How do you work with a violently shy cat?

Question

I recently adopted two brother cats to keep my 2 year old female company. I was drawn to one of them immensely, but the other brother was spooked and shy. The lady said that I couldn't adopt one singly, so, after receiving reassurances from the volunteers at the shelter that the shy brother would open up quickly, I brought them home.

I've quarantined them in a room of my house with all the necessities. I've kept my first cat on the other side of the door. After a day of having them separate, I placed my old cat in the room. The kittens were curious, but my old cat went ballistic. I took a few scratches from her taking her out. I'm following the advice of the websites and introducing gradually, but two things aren't working: the old cat and new kittens are not getting along at all, and the painfully shy kitten is painfully, violently shy. If I approach her bed area at all, she darts away, lashes out, hisses, spits. What do I do?

Had a run-in with shy one last night. He got his collar caught on the radiator; I approached very slowly and spoke in a soft measured voice and tried to extricate him. He totally flipped out, clawed my arms, hands and legs, and then worked his way out and dashed away.

I guess my primary concern is that I do very much want to care for these critters, and am prepared to take my time with it, but I also (as per someone's suggestion below) want to give them a real chance-- which could mean adopting them out as a pair to another (catless) person, or returning them to the no-kill shelter to give them another chance. But I obviously don't want to give up just yet.

Answer 1

Kitten is just scared. Sounds like it's been thru a lot. Going from one house to a shelter to yours. Cats have emotions like humans and this kitten is obviously scared. She probably feels threatened by the other cats, especially you're old cat. The older cat is more then likely letting them know this is his territory so watch out. To get the little kitten less shy, try getting it to come to you with food/tuna/ham/etc. See if she comes or not. Or else try keeping it seperate from you're older cats and leave the two new kittens to themselves. See how she reacts to just the new one. Let her get use to her new home. Once she gets use to it and wants to wander around the house, try introducing her to others then. Btw you need more then one cat litter box. One won't be enough now.

Answer 2

I think you have had some good advice, slow down on the introductions - give it a few weeks, and above all, give your girl as much reassurance and affection as you can, she's gonna feel like you are a bit of a traitor for a while! I suggest brushing her with a brush, and then using the same brush on the kittens, then on her - this mixes their smells up, also - you can take their sleeping blanket and put it on a favourite nap spot of your girl's, so she smells them a lot. you can also try putting a drop of vanilla essence onto each of their noses, this way, they all smell the same! What I did, and quite successfully is to only let them see each other when it's feeding time. So start feeding your girl outside the new babies door, gradually, you can have the door open between them (put up a see-through barrier) and feed the kittens at the same times on the other side. Eventually, you should be able to feed them without the barrier, and gradually you can move their bowls closer and closer together, until they are eating next to one another. Why this works is that they associate the presence of the other cat/s with a positive experience! Also, most cats will ignore just about anything if there is food involved. If your old kitty is difficult, you could take away the pellets that you leave out all day, so that she has a keen hunger driving her when it's breakfast or dinner time!

As far as the shy kitty is concerned. I once got two kittens who were terrified of my hands for a good few weeks, they would run and hide, but if i snuck up on them when they were sleeping, and stroked them etc, they loved it. It took them a while to associate the pleasantness with my hands! I would reccommend leaving a radio on in the room, so that he gets used to human voices when you aren't there. Let them sleep on a shirt of yours that hasn't been washed. Invest in a lazer pointer and play with them like that, this will also help tire out the quiet one, and perhaps you can try what i did, sneak up on him when he's alseep and pet him! Also, pet the brother as much as possible so that your smell is all over him, this will help the quiet one get used to you!

It does take a different amount of time with all cats to adjust, but your girl is still young and I think she will come around, as will your quiet boy - you just have to wait for the lightbulb to "click" inside him - once he realises you are good!

Answer 3

I have a 12 yr. old lady cat. We adopted her when she had been abandoned because she was pregnant. When she had the kittens (3) , she was a good mom but when they were old enough , she didn't want anything else to do with them. A neighbor adopted 1 of them & after a generation or 2 of kittens, we adopted back 1 of her great-grandsons. She hated him & even dribbled his poor little head on the floor. She eventually learned to tolerate him but when he got older, there was always a power struggle with them. She was not social with anyone except my husband & me. We adopted another great-grandson a couple of yrs. later & while she wasn't thrilled, she didn't treat him nearly as badly. Anyway, when my husband & I separated, he took the boys & I kept her. They all are doing much better than they ever did together. She loves being an only cat. She is a wonderful friend & companion as long as she doesn't have to share me with another pet. That's just how some kitties are. The intrduction needs to be slow. The carrier idea is a good one. They can get used to each other's smell, looks etc. before they're physically introduced.

