Most cats "shy phase" depends on why they're shy. She's either shy because she's in an unfamiliar place, which means it won't last long, or shy because she's afraid of you, in the stray cat sense. You can try to coax her out by giving her treats or food, then back away until she comes out to eat it. It'll be nice if you can stay within her sight, so she can get used to the fact that you won't attack her.
Scratching her collar is normal, but if it bothers you or if she's really scratching it raw, I advise something like Advantage or Frontline. They're liquids, so you just squeeze it onto their nape and wait for it to dry. There's less expensive generic type ones too.
If you leave her alone, try to leave her in a single well ventilated room with the door closed. Also, leave a toy or two, like a small ball or the feather duster type ones. As long as she has access to food water and litter she'll probably be fine, especially since she's not too fond of you yet anyways.
Toxoplasmosis you get from handling their waste, so just wash your hands after you play around their litterbox.
As long as your cat is scared and hiding I recommend not moving her stuff from where it is, or better yet, moving everything to a single low-traffic room, like your bedroom. Let's them get used to a small area without feeling overwhelmed by the space, getting lost, etc. I also recommend getting a covered litterbox: it helps a bit with the smell since most of them have filters on, and it stops them from throwing the litter everywhere. It also means she likely won't try to run and scatter piss everywhere if you walk by. Privacy and all.
Of course you both need to be comfortable with clipping nails. Or you can use a spray bottle and loud noise. They're very good cat deterrents, although you'll want to be a bit sneaky and pretend it wasn't you so they don't associate you with punishment.
Scratching her collar is normal, but if it bothers you or if she's really scratching it raw, I advise something like Advantage or Frontline. They're liquids, so you just squeeze it onto their nape and wait for it to dry. There's less expensive generic type ones too.
If you leave her alone, try to leave her in a single well ventilated room with the door closed. Also, leave a toy or two, like a small ball or the feather duster type ones. As long as she has access to food water and litter she'll probably be fine, especially since she's not too fond of you yet anyways.
Toxoplasmosis you get from handling their waste, so just wash your hands after you play around their litterbox.
As long as your cat is scared and hiding I recommend not moving her stuff from where it is, or better yet, moving everything to a single low-traffic room, like your bedroom. Let's them get used to a small area without feeling overwhelmed by the space, getting lost, etc. I also recommend getting a covered litterbox: it helps a bit with the smell since most of them have filters on, and it stops them from throwing the litter everywhere. It also means she likely won't try to run and scatter piss everywhere if you walk by. Privacy and all.
Buy her nail covers. I get them from petsmart, they're like little silicon-ish nail moulds that you glue over their nails. When they're on the cat can try to scratch, but no damage. I only put them on my cat's front nails, so she can still climb (jumping up on my high bed, scaling bookcases...) and fight (should she ever get out of the house or if the dog's playing rough).AndyFromMonday said:
[link]http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4033287[/link]
