Thanks in advance for all the info....
I just adopted two 8 week old kittens from a foster home (Female - Lucy, Male - Linus) and it looks like Lucy may be a bit of a scardey kitten.
A little back story...
The foster mom said that Lucy was rescued from an animal shelter, where she may have been taken away from her mom very early on (which may have tramatized her).
The foster mom took her home to a room in their home where she was housing another group of foster kittens their mom. The mom took in Lucy right away as one of her own and was very good to her.
When my girlfriend and I arrived at the foster home, we noticed that Lucy was very nervous around us, but played well with her foster siblings....which we figured was normal.
We adopted Lucy, and another kitten from the same family (but who was a natural kitten from the mom taking care of them).
We've had them home for 2 days now and we've noticed VERY small gains in her trust, while Linus has nearly come completely around to us.
Her Behavior...
She plays well with her sibling and displays the same "kitten like" behavior as her little brother. She is eating & using the litter box normally. Her interaction with the other kitten seems normal.
Her normal walking around posture (when not chasing her brother) has her tail curved down (not between her legs) and bushed out, while her little brother walks around with his tail up.
She runs under the bed anytime me or my girlfriend made a sudden movement, reach for her, or hears a sound she's not familiar with.
However, we found that she made her way up the bed and fell asleep between us in the middle of the night. When she's sleepy, she is MUCH more agreeable to being touched and held.
She doesn't struggle when we hold her, and generally seems to love the attention.
Yet for all the gains we've made in her trust, at times it seems like she completely reverts back to being skiddish (usually during play time when she's not tired) Where as the little male has progressively made progress and hasn't regressed.
A bit of two steps forward, 1.5 steps back it seems.
Questions...
All the reading I've done says that if we continue to build her trust that she will eventually come around....but will she ever lose her distrust of people in general?
Considering she is only 8 weeks old, is it too late to avoid a skiddish personality as an adult?
How long does it generally take for kittens like this to come around? (Considering the kitten with the normal upbringing almost completely trusts us within 2 days)
How do we disipline her (especially considering the loud "NO" tactic) without resetting all the progress in trust we've made?
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.
Any tips of the trade is GREATLY welcomed!
I just adopted two 8 week old kittens from a foster home (Female - Lucy, Male - Linus) and it looks like Lucy may be a bit of a scardey kitten.
A little back story...
The foster mom said that Lucy was rescued from an animal shelter, where she may have been taken away from her mom very early on (which may have tramatized her).
The foster mom took her home to a room in their home where she was housing another group of foster kittens their mom. The mom took in Lucy right away as one of her own and was very good to her.
When my girlfriend and I arrived at the foster home, we noticed that Lucy was very nervous around us, but played well with her foster siblings....which we figured was normal.
We adopted Lucy, and another kitten from the same family (but who was a natural kitten from the mom taking care of them).
We've had them home for 2 days now and we've noticed VERY small gains in her trust, while Linus has nearly come completely around to us.
Her Behavior...
She plays well with her sibling and displays the same "kitten like" behavior as her little brother. She is eating & using the litter box normally. Her interaction with the other kitten seems normal.
Her normal walking around posture (when not chasing her brother) has her tail curved down (not between her legs) and bushed out, while her little brother walks around with his tail up.
She runs under the bed anytime me or my girlfriend made a sudden movement, reach for her, or hears a sound she's not familiar with.
However, we found that she made her way up the bed and fell asleep between us in the middle of the night. When she's sleepy, she is MUCH more agreeable to being touched and held.
She doesn't struggle when we hold her, and generally seems to love the attention.
Yet for all the gains we've made in her trust, at times it seems like she completely reverts back to being skiddish (usually during play time when she's not tired) Where as the little male has progressively made progress and hasn't regressed.
A bit of two steps forward, 1.5 steps back it seems.
Questions...
All the reading I've done says that if we continue to build her trust that she will eventually come around....but will she ever lose her distrust of people in general?
Considering she is only 8 weeks old, is it too late to avoid a skiddish personality as an adult?
How long does it generally take for kittens like this to come around? (Considering the kitten with the normal upbringing almost completely trusts us within 2 days)
How do we disipline her (especially considering the loud "NO" tactic) without resetting all the progress in trust we've made?
Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.
Any tips of the trade is GREATLY welcomed!
