First Kitten

Hi everyone!

Well, I just recently got my first kitten. When I was very young, my family had just one adult cat that we had gotten from a family friend when her daughter began showing signs of allergies. Tinkerbell was very stuck up and was not interested in cuddling, playing, and she didn't even want us to pet her much.

Now I've got my own kittie, and I'm afraid for her to turn out like that one. I assume that if I play with her as a kitten, she'll remain a playful or social adult cat. The only problem with that is that since we've gotten her on Friday she won't come out of hiding. She finally ate a decent amount last night as I was sleeping, but went back to her favorite hiding spot above the duct-work in the basement. I can see her and know that she is ok - and she has been coming out to use the litterbox - without any accidents. So what now? Do I just wait until she comes out on her own? This won't affect her level of social anxiety as an adult will it?

Any suggestions to a first time kittie owner would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

Your kitten hiding is prefectly normal. She is in a new environment and she is scared. Just wait for her to come out. Be patient. It may take as long as a couple weeks but when she feels comfortable she will come out.
As for the socializing, when she comes out and gets usedd to you, she will probably want to play. Just give her your love and attention and she will turn out fine. The other kitty you had was probabkly like that b/c nobody cared to pay attention to her.
Good luck! and congrats on your new kitty!!

 

welcome kikikitty

how old is she and what were the circumstances? is is a normal litter and has she been weaned? when i got max, he was only eight weeks old. alot of breeders recommend twelve weeks so they can be properly socialized.

i kept max in my bedroom for two weeks. a little less...then i started introducing him into the house and closed off rooms he didnt really need to go in. i let him explore while i was there, but i put him back in my bedroom if i left the house. (just make sure you get him a 'few' toys and rotate them so he doesnt get tired of them, but if youre like me...she will end up with toys all over the place :shock: )...he liked my bedroom. it is not as overwhelming as the whole house is to a kitten.

he cried for three days straight. so loud i thought something was terribly wrong with him. even the vet thought he was "overvocal". then he settled down.

i think alot of it depends on how you socialize her, and your personality style. i am very outgoing....so is max, but he sometimes needs to be very quietly petted because he has the potential to get a little aggressive. i have been noticing that the more gentle i am with him, the more gentle he becomes. my other cat otis who died recently was so laid back...i could do anything to him and he liked it! i try to normalize scary things like pill taking. now...when i shake the bottle of pills, he comes running! i recently in the last two days introduced him to the blow dryer...just slowly cause i saw one day he was watching me. of course in the beginning, he ran away. but i laugh, call his name, talk baby talk, and he comes back. after two days...he just lays there...

some of the kitten literature says try to introduce different people to the kitten, so that he/she doesnt just get used to one person. but really, in the beginning i just spent ALOT of time with him. hope this helps a little

 

I would get the kitten out of the basement and into his own room in the main part of the house (bedroom that is quiet). He'll get more used to the household noises and smells but if he's stuck in a quiet dark basement all the time I would think it'd be harder to socialize him.

Even when you do get him out of the basement and into the main part of the house give him space for awhile...it could be days or even weeks but just go with his schedule.

Patience, tolerance and some understanding of how he is feeling right now and lots of love and he'll be okay :y_the_best: just rush him though or you might end up having to start over.

When I get foster kittens (this last litter was really timid) I like to just go in the room where they are hiding and read, softly, out loud. That way they can get used to your voice.

 

Welcome to the cat forum ki-ki kitty. I love your user name. It reminds me of Kiki from the Japanese anime Kiki's delivery service. Very cute. I have 4 cats. They all reacted differently when we first got them. Monty hid in a closet for a day. My husband forced him out with a broom. I know not very nice, but effective. I would not recommend it. He now runs away when I sweep the floor with any types of brooms. He's the best kitty we have. Well behaved, a real gentleman. Milo and Vene (now deceased) came at 2 months old and acted like they own the house. They explored the house immediately. Pumpkin was in love with our apt. when she first met us. She purred non-stop and rubbed everything in sight and followed us everywhere. Rene was reserved. She let the cats sniff her and stayed calm and fell in love with everyone including our 19 month old toddler. Like others mentioned. lots of TLC will help your cat out of her shell. What's her name and we love pics if you have any.

 

More Info

Thanks everyone for your advice! Her name is Ki-Ki, and she's an adorable tabby with white on her belly, sides, and face. She was from a litter of 4 with no problems that I am aware of. Her mother's family had 2 younger girls, who played with the kittens all the time, so she's already been exposed to a lot of handling.

Her previous family said she was about 8 weeks old or so, but to me she seems a bit big for her age... but again, she's my first kitten, so I don't know that I would trust that judgement. She was weaned and was already eating moistened dry food or the canned food when we brought her home and her mother would not nurse anymore.

I liked the suggestion to keep her separate, but unfortunately the house we just moved into doesn't have any doors except in the bathroom which is only big enough to hold the sink, toilet, and bathtub with little spare room to move. It's weird not having any doors, but it's a very old house - so we're going to take care of that in the very near future. And the basement door had a small opening for a cat from the previous owner which is how she got down there, but we covered that up. So now we're just waiting for her to come back up and we'll close the door behind her.

As of right now I haven't gotten any pictures of her, because she won't stick around long enough when she moves from one hiding spot to another. But once I do I'll be sure to post them!

Thanks again for your help - let me know if this additional information leads you to any additional advice or words of encouragement!

 

i know they have traps...to get feral cats...like a carrier...with food in it, then i think it closes when they get in there.

the other possibility is to get those folding fences they have for children so you can at least keep her in the bedroom.

i would be afraid that she just might stay down there...then the longer she goes, the harder it will be to catch her.

just a thought...good luck...maybe she will just start to get curious and come up....

 

Hi KiKi, do you have the door frames but not the actual doors to go in them?? If so, once you get kitty out of the basement you could try a spring loaded child safety gate with cardboard weaved through the bars up to about a foot or so to stop her climbing through. It would hold her until she's big enough to jump and by then everything should be fine. We did this with Ollie our dog when he was a tiny puppy and it worked a treat.

Annie

 

That's the weird part, it's just the large openings that you usually see between a kitchen and dining room, or that type of thing. No door frames even, other than those. But maybe we could try to rig something up like that with some cardboard or something. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new kitty!