbs and I make sure she has exercise, I'm hoping my older cat isnt diabetic, I dont honestly know where the weight is coming from  .
Anyways Everybody says to get rid of this kitten, she has sooo many behavior problems, she can't eat right, she seems to have psychological issues, shes just so abnormal for a cat, but I don't want to give up on her. I so love her, when I yell or freak out she runs to my face and puts her nose against mine to shut me up lol, and looooves to lay on my lap, and I lllooove the pressure hehe. But when we walk in the house and as I'm flapping we have to calm her down right away before she freaks out on anybody, we have to squat down and talk calmly to her so nobody gets attacked. Everybody says shes autistic, and in my heart I always wondered if animals can have autism, I mean I joke around saying she is autistic, but it scares me though because I have no idea what to do for my psycho cat  .
Okay soooo this sounds weird, I know, but to me my cats are my children, Ill do anything for them, but my question is what do you do when their is no help, no chance of anything changing, when nobody understands and all everybody says is just get rid of her? and if you think there really is such thing as autism in animals 
I mean I think there is, personally with my two cats, and my touretting dog I have proof lol, I mean if I can figure out how to put videos on utube, i'll put one up of my dog roman who does the elvis lip over the extreme 
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Dxed Classic Autism(moderate to severe as a child, now moderate to high functioning as an adult) & Dxed Tourette Syndrome... 
I'm one ticcing, stimming chica from the Jersey Shore 
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Rainstorm5
Tornado Aficionado
Joined: Feb 20, 2008
Posts: 1057
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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My mother-in-law used to breed cats for show and every once in a while, she'd breed them cousin to cousin in order to bring out certain colors of fur, eye color, etc. One kitten, a white persian she named 'Miss Hemingway,' was born with 6 toes on each of her front paws. Other than that, Miss Hemingway was a beautiful animal. As a kitten, she acted sort of strange in the way you describe your cat Sapphire doing. She played separate from the other kittens and would spend hours attacking her own tail. When the cat grew older, she was very sweet around people she knew (who lived in the house) but if someone came over to visit and they tried to pet her, she'd flip out and come after them, sinking her claws. She had to be put down after she bit a lady hard enough that it left four bleeding holes in the woman's leg. The vet said that Miss Hemingway was probably so inbred that she had a brain abnormality that caused her to attack. Sooner or later, he explained, the cat would even attack its owners if provoked. The same problem might be with your cat. It might be inbred or have some kind of brain damage from birth. There is no cure for it. So, if you're willing to put up with Sapphire's antics, just be forewarned that she might get worse the older she gets. Take her to a vet and see what they think. I'd explore all options before having her put down, though. She can be declawed and have her front teeth removed if she bites. It's mean, but better than killing her. You'd have to feed her canned cat food afterward.
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Age1600
Bonita-Azul
Joined: Apr 23, 2007
Age: 23
Posts: 1831
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Rainstorm5 wrote: | | My mother-in-law used to breed cats for show and every once in a while, she'd breed them cousin to cousin in order to bring out certain colors of fur, eye color, etc. One kitten, a white persian she named 'Miss Hemingway,' was born with 6 toes on each of her front paws. Other than that, Miss Hemingway was a beautiful animal. As a kitten, she acted sort of strange in the way you describe your cat Sapphire doing. She played separate from the other kittens and would spend hours attacking her own tail. When the cat grew older, she was very sweet around people she knew (who lived in the house) but if someone came over to visit and they tried to pet her, she'd flip out and come after them, sinking her claws. She had to be put down after she bit a lady hard enough that it left four bleeding holes in the woman's leg. The vet said that Miss Hemingway was probably so inbred that she had a brain abnormality that caused her to attack. Sooner or later, he explained, the cat would even attack its owners if provoked. The same problem might be with your cat. It might be inbred or have some kind of brain damage from birth. There is no cure for it. So, if you're willing to put up with Sapphire's antics, just be forewarned that she might get worse the older she gets. Take her to a vet and see what they think. I'd explore all options before having her put down, though. |
Wow thats interesting, i know her blood line though, the mother had two litters with the same dad which wasnt related to the mother at all. So they werent inbred. Its sorta funny though how she kinda fits in this household, because I'm a lot to handle, then we have my adhd brother, my other weird cat, my touretting adhd brain damaged dog, my two lizards one whom is blind and has an aggression problem, the other whos developmentally delayed lol, and an old dog who walks sideways and walks into walls every now and then lol. Thanks for the info by the way, although I know for sure she isnt inbred, but thats something new I never heard of hmm...
