New Kitties Adjustment Times

4blueyes

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
42
Purraise
1
Location
Ga
I have to admit that Hudson and Skylar are the first kitties I've ever had that I didn't get as an itty bitty kitten. We have a 2 year old and definitly wanted a kitty or two that wasn't going through crazy kitten no personality stage lol. Hudson and Skylar are definitly turning out to be our dream cats. They are about 7 months old, born end of May/early June and they have SO MUCH personality. But they are definitly still adjusting. They had never been around young kids full-time, only every now and then when their owner would babysit. That being said, they are still very jumpy. The tend to run and hide every time our son makes a noise louder than normal speaking tones (happens often lol) or anytime any loud noise is made (front door closing, something falling to floor etc). We have kept all the doors open though so that they have plenty of places to hide when they want/need to. I know it hasn't even been a week yet, but I was just curious (not worried at all though) how long it takes kitties to adjust like this.
 

epona

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 24, 2006
Messages
4,663
Purraise
949
Location
London, England
I don't think there's any such thing as a 'normal' or even an 'average' settling in period as such, all individuals are very different. When we brought Radar home, he exploded out of his carrier to explore, rubbed himself all over everything to scent it, and demanded we opened every door in the flat so that he could see the extent of his new kingdom. Sonic on the other hand didn't come out of his carrier for about 2 hours, but when he did decided that he was ruler of all he surveyed.... it took a while for Radar to accept that!

But some more nervous cats can take months to settle in. So do not worry, a week is nothing. Cats feel secure when they are in familiar surroundings and have a familiar routine, a week is not long enough to establish this. Make sure they have some hidey holes they can use as 'safe' areas when they feel nervous - under a bed, or you can use cardboard boxes or cat beds. If they feel the need to go and hide, just let them - it will help them to settle in if they know that they have places they can go where they won't be bothered or retrieved back into the chaos (at least that's probably the way it seems to them right now!) of your family home
 
Top