nervous kitten

shinobi, who is 8 months now and been with us 4 months, is a normal confident kitten when it is just the family at home. for example today my son (17) had a friend round. this lad is a calm, quiet boy who never bothers the animals infact i think he is a little nervous of them as he has no pets. shinobi is now hiding under my bed and refusing to come out, even with the temptation of fish cakes. any time anyone visits he will run and hide. it is always a panic run too, not just a trot out of the room.

this behaviour has happened since we first brought him home. he was found at 12 weeks old in a graveyard and he then went into a lovely foster home for the following 4 weeks until we took him. i know for a fact that nothing has happened here and actually he is much braver than our other 1 year old milo, who runs from the hoover and hates any loud noise. shinobi will take no notice of things like that.

the other thing that is odd about him is he runs from us if we have our coats on. he seems to not recognise us until we speak to him and then he will tentatively approach until he realises it's us.

i am extremely loath to let him out because of his nervousness with strangers. (he has just appeared by my side as the boys left about 5 minutes ago) i think he will be a permanent indoor cat which is fine by me.

i wonder if anyone else has had anything like this with their rescue kittens, in particular one so young. certainly since he was 4 months old and with us life has been brilliant for him.

My Jacks like that and i often wonder if it was because he was born outside with his semi feral mum. Jacks nearly 10 months old now

He's the biggest love bug when he jumps on my lap, but if i suddenly turn around for something in the kitchen when their eating he'll slink his body right down and run out the room like he's terrified

When company comes he's the same, but he'll be back downstairs in minutes to see who it is.

I have to admit though he's not as bad as what he was, so hopefully as he gets older he'll be more at ease.

Rosie and Sophie just stand there so you have to step over them

I think you are SO smart for deciding to keep him inside. I know in the UK that most people let their cats out, but it really is in their best interests to keep them in if they're just as happy that way. I think, though, that as he gets older and more confident (they do), and especially around the time before he's neutered, you'll probably have to be careful about open doors, but once the surgery's over he should settle down again. He may always be timid, but I assure you he'll definitely come out of his shell more than he is now. I do find that with men especially, a lot of cats may be afraid when they come in, wearing big, clomping shoes or boots, and he might be less fearful if you ask the men to leave their shoes at the door. Don't forget kittens' view of the world is so different from ours, and what he experienced before being fostered could have been quite scary for him.

i suppose the fact that he is so confident and relaxed with us. he doesn't panic or freak out even if he's asleep and the dog barks. it is really strange.

he shows no interest in going outside which makes in easier too. i suppose i'm trying to put the pieces together of his past (almost impossible i know) but he is so terribly frightened of strangers. a friend of mine who is the sweetest, gentlest person i know, just about managed to stroke him after some time spent just talking softly to him. but he tolerated about 30 seconds and then ran.

strange as when we went to see him in the foster home he was very confident then too and not scared or shy. he did come to us with quite severe cat flu though and it took 3 months for his temp to go down to normal. i wonder if the fact he was feeling poorly back then overshadowed his fears. who knows?

i now try and make sure he knows when people are coming in and that he has a clear path to the stairs.