She was quite loving and we were able to hold her and pet her. When we brought her home she hid for 8 days. It's been 21 days and she will come out during the day and play with our other kitten, but won't let us near her. We can play with her with her toys, talk to her, but she is so spooked if we get more than 2 feet nearer to her. Isn't 3 weeks enough time to adjust? What else can we do? We're worried we won't be able to catch her to get her shots. I tryed picking her up when she was in the closet and got scratched up pretty bad. She seems happy just being close to the other kitten. She is a sweet kitten and we just love her from a far.
2006-09-22 09:33:46 · 13 answers · asked by Hedicat 3 in Pets ➔ Cats
when you lest expect it, she will warm up to you. just give her time. she is wondering how long she will be with you before she is moved again. keep in mind, she has been thru alot in 7 short months. whatever you do, don't try to make her sit in your lap or hold her against her will, it will only make her more leary of you. it will happen in time. it took me 4 months to touch a stray that someone left at my house. now he won't let me out of his sight.
2006-09-22 12:11:00 · answer #1 · answered by jenms2000 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dreamkill has excellent suggestions and they are pretty drastic. I was always told to separate feral kittens I was fostering and never had the heart to do it. Toughness may pay off here for you.
The only other thing I would suggest to you is getting some Rescue Remedy from a health foods store. It costs around $20 at most. It is for emotional healing and reducing fears and anxieties. It's entirely benign and cannot hurt the kitten in anyway. It can be put in her water or mixed into wet food. It is presevred in brandy however and cats don't care for the taste. If at all possible put three or four drops (after shaking the bottle well) on the fur between her ears. Wrap her in a towel to pick her up. You need to use it frequently as it is not as potent as a
drug. She probably won't notice it in her water and then cats don't drink much water either, so it's best to get it on her body even if you have to kind of "throw" it at her, not in a scary sort of way.
You can also go to www.spiritessence.com and get some of Dr. Jean Hovfe's "Scaredy Cat". It will have some of the Bach essences in it plus other stuff Dr. Hovfe has concocted. That's $16.95 and comes with instructions and no shipping, handling or taxes. It probably would take a week to get it.
I wish I had known of these things ten years ago for my Amber who must have been severely abused before I got her at around seven months of age. She is still a scaredy cat and gets absolutely catatonic when I pick her up or she is at the vet's. We have a loving relationship and I do get to pet her every day but she will not stay in my lap for more than two minutes.
So heal your kitten now before it is too late.
2006-09-22 17:45:13 · answer #2 · answered by old cat lady 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
My family once adopted a cat who was very sweet at the shelter but upon arriving home went into hiding for a week. In the end though he learned to trust us and was a very loving cat.
Cats can be VERY slow to adjust. It sounds like your little one has had a rough life thus far. Since she likes your other cat that is half the battle. If possible let her see you being affectionate with your other cat. Also she may start to pick up on your sent coming off the other cat. Finally hopefully she will begin to see you as a food source. Just be paitient.
Finally, do keep in mind that some cats are more people oriented than others. She may be quite shy for a long time, but my guess is that sooner or later she'll come around. Good job on saving her and giving her a loving home!
2006-09-22 17:17:13 · answer #3 · answered by danl747 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I just adopted 3 kittens from the shelter. One last Saturday who has already adjusted, and the other 2 this past Tuesday. One of them is doing great, the other bolts whenever we come near her. All three are around 8 weeks old or so. Three weeks is an awfully long time in my opinion. However, she was in two shelters, and most likely did not receive much human contact. I would contact your vet and ask his/her opinion. Cats do things in their time when they're ready, but I'm sure you're becoming frustrated. I wish you all the best. Hopefully she'll warm up to her human family soon!
2006-09-22 16:39:12 · answer #4 · answered by serenadepoms 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a cat who only lets us pet him once a month or so. When we initially brough him home, we didnt see him at all for darn near 2 weeks.
Our vet gave us suggestion after suggestion, we tried everything. Finally our vet told us we either needed to put him to sleep (which I thought was stupid, he loves our other cats, and is well behaved and healthy) or just let him be. My vet told us some cats can be socialized, other cats just refuse...
We just let him be, we know he has food, water, clean litter, plenty of toys, and loves being with the other cats. We just kind of let him be.
