KNOWN HISTORY:: Riccola was brought in as a stray, there is no known information on her behavior history in a home environment. There is a scratch history that occurred in shelter, please see "Potential Challenges" for more information.

ENRICHMENT NOTES:: 4/25/26 ACFR Riccola is crouched in her den in a loafed position. When the den cover is lifted, she stands slightly and stares at handler, then settles back down. She quickly eats squeeze up on scratcher tool, purring softly and occasionally pausing to slow blink at handler. When petting is attempted with tool, she begins growling loudly and presses himself against the far side of the den. She raises her paw up but does not strike, allowing the tool to be removed. She then returns to eating squeeze up with a tense body and flicking tail tip. 4/29/26 FB09 Riccola was lying in her den, eyes dilated, in a loaf position. Upon opening the den, she began hissing, then quickly stopped to sniff the treats being offered to her. She showed no further interest in the treats, paws remaining tucked under her body with her tail curled around it, but she slowly warmed up to the handler's presence, her eyes beginning to narrow and soften. 4/30/26 UTW, allowed brief petting with the scratcher tool along the head while she remains crouched on top of the den. Sneezed throughout and ignored offered treats. 5/1/26 FB09 Riccola was lying in her den, tail loose and eyes narrow. When the handler began approaching, her eyes began to dilate as her whiskers pulled back, but once the handler offered treats, her eyes narrowed again as her whiskers returned forward and she began licking up the treats. When the handler transitioned to petting along her cheek with the click stick, she slowly backed up, but did not squirm away as her eyes remained narrow. 5/3/26 FB09 Riccola was lying on top of her den, her eyes soft and neutral. She leaned forward when offered squeeze-ups, her eyes narrowing, eagerly licking them up while returning slow blinks. When the handler slowly transitioned to petting along her head with the click stick, she squinted and and leaned down, accepting some brief head pets before eventually slowly backing away. 5/8/26 FB09 Riccola was lying on top of her den, her eyes dilated and ears upright. She leaned forward to sniff the treats offered to her and started licking them up, returning slow blinks with the handler. When the handler transitioned to head pets, she remained calm, accepting the pets while finishing her treats. She eventually started to back up slowly when she heard some commotion outside. 5/9/26 Vol. Riccola was in her den. I offered her squeeze-up on a tongue depressor, and she immediately ate it. I closed the den portal to replace her litter box, which was soaked and had poop (I did this before I realized that she had a litter box monitoring sheet - noting here there her poop was a score 2). I could hear her hissing in the den when I put down the new litter box, but she showed no signs of aggression when I opened the den portal. I gave her a bit more squeeze-up and then put forth my finger for her to sniff. At that point she gave me a light swat; so, I ended the interaction. Continued in GAN

ACTIVITY LEVEL:: Lively

VOCAL:: Quiet

CHARACTER TYPE: : Bold,Sweet,Curious,Independent

POTENTIAL CHALLENGES:: Overstimulation,Rough play,Fearful,New home adjustment period

Potential challenges comments:: Riccola has a scratch history. Riccola's kennel was being cleaned when she swatted at the handler. Riccola was moving slowly toward from the top cubby when she jumped down and swatted at the handler continuously, resulting in a small wound on the handlers left hand. Riccola is social and affectionate but appears to be easily overstimulated. As a result of this observed behavior, we recommend adopters who are familiar with signs of behavioral arousal and agitation in cats, so that interactions can be ended before Riccola becomes overstimulated. We also recommend fishing pole-type toys for play as they allow for interaction and vigorous, stimulating exercise while keeping human hands at a distance. Riccola should be given a slow introduction to the home, one room at a time starting in a small room like a bathroom with food, litter and water, because of behaviors seen at the Care Center [initially fearful and easily overstimulated] strongly suggest that she will hide if allowed. Interact with her in this room until she seems sufficiently confident that you feel you can introduce her to the next part of the home without running the risk that she will hide. Please speak to an adoption counselor for additional information on methods to help introduce your cat to the home. *At the care center, Riccola's litter box observation log was filled out and it indicates she has no problems using it throughout her 2wks stay.

BEHAVIOR DETERMINATION: : Level 3

RECOMMENDATIONS:: Adult only home

BEHAVIOR SUMMARY:: 05/06/26 Riccola was crouched in her den, eyes dilated and paws tucked close to her body. When offering squeeze-up treats, she cautiously inched forward, sniffing the treats. She began licking them up, eyes softening as she returned slow blinks to the handler. When the handler slowly transitioned to gentle pets along Riccola's head with their hand, she remained calm, still crouched at the front of the den licking up remaining treats while accepting some gentle petting. 06/06/26 Riccola was perched on the ledge of her kennel with neutral eyes and forward ears. She eagerly came forward to eat the treats offered to her while accepting some head pets. After finishing her treats, she briefly pulled away from pets, her eyes dilating and her paw raising. Due to this, pick up was not attempted but instead the handler used a feather toy to play with her. She followed the toy around, grabbing for it playfully and rolled around with it once she caught the toy. 6/18/26 Ricolla was perched on top of her den with dilated eyes and upright ears. She sniffs scratcher tool and begins head bunting and leaning in for cheek pets. She hops down from the den to greet the assessor with a high tail. Her skin twitches when pet along her body and tail begins to sway slowly but there is no further escalation. When the kennel door is closed she paws through the bars softly. Riccola tolerates attention and petting but can get easily overstimulated. She may be a little more independent and may need time to warm up to her new home. Due to the behaviors seen in the care center, we feel that this cat will do best in an experienced, adult only home.