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Dxed Classic Autism(moderate to severe as a child, now moderate to high functioning as an adult) & Dxed Tourette Syndrome...
I'm one ticcing, stimming chica from the Jersey Shore
Being Normal Is Vastly Overrated |
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malithion2
Sea Gull
Joined: Jun 16, 2008
Age: 21
Posts: 207
Location: Albuquerque, NM
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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My cat is similar, I'll be playing with him and all of a sudden he'll get spooked an attack my hand instead of the toy. He also has trouble meowing just how you described in your other cat Roxanne. Have you tried training Sapphire that that behavior is unwanted? As to animals having autism, I like to think any animal with a large enough brain can have thoughts and possible disorders, but I wouldn't say specifically autism. I also heard that cats can act different if they form a tumor or something, and I really hope thats not the case. I hope everything goes well
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DJRnold
Velociraptor
Joined: Jan 25, 2008
Age: 17
Posts: 482
Location: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
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kip
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 14, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 689
Location: Las Vegas NV USA
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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That sounds like my baby girl Anita. She has a serious mental problem with anyone she hasn't included in her 'inner circle'. I'm fine, mum is fine, so is current BF, but she will shred my sister for petting her.
I'm having her tested for thyroid problems soon, as both her and her brother balloned to over 25 pounds before their first birthdays. It's possible the chemical imbalance cause those autie - like symptoms you were describing, cause Anita has always been to smart for her own good. I was able to teach her to climb a ladder to the top of the bunk bed and everything.
But thyroid problems are realitivly inexpensive to test for, so it might be something to consider.
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LadyMacbeth
They made me do it.
Joined: May 28, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 1432
Location: In the girls toilets at Hogwarts, washing the blood off my hands.
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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A lot of cats are like that. The mewing thing where you can't hear them.. they ARE making a sound, it's just that the pitch is so high we can't hear it. All my cats randomly do it.
Some of them make a sound that reminds me of Zoidberg from Futurama when you touch them if they're asleep or dosing.
One of my cats is obsessed with running water, and always wants to go into the bathroom when I'm either having a shower or on the toilet.
Another one has a similar problem to yours with plastic bags. Except she likes urinating on them. That, and leather (which is why we don't leave leather jackets lying around, and we used to have a leather throw over the bed, but she kept weeing on it, and no-one likes a bed that smells of wee!), and she likes doing it in crates and boxes if they're the right way up.
A few of the problems your cat has are probably just from the mixed breeds in her DNA/genes. Some cat breeds are more vicious than others.
Maybe if she is attacking everything and everyone for no reason whatsoever, you should give her to Cats Protection or the equivalent. I've never had a pet that aggressive before, so I can't empathise, but it does sound a bit scary.
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Age1600
Bonita-Azul
Joined: Apr 23, 2007
Age: 23
Posts: 1831
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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| malithion2 wrote: | | My cat is similar, I'll be playing with him and all of a sudden he'll get spooked an attack my hand instead of the toy. He also has trouble meowing just how you described in your other cat Roxanne. Have you tried training Sapphire that that behavior is unwanted? As to animals having autism, I like to think any animal with a large enough brain can have thoughts and possible disorders, but I wouldn't say specifically autism. I also heard that cats can act different if they form a tumor or something, and I really hope thats not the case. I hope everything goes well |
I've tried training her, one time my mother took a newspaper and gently pushed her away like to show her shes doing wrong, and she hit the newspaper and hissed at it lol. We hiss at her all the time, she just stops and goes MMMM and runs off lol. We even sprayed water on her, and she hisses at the water rather then runs. This cat has absolutely NO sense of Fear, I swear! As for the tumor, we've had her checked so many times, shes healthy as a lamb, except has a heart murmer just like me hehehe lol. If it was a tumor, I think I would notice it change like that, but shes been like this since day one so who knows, thanks for the advice though heh.
DJRnold- Thanks for the link, saw the book before, I honestly dont know if Sapphire has autism, has all the traits, if I had to diagnosis her, it would be Moderate PDDNOS, and diagnosis my older cat Roxanne with HFA lol hehehe.
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Dxed Classic Autism(moderate to severe as a child, now moderate to high functioning as an adult) & Dxed Tourette Syndrome...
I'm one ticcing, stimming chica from the Jersey Shore
Being Normal Is Vastly Overrated |
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Age1600
Bonita-Azul
Joined: Apr 23, 2007
Age: 23
Posts: 1831
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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| kip wrote: | That sounds like my baby girl Anita. She has a serious mental problem with anyone she hasn't included in her 'inner circle'. I'm fine, mum is fine, so is current BF, but she will shred my sister for petting her.