When shot/exam time comes, We place the carrier in the middle of the room, (the other cats are locked up) and he'll go inside, because it's a new place to hide...
2006-09-22 17:18:43 · answer #5 · answered by Nikki T 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sounds like you have a feral. The key is to use food. Your whole family of cats will have to help on this one. Do not leave food out. Get some wet cat food. (get used to having wet food every day for awhile). Do not feed any of your cats for at least one day, two is better. Approach the new kitten with wet food on a spoon (preferably one of those long ice tea spoons. Beware, you may need a rubber glove because the cat will try to claw the spoon. ONLY let the cat eat what you spoon feed it. Then, after it is full, feed your other cat's whatever they normally eat. When they are done, PUT THE FOOD AWAY AGAIN. You are bonding with the new cat and keeping your other cats from beating up on it when you are not around.
Again:
1. Fast all cats (Not water, just food) for two days.
2 . Offer new cat wet food on spoon.
3. Let new cat eat all it wants ONLY off the spoon.
4. Feed other cat's as normal.
5. Pick up food.
This makes YOU the alpha cat, and what YOU say goes.
2006-09-22 16:45:28 · answer #6 · answered by NoPoaching 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
As a shelter volunteer for over 2 years, I can say that you've gone about bringing her into your home all wrong. She's now learned that hiding and finding comfort in her kind is just fine. What you need to do at this point is isolate her to a cage. Put the cage in a medium traffic spot in the house ( where y'all spend some decent amount of time ). Put her food water and litter in the cage. ( u can borrow or rent one from any shelter so long as they know what you are doing ) Don't let her out of the cage, only play with her in it, and go slowly. She's a tad feral from the sounds of it, and as a feral handler, slow movement = building of trust . At this point, you really need to build up her trust of humans. She's lost 90% of it. Getting her used to you guys, will take about a week to 2, and after that you can purchase a cat harness, (with the build up of trust it wont be hard to get on her) and let her out AROUND the cage, not the whole house with the harness on. Don't let go of the harness just yet, just hold it while she sniffs around, and yeah she'll probably try to escape or run- but just bring her close to you and work on the trust. After about a week of that (assuming her progress is good) you can let her have run of the house WITH the harness on, she she is easy to get if she scatters and hides. Always at night put her back in the cage. You'll need at least a month with her in a cage, so that she can establish comfort with trusting you guys. If you have any questions , feel free to contact me. Good Luck.
2006-09-22 16:53:45 · answer #7 · answered by dreamkillerkitten 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
What I do with kittens and cats is to sit down where they can see me, but turn my back to them and ignore them -- read a book or do something else quiet. Cats by nature are curious so she will start coming up to sniff you. Give her a little treat then, a bit of canned cat food or something like that (there are some great soft-chew cat treats in resealable bags available). At first you will need to set it down a foot or two from you, but over time place them closer and closer to you and then finally make her have to take it from your fingers. Eventually she will get the idea that you are OK, and you will have established yourself as the "mother figure" who provides food.
My black male shorthair now waits outside for me to come home at night, runs in with me, and purs in my lap through the whole evening (then sleeps in the bed snuggled up to me all night). You'd never guess it now, but he was a stray injured kitten hiding under a bush when I found him -- it took me over a week to get hold of him the first time, and then he fought like mad at first. But I could tell he needed care so I stuck to my guns with him. He was VERY unhappy being a house cat for another week or two after that, but consistent attention when HE wanted it turned him around.
2006-09-22 16:54:56 · answer #8 · answered by Mustela Frenata 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
talk to a vet there might be a shot you can give her for anxiety and being scarred. Maybe she has a physological problem being in two different shelters. I have a kitten that is scarred of different noices. Maybe she just needs to be forced to be picked up. I picked up my cat and I talk to them, it major helped my kittens to adjust to an new environment. Check out your local pet store.
2006-09-22 16:41:35 · answer #9 · answered by jakielf 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My friend had a cat like that, it took alot of patience but what they did was every time they played with him they would pet him quickly when he was occupied, it took a long time but eventually he became more loving and didnt run away. He was still very skittish but it worked, took them about 2 months of "play petting" every day but in the end he got more loveable.
2006-09-22 17:08:08 · answer #10 · answered by Kelly + Eternal Universal Energy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