KNOWN HISTORY:: Previously lived with: 2 adults Behavior toward strangers: Isabella is shy around new people and will hide, if she is unable to hide, she will hiss when attempted to be handled. Behavior toward children: Isabella has no experience with children. Behavior toward cats: Isabella has met another cat one time and hissed/swatted due to not having the proper decompression/introduction period. Behavior toward dogs: Isabella has no experience with dogs. Bite or Scratch history: No known bite/scratch history. Litter box training: She has used an automatic litterbox in the past with unscented litter. Energy level/descriptors: medium Other notes: Isabella is a shy cat that prefers contact on her own terms. She likes to spend most of her time lounging in the living room and observing. Isabella hides in fear and will take a while to warm up but once she does, Isabella is a tolerant and independent cat. Upon intake Isabella was hissing/growling/lunging at staff when attempt to transfer out of carrier. No further handling was done.

ENRICHMENT NOTES:: 3/13/26 Fb58 In den and sitting hunched with a slightly tense face and body, wide eyes - but begins to hiss, growl, and lunge when the cage door is opened. I give her a moment to settle and slowly scooch her Squeeze up treat enrichment cup to the portal opening and she begins to sniff the air. When she pokes her head out to begin to eat, I click to mark her poking her head out and eating in front of me. She allows me to refill the squeeze up and even eats from the tube. She hisses once in this time. After the interaction, I check and lift the curtain and she is still eating from the cup. 3/17/26 FB06 As I slowly lifted the kennel cover, Isabella was low growling, Lunging, hissing and swatting the glass. Her ears we flat and eyes wide. I lift the cage cover so she can watch my movements. She is now crouched alongside the den, her eyes are still wide. As I open the door she remains alongside the den. I offer her the scratcher very slowly and she curiously sniffs. I attempt to pet her head but she backs away further into the corner. I then place some dry treats in front of her using the scratcher. She curiously sniffs them then starts to eat them I attempt to pet her again with the scratcher but she hisses and darts to the cubby. When I removed the scratcher, she came back to the main area and finished the treats. 3/21/26 FB79 Isabella is inside of her den when i lifted the kennel cover. She had a slightly tense body with her shoulders inward; when i opened the kennel door and greeted her she hissed harshly and started to back into the den. She continued on hissing and when i used the tool to try and pet she reached out swatting and striking the tool with force. After a few moments of speaking to her softly, i attempted petting again but she still reached out and attempted to swat. 3/23/26 FB61 Lying in front of kennel, body and face relaxed with her pupils dilated and her ears forward. She is vocalizing softly as I make my way around the room. I step to the front of her kennel and I speak to her softly. She continues to vocalize and she begins rolling back and forth. She is tolerant of petting while rolling back and forth with energy! Wow what an improvement! She does appear to be in heat however, later on I see that she is back-peddling and chirping. She is spayed. She spends the entire time I’m in the room rolling back and forth. 3/27/26 FB61 Lying in cat den, body and face neutral with her ears forward and her pupils dilated. She watches the wand toy curiously and plays with the toys I give her. She leans in for all petting with the scratcher tool, her eyes alert and her face slightly tensed. She appears to be fine when using the scratcher tool for now. 4/01/26 FB61 Isabella is no longer in heat. Today she was hunched in the back of her kennel with her face and body tense, tail wrapped tightly. I lift the den cover and she hisses and grumbles. I speak to her softly and I end the session when she slow-blinks. -GAN

