Skittish Kitten ..

Hello! I'm new here. *blush*

My name's Patricia, and I'm 15. We just bought a new kitten last night, named Blacken. She's about 11 weeks old, and is jet black with these big amber eyes. Beautiful.

I know that since she's so new to the house, she's going to be naturally skittish. But, is there anything I can do to ease her a bit? She won't let anyone touch her, and if you try to, she'll hide under my bed. She's reserved about being around anyone else but me.

We've kept her confined to my bedroom, with an automatic litterbox, food, water, her security blanket from the shelter and some toys. She comes out from under my bed to play by herself some, but if you move at all near her, she darts back under the bed. She'll let you be on the floor with her and talk to her, and she'll let you throw toys in her direction and things .. as long as you're not touching her, she's fine. But one sudden movement or an attempt to pet her, and she's gone. She spent all last night crying, and when I left the room to come down here because she wasn't interested in me, she stood at the door crying again.

I'm sure this is a natural reaction to adjustments, but is there something I can do to make her feel more at home? I'm sure she misses her sister, and her mother was feral .. don't know if that has any bearing. How do I get her to feel more at-home with me without freaking her out? I hate to see her so scared of me. (and my 5-year-old sister, moreso ..) Also .. what do I do during thunderstorms with her? Since she's just a baby she freaks out, and we've already had two.

Thank you in advance!

 

congrats on your new baby

I foster and right now have 5 very skittish 6 week old kittens whose mom was PTS by the shelter.

Anyway what I do is just sit in the room with the kitten and read out loud in a soft tone, that gives the kitten a chance to get used to your voice. It'll take patience and I know you want a lovebug but give the baby time to adjust.

Also if your kitten shows any fear of your hand you might want to start out with a gentle brushing, then move on to petting.

Time, patience, and tolerance with a little understanding of how your kitten feels at the moment and you'll have your little lovebug in no time....just be patient

 

Congrats on your new kitty!
I think she will become more sociable as she adjusts to her new home. I agree with Mary on sitting in the room with her. When I brought Hoggle home he hid under my bed for 2 days but he came around once he started feeling comfortable in his new surroundings.

 

Hi and congrats on getting Blacken! She must be gorgeous with amber eyes and all. I've never seen amber eyes on kitties before. You just need a lot of time and patience and she'll turn around. My Monty boy was very skittish too when we first got him. He hid in a closet for 2 days and ran away whenever anyone made any sudden movements or noises. Then he got used to us and is a very loving cat, the very best! Good luck! :0018:

 

it will probably go away. the kitty just sounds like it needs to be socialized. small places like your bedroom are good. some articles say that you should try to introduce new people to the kitty to try and get them socialized.

max cried for three days straight. so loud...and constant. even the vet said..."he is a little overvocal"...i even called the breeder, with my concern. but then he settled down. kept him in the bedroom for about a week and a half. then slowly introduced him into the house. he loved the house. that part didnt take long.

make sure to kitty proof. i just went through a huge ordeal, with xrays, barrium, etc because he found the string to my sweat pants and ate it.

one time he also got into a plant. had to call poison control. i dont think he actually ate the plant, just played with it. but i couldnt tell...scarey...

good luck with blacken...hope to see pics...

 

I agree you should talk softly to your kitty and you need to hold him so get him in a corner and approch him very slowly soothing him and maybe even hold out a favorite toy or treat. goog luck...


~Clix~