Recently, I was given a rescused 4 month old kitten. According to the woman who gave him to me, he's very healthy and fixed (has the records to prove it) and is a bit shy but once he comes around he is very healthy. I've kept him in my bedroom (I have one other cat) with a constant supply of food, water, and clean litter. He seems healthy, and he plays a lot. However, he's been here for 4 days and hasn't let me pet him once. Whenever I get close enough to he's swatted at me, and did bite me once. Does anyone have any tips on how to get him to warm up to me? I've tried food, and he takes it and eats it under my bed, well out of range to pet him.
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period of adjustment
- Thread starter mrmugwump
- Start Date
Welcome to TCS.....you know what I would do...treat this little one like he is a feral cat. There is an AMAZING story about a feral named Lucky that someone socialized:
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11395
I would try the same suggestions that she used.
Katie
Aw, the poor little guy is just scared to death.
He's had his whole world turned upside down, and he's in survival mode. To him right now, you are big enough to eat him, so he is being very cautious and defensive. YOU know that you just want to love him, but HE doesn't know this yet.
As much as this goes against everything you want to do with the little guy, the best way to gain his trust is to ignore him. Tend to his needs, stick with a schedule of when you go into his room with food, to change his water, to clean his litterbox. Spend time in there with him, talk to him, read to him, but don't look him directly in the eye (this is seen as a threat in the cat world), and don't reach for him.
Here's another article to read about socializing a feral cat/kitten. He may or may not really be a true feral, but right now that's how he's acting out of that survival instinct. http://straypetadvocacy.org/html/soc...feral_cat.html
As much as this goes against everything you want to do with the little guy, the best way to gain his trust is to ignore him. Tend to his needs, stick with a schedule of when you go into his room with food, to change his water, to clean his litterbox. Spend time in there with him, talk to him, read to him, but don't look him directly in the eye (this is seen as a threat in the cat world), and don't reach for him.
Here's another article to read about socializing a feral cat/kitten. He may or may not really be a true feral, but right now that's how he's acting out of that survival instinct. http://straypetadvocacy.org/html/soc...feral_cat.html
Four days is not very long. I am hardly an expert, but I did have recent success with a slippery cat named Brady, so perhaps I can tell you what worked for me.
Be consistent, go in the same time every day. I would go in mornings and evenings. The first week I tried to not let him see me. Then I made a point of tossing cat treats to him. I wanted him to see that it was ME giving him the food. Also when you feed him, rattle the bag of food or bowl so he associates the noise of food with you giving him food.
If /when he comes out let him rub you if he wants to. What worked wonders with Brady was one of those spiky animal brushes. He forgot to be scared, he loved rubbing humself on that thing so much. I thought he would poke his eye out.
If the cat treats don't work, try something else. Try bits of Kentucky fried chicken. Try cheddar cheese. Try american cheese. Somewhere he has a weakness. If you find it, spoil him rotten.
Good luck and have fun!
Be consistent, go in the same time every day. I would go in mornings and evenings. The first week I tried to not let him see me. Then I made a point of tossing cat treats to him. I wanted him to see that it was ME giving him the food. Also when you feed him, rattle the bag of food or bowl so he associates the noise of food with you giving him food.
If /when he comes out let him rub you if he wants to. What worked wonders with Brady was one of those spiky animal brushes. He forgot to be scared, he loved rubbing humself on that thing so much. I thought he would poke his eye out.
If the cat treats don't work, try something else. Try bits of Kentucky fried chicken. Try cheddar cheese. Try american cheese. Somewhere he has a weakness. If you find it, spoil him rotten.
Good luck and have fun!
As everyone else has already pointed out, this kitty is a rescue, doesn't know that people love is a good thing, and is simply scared out of his wits in a new environment.
Thank you for adopting him!!!!!!!!!!!
In the back of your mind, when dealing with kitty or reading up on socializing cats, remember - the main thing is having kitty come to trust you.
And one of the quickest ways to do that is to be in the same room with kitty without interacting with him. Ignore him - let him get used to the idea that you provide food, treats, etc. - and don't require anything at all from him.
Even now that all our cats are socialized, sometimes they get bored of us or something - and the quickest way to get them to want to interact with us is ignoring them! The more we ignore them, the more they want attention. It doesn't work quite so directly at first. But it certainly gives kitty time to figure out that you don't want to do anything to him. Once you make that first step, he'll get curious.
And it is over time, as described in all the info on socializing, that kitty will come to learn that pets are good, and toys are for play, and that play is fun.
Thank you for adopting him!!!!!!!!!!!
In the back of your mind, when dealing with kitty or reading up on socializing cats, remember - the main thing is having kitty come to trust you.
And one of the quickest ways to do that is to be in the same room with kitty without interacting with him. Ignore him - let him get used to the idea that you provide food, treats, etc. - and don't require anything at all from him.
Even now that all our cats are socialized, sometimes they get bored of us or something - and the quickest way to get them to want to interact with us is ignoring them! The more we ignore them, the more they want attention. It doesn't work quite so directly at first. But it certainly gives kitty time to figure out that you don't want to do anything to him. Once you make that first step, he'll get curious.
And it is over time, as described in all the info on socializing, that kitty will come to learn that pets are good, and toys are for play, and that play is fun.