ACTIVITY LEVEL:: Subdued

VOCAL:: Quiet

CHARACTER TYPE: : Bold,Shy ,Timid,Skittish,Independent

POTENTIAL CHALLENGES:: Fearful,New home adjustment period

Potential challenges comments:: Isabella is noted to be a fearful and shy cat that when given time toa adjust, is a tolerant and independent cat but will spend time out lounging in the living room and observing her surroundings. When she is unable to hide and cannot is not handled on her terms she will hiss and may escalate to defensive aggression. In shelter, with some High FAS cats, when the den cover remains on the den - not being able to see staff approach results in a major and immediate escalation to defensive aggression (hard swats from inside the den or lunging). When the den cover is removed and they are given time to settle, are able to see the room around them as well as staff as they approach (as well as the comfort of a cage cover), they begin to decompress and settle into their cage more. These cat then either had their dens turned so that they could peak through the den portal first and see what was approaching, or had the den cover removed to allow a higher visual on staff entering into the cage. With time, these highly reactive and defensively fractious cats began to spend more time out of the den and would settle into the space more appropriately. They would respond to socialization attempts, and in some cases over time, would approach and accept touch/pets/or would eat treats out of the behavior staff's hands. Isabella's cage set-up was adjusted on [3/11/26] in order to see if it would assist in helping her decompress as they otherwise seemed to not be adjusting well in a shelter setting. She initially had no cage cover and had a den cover placed, and would quickly reach out of the den and attempt to swat whenever the cage door was opened and would swat harshly at tools used to close her den portal. Behavior Staff altered the set up to then have a cage cover [3/11/26] and removed the den cover, after a few repeated observed cases of cats with previously fearful behavior outside of the shelter. 4/4/26 While initially suspected to be spayed upon intake by the medical team, Isabella began to display signs of being in heat and due to this showed significant improvements in behavior and willingness to interact with behavior staff, solicit attention, and appreciate pets. Upon being examined again by the medical team, no spay scar was noted and due to her age she has received a permanent waiver from surgery at the care center. It should be noted that Isabella presents with significant changes in sociability due to these hormone changes while she is in heat and as she comes out of heat, may be more easy to trigger back to her fractious behaviors.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION: : Level 4

RECOMMENDATIONS:: No other cats OR multi-cat home with adopters experienced with introducing new cats,Adult only home

Recommendations comments:: Adult only home and home with experience in introducing cats due to previous home notes; PLEASE SEE 'KNOWN HISTORY' ABOVE.

BEHAVIOR SUMMARY:: 3/8/26 Inside of the den, Isabella is hissing and can be heard striking the den door when the kennel is opened; she has wide eyes, flat ears and a tense stance when the den cover is lifted. Isabella continues to hiss harshly and when the assessor held out the tool near the den door she reached out striking with force and forward away from the assessor towards the back corner. When petting was conducted she snapped back and bit onto the tool before swatting multiple times while stress meowing and grumbling. Isabella did not tolerate any petting when the tool was run down her back and around her body - she continued to strike the tool and started to drag the tool into the den after biting once more. 3/12/26 Upon meeting with Isabella again and adjusting her cage and den set up, she began to display a softer face and body, however remains tense and wary as she continued to hiss and would swat at scratcher tools that were offered out. On approach, she was in her den and hidden from view. She could not be coaxed out and began to hiss and growl when the cage door was opened. When the assessor offered the scratcher tool out to her near the den portal opening, she swats at the tool and hisses again. The assessor then removes the den cover in order to see her and she sits with a tense face and body, eyes wide and dilated and ears tilted, before she lunges. With time and as she is spoken to softly, she sits tensely loafed, eyes wide, and lip licks. The assessor offers her some squeeze up from the tube through one of the holes in the side of the den, and she leans forward to eat it quickly - even sniffing at the tube and almost eating directly from there. She appears to have potential to at least warm up somewhat in the shelter environment with the help of treats, and after some time, her pupils are no longer dilated. Pick up is still not attempted due to behavior. Isabella is not open to interaction at this time and does not currently tolerate petting or handling. Because her previous owner reports she is chooses to hide in fear and avoid interaction in a home environment, instead of actively aggress and if unable to actively hide she escalates to hissing when her boundaries are not respected by strangers, we believe the behavior seen in the care center is due to defensive aggression related to not being able to avoid interactions and remove herself from the environment and is shelter-specific and this cat would make a great although independent pet, but is really struggling in the shelter environment. This cat is suitable for adopters with previous cat experience who are willing to work with an independent cat who needs time and patience to help her adjust to their new home and who are comfortable with a cat who may be independent and enjoys lounging in a common space and observing but may not necessarily approach for pets.