New Kitten

I just got a new kitten that just turned 12 weeks on Christmas and he is very shy. He seems to only want to hide in our couch. He also seems as though he might have been mistreated by the previous owners husband because he seems to be scared of me but not quite as scared of my wife and my daughter. But with me he runs if I walk by him and talk to him but if I just walk by him he doesn't seem to run right away. Also he is very leery of me reaching down to pick him up. I would like to get him ultimately to not get inside our couches and chairs and I don't want him to start scratching inside the furniture and ruining it. Anything I can do there and also anything other than possibly just giving him time to get him to feel more safe with all of us? Thanks.

to start with give him his own room, a spare room, or maybe a bedroom, where it is quiert, put everything he needs in the room and allow him to adjust slowly, dont let him out of that room.

Speak softly and blink slowly when you are near him it will help him feel less threatened, once comfortable in his room he will be more comfortable around you, and then you can let him explore the rest of the house.

Some cats adjust quicker to knew surrounding's than others.

I currently don't really have an extra bedroom or anything that could just be his. The only room i have that nobody is really in very much is the laundry room and it is fairly small but would something like that do? To give you an idea I live in about a 1300 sq foot condo with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Thanks again.

Well, he is pretty new to the house it sounds. It takes time for cats to adjust to a new place. The smells and sounds are all so very different. Give him time and I think he will be just fine. It sounds like he was a feral cat/wild cat possibly. I'm guessing he didn't grow up around humans so that will also take him time to adjust to. Just try to keep the house quite. Put his food somewhere he feels safe, not a lot of foot traffic. Also try sitting on the floor and put food or treats near you. That way he can learn to come to you and get a sort of reward.

Things will work out for you in the end. He just needs some time to feel comfortable. My Enzo was a feral cat until he was four months old. He's adjusted great and loves people.

I don't think he was a wild kitten as when I went to pick him up the family had him in the house and they had a full grown boxer a 6 year old girl and a couple of 3-4 year old boys that were running around crazy so i was just curious if maybe the cat just is skittish because he never really got anytime to be alone or the kids were always playing with him or something and maybe the little boys played a little too rough? Also, his mother was pure siamese and they weren't sure what the dad was as the mother got out and got pregnant by another cat in the neighborhood.

Time and patience. Sounds more like the kitten was never socialized with "strangers" from about 6-12 weeks old. So he's probably just scared. Getting a pet at Christmas time is not a real good time - too much going on and a new pet needs some peace and quiet for the first week or so.

I'm sure in another month he will be more outgoing and better

Yeah, I think so as well. It also probably doesn't help that I got the kitten for my 2.5 year old and she just loved to constantly try to pick him up, play with him, kiss him, hug him. LOL!! She absolutely loves animals and is just completely in love with "Gizmo". We are going tomorrow to petsmart to get him a nice little kitten bed and I was wanting to get him a laser pointer to play with as he seems to enjoy playing with his little play mice that we got him. I just tied it to an old shoestring and he will chase that around for a good 15 minutes straight. But then when we are done playing off he goes to climb in the couch and we won't see him for a couple to a few hours after that.

While I was waiting for my kitten to be cleared to interact with the other cats, I set her up in the bathroom. It was inconvenient, but it wasn't so bad. At night she slept by us in her pet carrier and that worked out well. Then I'd put the carrier in the bathroom when I went to work and she'd voluntarily sleep in it. Made the transition to litter box a breeze.

I have used my laundry room as the first home for 2 of the cats and they thought that was just fine.

For the kitten, I set up a play pen in the living room with boxes and such that she couldn't leap over or knock over and that was her universe when she was awake.

My house is about the same size as your place.

Our kitten was about 10 weeks old when we got him. We set him up in our downstairs bathroom (1050 sq ft townhouse) and it has been his safe place since then.

He has been given more and more freedom as he adjusted. He still does not have complete freedom when we go to work but we are going to go ahead and hold off as we are now moving from here and don't want to freak him out anymore than necessary. He sleeps with us at night and is out anytime we are home. He has really started to change his sleep patterns and is actually sleeping at night instead of being a terror.

Just be patient and give him time you both need to adjust--you may want to prevent your daughter from being so forward it is no doubt freaking him out.

Leslie

If the house he came from had children around your daughters age that were kinda "terrorizing" the kittens, it may take a long time for the kitten to adjust to your daughter.

YOU will have to train your daughter to be extremely gentle, quiet, and not want to cuddle the kitten right now. Teach her how to interact play with a kitty toy, feather, string, etc. rather then to pick him up and cuddle.

Believe me cats are smart - they know where to go and hide from small kids when they've had enough - your child needs to respect that time the kittens wants to be alone and not keep pestering him.

It sounds like Gizmo doesn't feel safe and able to relax in the general surroundings. Not that your daughter is rough with him, but be sure to tell her to be gentle, how to be affectionate and not hurt the kitty. Best way is what would you want or how would that feel. As far as him being timid from you, being a part of his daily needs, feeding, water, and weekly litter change, is very important with timid kitties. Some need a display of attention to gain trust.

UPDATE:

I posted about 2-3 weeks ago about our new addition and about how he seemed to be scared of us and you all assured me that it was just him getting used to us. I have to say you were all right on. For about the last week or two he has already warmed up to us and routinely likes to snuggle with us on the couch and will also hop up on the bed with us at night. If we make the mistake of leaving our daughters door open he will climb up there with her as well but that wakes her up and then she won't go back to sleep so now at night he is not allowed in her room with her. LOL!! He has definitely turned into a pretty awesome little cat.