I'm having her tested for thyroid problems soon, as both her and her brother balloned to over 25 pounds before their first birthdays. It's possible the chemical imbalance cause those autie - like symptoms you were describing, cause Anita has always been to smart for her own good. I was able to teach her to climb a ladder to the top of the bunk bed and everything.
But thyroid problems are realitivly inexpensive to test for, so it might be something to consider. |
Yea I'll bring the thyroid problem up at the next vet appt thanks, my older greyhound takes meds for her thyroid problem hmm, thanks for that info.
_________________
Dxed Classic Autism(moderate to severe as a child, now moderate to high functioning as an adult) & Dxed Tourette Syndrome...
I'm one ticcing, stimming chica from the Jersey Shore
Being Normal Is Vastly Overrated |
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Age1600
Bonita-Azul
Joined: Apr 23, 2007
Age: 23
Posts: 1831
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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| LadyMacbeth wrote: | A lot of cats are like that. The mewing thing where you can't hear them.. they ARE making a sound, it's just that the pitch is so high we can't hear it. All my cats randomly do it.
Some of them make a sound that reminds me of Zoidberg from Futurama when you touch them if they're asleep or dosing.
One of my cats is obsessed with running water, and always wants to go into the bathroom when I'm either having a shower or on the toilet.
Another one has a similar problem to yours with plastic bags. Except she likes urinating on them. That, and leather (which is why we don't leave leather jackets lying around, and we used to have a leather throw over the bed, but she kept weeing on it, and no-one likes a bed that smells of wee!), and she likes doing it in crates and boxes if they're the right way up.
A few of the problems your cat has are probably just from the mixed breeds in her DNA/genes. Some cat breeds are more vicious than others.
Maybe if she is attacking everything and everyone for no reason whatsoever, you should give her to Cats Protection or the equivalent. I've never had a pet that aggressive before, so I can't empathise, but it does sound a bit scary. |
Yea, I just never had a cat who was soooo weird like her, shes staring at the fan right now doing this weird head thing lol, i swear sometimes I think shes possessed LOL, but anyways thanks for the info on mixed breeds, she is half mainecoon, so maybe its that hmmm. I don't think i would ever give her away, shes too precious to do that, and too close to my heart to let go, but thanks for the info, I'm going to look more into this.
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Dxed Classic Autism(moderate to severe as a child, now moderate to high functioning as an adult) & Dxed Tourette Syndrome...
I'm one ticcing, stimming chica from the Jersey Shore
Being Normal Is Vastly Overrated |
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Spokane_Girl
I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more
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Age: 23
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Location: Benny & Joon town (I wish)
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:07 pm Post subject: |
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I thought all cats are autistic.
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LadyMacbeth
They made me do it.
Joined: May 28, 2007
Age: 21
Posts: 1432
Location: In the girls toilets at Hogwarts, washing the blood off my hands.
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:19 pm Post subject: |
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I think it's more that autistic ppl are a lot like cats.
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srriv345
Velociraptor
Joined: Jul 19, 2006
Age: 21
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| Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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| It all depends on how you define autism. When we talk about cats being autistic in terms of social relations, are we referring to the way cats relate to other cats, or the way they relate to people? I agree that many cats can be awfully similar to autistic people, but this isn't necessarily true of all cats. My beloved childhood cat (who died last year) didn't like other animals, but she simply loved almost all people. She was very affectionate, even to strangers, and loved being in the center of attention. I don't like to see cats stereotyped as withdrawn when that's not always the case, though I can definitely see the general idea behind "all cats have Asperger's Syndrome." |
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9CatMom
Ailurophile
Joined: Jan 02, 2007
Posts: 5554
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 11:02 am Post subject: |
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One of my cats, Peter, gets spooked easily. I have to be careful when I carry him to have him sit at my hip, because if he gets scared at a sudden loud noise and I'm holding him near my face, he could claw me in the nose or ear.
My first Siamese, Samantha was very musical, loved water and had unusual tastes in food, things a cat wouldn't normally eat. Her favorite game was to be pulled around in a box. Samantha passed away in 1999 at the age of 20, and I miss her still. |
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MSO1729
Hummingbird
Joined: Jun 04, 2008
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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My cat is sometimes very affectionate, and sometimes doesn't want me near her.
And she doesn't like anyone else. If someone comes over, she runs into her room, and won't come out, and fights like crazy if I try to bring her out.
She often likes being held, but when she is done, she's done, and then she'll bite if I try to pick her up.
I'm pretty much the same way (although I don't bite), so I just don't worry about it. |
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