Answer 4

Your old cat is understandably upset that she has to share her house with these new kittens. By the way, to prevent getting scratched pick your cat up by the nape of the neck - she won't be able to do anything and it doesn't hurt her.

We tried to introduce a kitten to our older cat - for 3 months they fought and couldn't get along - it was so bad we had to give the kitten away. The only time I hear introducing a new cat actually works is if the cats are close to the same age... And even then it might not work - cuz cats can be very territorial...

Good luck in what ever you decide to do.

Answer 5

I adopted a family of cats with a pregnant mama after neighbors abandoned them. All accepted me and my other cats accepted them after a while. A month after I started feeding them, Mama Cat had kittens. She hid them til they were 5 1/2 weeks old. 1 was attacked by a raccoon and lost a hind leg. He had to be kept away from other cats for 10 days in case of rabies and I spoiled him rotten during that time. Since his brother could socialize with other cats, I gave him less attention but still played with him. However, he has never liked me. I think he really hated me at times. But now he is beginning to accept me little by little. He and his spoiled brother will be 3 years old 9/6. The point being, give shy kitten time and don't give up. Cats are more accepting that people are, even if they take their own sweet time. Kayne has been my baby for 3 years and Able is just beginning to like me. But I never gave up on his acceptance and now it's paying off. Patience and good luck.

Answer 6

To introduce the new kittens, it really works to introduce them one at a time, and to put them in a cage, so that the other cat can approach them and not the other way around. The older cat can feel threatened by the younger ones, so this helps her to prove that she is the one in charge. The violently shy kitten may act like that for awhile. I have three cats. the middle one was violently shy until recently and shy is now six years old. It helps if you make sure that no one makes her feel threatened and that things can't jump out and scare her. You could try to take the other cats out and let her explore the house on her own for awhile.

Answer 7

I'd give it more time (like a few weeks), but if there's no progress, I'd adopt the kitties out while they're still young. I just adopted a shy cat myself, but he's the only one in the household. Why did you feel like your cat needed company? Cats do well on their own without playmates. If you think these male kittens aren't going to work for you, don't wait forever to give them to someone else because a lot of older cats are harder to adopt out. I'd just go on a site like craigslist and give the pair away (as in keep them together) and next time, by your female cat a toy.. don't bring home a "friend"!

Answer 8

I would contact the shelter right away and explain what is happening with the very shy cat. A large shelter will have a behaviorist, volunteer or paid staff. Someone SHOULD help you. You went along with their insistance that you take both cats and I feel that they are obligated to give you support and advice.

If you go to www.spiritessence.com you can get a bottle of Dr. Jean Hovfe's Scaredy Cat for the shy, hissing one. That costs $16.95, no shipping, handling or taxes. The bottle will be mailed to you with instructions as to use. You might consider trying New Beginnings on your older cat who would be easier to treat.
So for $34 total you will get something that will work for the cats.

You just shake the bottle very thoroughly and put three to four drops on your cat's fur between her ears. You treat as many times a day as you can, at least three to four times for a week or ten days.

Since you may not be able to touch the shy, hissing cat right now you can just put a few drops on a washcloth and put it near the place where he wants to hide out. I would "refresh" it with drops several times a day.

These essences have been used for over a century to help people and animals overcome emotional issues and they will help these cats.

Answer 9

I had been feeding a wild cat for about 3 months before it would even come near me outside. In Feb I brought it in my house and I have 2 dogs. I kept her in a quiet downstairs bathroom for 3-4 days to make sure she used the litter box. She hid the entire time. I then brought her upstairs in an empty bedroom. I kept the door shut and let my dogs sniff under the door for about 2 weeks. Then the third week I put up a baby gate and let them sniff through the gate. They all love each other. All sleep together. But, my kitty is soooo shy that she will not come out when anyone comes to my house. She will raise her lip in fear if she thinks you are going to put her in an unsafe (or environment she doesn't like) environment. But when our home is just home..no interference from outsiders..she is the best kitty every. Sweet and loving..just insanely shy. I don't think a couple of days is enough. Really you little one has to learn to trust. Your older one may never like it but should come around. Give them alot more time.

Answer 10

Cats are social creatures and that includes with you. The key to solving the problem is the brother that is not shy. For now, keep the cats seperated. Spend as much time as you can with the non-shy brother kitten. Once he is used to interacting with you alot, his brother should come to accept you. Spend time alternately with the kittens and then your old cat, so that they can get used to smelling eachother on you. Then, you can introduce them to some limited contact with each other while you are present (don't let them be together when you are not around, yet). They will eventually become comfortable with each other through their link with you and you can let them be together. This will be easier for the kittens than for the older cat. Cats aren't usually comfortable around other cats that aren't mates or siblings. They become comfortable because of the shared bond with their owners.