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New litter-mate kittens still hiding

post #1 of 7
2/7/11 at 6:35pm
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My husband and I adopted two 8-month-old litter-mate boy kittens over a week ago. As soon as we got them home and out of the cat carrier, they ran and hid. Days go by, and I don't see them. They are eating well, pooping and peeing where they're supposed to. They play, run around and howl for 2 hours every night, but run and hide if I stick my head out of my bedroom door.

The woman we adopted them from. Anna, owns many cats. She works with Animal Birth Control, and took in the kitten's mother right before she had her 5kittens. Three of them were adopted right away. Anna has told us that if these two don't warm up to us, she'll take them back.

How long should we wait for them to act like pets instead of fugitives? Is there anything I can do to help them relax? I moved their food up from the basement to our kitchen, so they'll learn our routine, noises and smells. I'm thinking of moving their food once again, into my office (I work from home), so they'll be forced to hang out with me. I was thinking of closing the office door during the night, so they would only have access to their food during the day. I'm asking you experts before I do this, because I don't want to traumatize them further.
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post #2 of 7
2/7/11 at 7:03pm
Have you tried using Feliway?
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post #3 of 7
2/7/11 at 7:17pm
I would catch them and start the process over again with them. Here is what I would do:

Set up the bathroom or office - one room with a door - with their litter box(es), beds, toys, food, and water. Keep them in there all the time for the first week and go in there often to pet and love on them. Make sure that wherever you put them, you can go pet and love on them and earn their trust. Be sure they don't have lots of places to hide in the room you choose (like under the bed, which is a nightmare to try to get a scared kitty out from under).

Also, add a feliway diffuser to the room (plugins are great) - or two depending on the size of the room. It helps to calm them down.

After you start to get them to come to you and take pets and loves in the "safe room," I would slowly start to introduce them to the rest of your home in short bits...maybe give them an hour to explore and then back to the "safe room" with pets and loves from you and your dh.

Over time, and taking it slow, I think you will be able to retrain them and help their little fears. Good luck!!
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post #4 of 7
2/7/11 at 7:25pm
You should start them off in a smaller room until they get used to their new trritory. The size of your house is probably overwhelming for them. Try seperating them into a bathroom or some other small area, keep them there a few days with you going in frequently to play with and socialize them. Then you should be good to go for reintegrating them with the entire house.
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post #5 of 7
2/7/11 at 7:28pm
What I read and did was to put them in a single safe room for a week.

I slept there on the couch, and it had my computer in there so I messed around on it and played games in my free time, doing my best just to ignore them so they could chillax. Not sure if thats best, but was suggested and worked well for me.

It was difficult to keep Wesley in the room after a couple days though, he really wanted to explore, but Buttercup was much more shy. Wesley was schmoozeling whenever he wanted something I think towards the end of the second day.

Buttercup was definitely unsure and apprehensive of her new environment hugging walls/corners and walking tail low and sometimes slinking at first and easily startled (acted like the world would end the first time I wore flipflops inside the house) and very clingy on Wesley, and didn't TRULY come out of her shell until a couple months later IIRC. Wesley was 100% my favorite for that reason, being so outgoing and confident, and based on first impressions if adopting just a single cat I probably wouldn't have picked Buttercup. But now she's my #1. Just crazy affectionate lap kitty, still has a tiny purr, but flops around on lap or chest and nuzzles hard with her head and just a little happy princess. So all I can really say is that cat personalities can vary a lot and some kitties can be slow to warm up but turn out loving. *shrugs*
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post #6 of 7
2/7/11 at 7:35pm
Oh, btw, one thing that was suggested to me that we also did was to introduce the house slowly.

After they were allowed out of the safe room, it opened only to the greatroom. The guest bath, workout room, bedroom, masterbath, etc were all opened up gradually later.
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post #7 of 7
2/7/11 at 8:22pm
We started with Thomas and Walter in a small 1/2 bathroom, and that was "their" room. Thomas wanted out and acted like he owned the house from the very first day. Walter on the other hand took MUCH longer, even with being in a small room. It took him probably 4 days or so to even come out of the carrier if he saw us, then while he would come out of the carrier, he refused to come out of the bathroom for another few days. He stayed in the bathroom for a little over a week. Now we can't keep him away from us. LOL Give them some time and start over again in a smaller room.
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