I went in, pulled her out and held her. She was not gruffing or nipping at me anymore when I went to grab her, but she still cowered.
She's started to get better about being held, but would still try to claw her way over my left arm to get away.
I gave her some food and water, and I put her little poops inside the litter box. She ate a bit of solid food, the first time she's eaten since she got home. She had completely shredded apart her newspaper playing with it, so I put down puppy pads instead later in the crate. She's loves that striped shirt though, she will go hide in either that shirt or on top of the cat tower whenever she gets scared, or even the litter box.
Even though she doesn't want to be held she starts crying again when I leave the room.
I stayed in the room for awhile, then once she seemed sleepy I left to go sleep on the couch.
She's started to get better about being held, but would still try to claw her way over my left arm to get away.
I gave her some food and water, and I put her little poops inside the litter box. She ate a bit of solid food, the first time she's eaten since she got home. She had completely shredded apart her newspaper playing with it, so I put down puppy pads instead later in the crate. She's loves that striped shirt though, she will go hide in either that shirt or on top of the cat tower whenever she gets scared, or even the litter box.
Even though she doesn't want to be held she starts crying again when I leave the room.
I stayed in the room for awhile, then once she seemed sleepy I left to go sleep on the couch. Perhaps I should have called her Scooter, because she crawled around and scooted around on her belly to get wherever she wants to go. From the corner to the food dish she slid across the bottom of the crate.
About six hours later I woke up, and went into my room. She was awake, and no longer gruffing at me, which was pretty exciting.
I figured it was time to clean out her crate. I dumped the litter into a plastic bag and put it in the garbage. I let her out to explore my room some more while I continued to clean, picking up the newspaper and laying down pads, re adjusting where the tower and litter box were, and I gave her some water, but no food. I plan on trying to get her on the bottle, which I have offered it to her twice this morning with little luck.
As she was exploring, she started to head towards an area I didn't want her to be in. I grabbed her. She got scared and bit me, breaking the skin. However, this was my fault as I should have known better than to just scoop her up without warning, as coming from above can make her think it is a raptor picking her up for a little fox treat.
I put her in her crate, where she gruffed angrily at me. I gruffed back rather loudly. She then stopped gruffing herself and stared at me like she was surprised!
I left her alone to cool off for awhile, but around 11 am I came back with a bottle. I reached in an grabbed her. She gruffed at me, but once she was in my lap she was shockingly calm, sitting there and letting me pet her. She wasn't trying to get away, but just sat there, no clawing, no climbing over my arm. She gruffed once or twice, but it was a few little notes and not a full blown temper tantrum. I pet her, and she looked up at me. I'm really quite surprised. I did offer her the bottle but she was uninterested
Once I put her back in, she kept gruffing at me, but didn't flinch, jump away or cower when I reached in to correct her puppy pad which she had started to turn over.I suppose this is progress - as she is not scrambling to get away when I hold and isn't flinching and jumping back as nearly as badly as she was. She's also stopped mouthing me. But she is back to the gruffing/bluffing with me.
Consistency and babysteps are what I need. I've talked with other fox owners and lot of them said their babies had very similar behavior - sweet and affectionate on the ride home, then standoffish and stressed when they got home. After a few days they cooled off. So hopefully Miehiera will do the same
I also must say it feels almost wrong to call her Miehiera. She seems to wild right now to have a name. I think when she's tame enough she will have earned it, but for now it feels sort of wrong.
As far as the stink goes, lighting a candle or two really helps. I am no longer overwhelmed by the smell when I go in, but it does stink around her change, not surprisingly.
Unfortunately our two video cameras are dead and I can't find the chargers. My phone is also dead and the charger has been lost for awhile.
Unfortunately our two video cameras are dead and I can't find the chargers. My phone is also dead and the charger has been lost for awhile.
My camera doesn't take video just pictures. So, no videos for awhile.
I leave you with this adorable picture of her sleeping in the litter box, where she is right now.
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