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Gave too much freedom to new kitten, now it's scared of us.

post #1 of 6
3/22/11 at 10:50am
Thread Starter 
The problem we are having with our new kitten is that it will run from us every time we approach it. We have had this kitten for a couple of months and I think the issue is we gave it the whole house to run around in as soon as we brought her home and introduced her to our other cat. The two cats get along great thankfully but we want her to not be so scared of us humans.

I dont want to isolate her from our other cat in a room since they are good friends now and she is used to having freedom.
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post #2 of 6
3/22/11 at 11:47am
Don't walk toward her LOL. Obviously go about the house as you normally would, but I'd stop trying to approach her at all at this point.

She's a kitten - I'm sure she likes to play. Grab a wand toy, and play with her. But crouch down. Don't be a big scary giant LOL. IF you reach out toward her (which I wouldn't recommend for a while), do it when crouched or sitting, be slow, and make your hand into a fist, not open handed. (Fist looks like a cat's head).

But honestly? I'd get a couple of t-shirts really sweaty - "soaked" with your smell, so to speak. Put one under her food dish. And after a play session, put one down on the floor and put treats on it for her to eat - and walk away.

Cats are contrarians. Whenever we want attention from ours and they're not being compliant, we ignore them completely. It usually doesn't take more than a day for them to be all over us.

With this kitty, it make take more than a day. But do what you can to get her associating your scent with good things, with fun, and do what you can to not be so big and scary to her, and stop focusing on her. She'll come around!
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post #3 of 6
3/22/11 at 2:46pm
Thread Starter 
Good suggestions thanks
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post #4 of 6
3/23/11 at 1:19pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mehring View Post
The problem we are having with our new kitten is that it will run from us every time we approach it. We have had this kitten for a couple of months and I think the issue is we gave it the whole house to run around in as soon as we brought her home and introduced her to our other cat. The two cats get along great thankfully but we want her to not be so scared of us humans.

I dont want to isolate her from our other cat in a room since they are good friends now and she is used to having freedom.
I wanted to add a few more details as people might have additional suggestions. We have a dog that stays downstairs, the cats are allowed to roam upstairs and downstairs. When we are relaxing downstairs the cats wont come near us because of the dog. Our old cat cat comes down often to go outside on the patio with us while we are relaxing there. But our new cat doesn't like it outside on the patio at all even when the other cat is outside too. Seems to just sit by the door and stare at where it opens.
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post #5 of 6
3/23/11 at 1:36pm
You could try closing them off in one room every day to play with them and feed them. That way you can play with the outgoing cat while the scared cat is sort of forced to watch, and the scared cat will learn that you are a fun creature who also provides meals. That might be all you need to bridge the gap. You need to find a way to force interaction without being forceful, and playing with your other cat with the scared cat stuck in the room shuold work.
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post #6 of 6
3/23/11 at 6:08pm
IMO, simply stop trying and just give it time. Kitties like to think stuff is their idea.

Associate yourself with food, treats, playtime, and positive attention and praise w/ a soft higher pitched voice whenever it is requested, and its inevitable you're looked upon as bringer of good rather than big tall alpha predator ten times kitty's size.

Buttercup was standoffish, but now she's an -aggressive- lapcat, kinda hurts w/ the nose nudging sometimes when she wants to be schmoozed.
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