My kitten is crying and is afraid of me

So earlier today (or yesterday I guess, it's 5 am here) my boyfriend found and rescued a kitten. He took it to me since my family has a lot of cats and he knew we were upset from losing one recently. Due to me mishearing him, we call the kitten Chicken.

It's Chicken's first night here, and she's been pretty well behaved. She hisses sometimes when people get too close, but sometimes she likes to be pet and she likes to cuddle. She ate a little bit and drank some water and a little tiny bit of milk, but she hasn't gone to the bathroom anywhere, so I know she's uneasy.

She stays in my room. I sleep on the floor, or well, I tried to. I got about 2 hours of sleep before she started crying. I thought she just missed her mommy, so I went over and pet her, but she hissed. I left her alone after that. She keeps crying, and sometimes nothing makes her feel better, sometimes seeing me and hearing me gets her to stop, and a couple times I have to go over and pet her. She only lets me pet her sometimes, but when I do, she purrs and leans into my hand.

She's explored a little bit and she played with a book until she realized I was watching her. She also will move around and climb in a ferret tube toy.

Chicken is giving me a lot of mixed signals, what do I do? Do I ignore her crying or do I keep talking when I hear her like I have been? I've shown her the food, water, and litter box, and we got her wet kitten food. She's not really that interested. Last time, she was more interested in my glasses than anything else, until she realized they were on my face, then she freaked out. How do I approach her?

Hello.

Thank you for taking this little one in! She will need to be checked by a vet asap. This mainly for a routine health check and possibly medication for worms. She should be confined to a room with her litter, food and water for a bit, until she becomes accustomed to you and her new home. She is behaving quite normally right now. Your new, the house is new, smells, sounds ect. She just needs time to adjust. When you see she is less afraid of you, you can let her explore the house more. You don't want a frightened kitten hiding from you in some place you can't get to her. Kittens need to eat often. If she is crying, she may be hungry. She may also just be feeling lost. Give it time, your doing everything right.

Thank you so much! She's actually crying when I leave the room now, and she just ate about half a can of kitten food. She's been running around and exploring. She also likes it a lot more when I pet her. Maybe she feels better now that she's eaten? We're going to take her to the vet very soon, and we'll be getting more things for her. She's still very scared, but she heard my other cat Peanut and was very interested in him.
 

How old is she?  Does she seems to be a home born kitty who got thrown out (happens! Not all make real efforts to find them home), or do she seems to be born outside?

If born outside, she is really doing splendid!

Anyway, your strategy will partly depend on what you think, which case it is here...

And yes, I agree a vet check up is necessary, esp if she is born outside. -  You DO have other cats, dont you?  You dont want put them at any unnecessary risk.

Tx for you helping this little sis of ours!

  Welcome to our Forums, and Good luck!

Her eyes are not blue, so I'm guessing between 2 and 3 months, maybe a little older. When my boyfriend found her, she was under a hot tub and was afraid of people. I think she was born outside, but someone else was taking care of her and her siblings. She might have been someone's cat's kitten, and just got old enough to be on her own. My boyfriend checked the area and no one claimed her.

We haven't introduced her to the other cats and weren't until we were sure she was healthy. I'm not sure when the vet check up will be, hopefully later today if she's not too scared.

OK, so as she is over these magical 8 weeks, we can presume she is no real semiferal.

A real semiferal would probably be more consistently scared and hide more.  (still easy to to socialize, but you must work some on it).

So she is either a thrown out, from a home where humans wasnt necessarily a cats best friends,

or born outside, but had met friendly humans before.

So your strategy should be, dont force, but be Mommy on her.   I think.  

And IF you must, dont try to handheld her by force.  Better to wrap her up in a soft towel, all legs up to the neck, like a burrito. Being immobile and helpless, they cease fight and let you do what is needed to do, for example cutting their long nails.  Or examining or giving them a pill.

There is also a trick told by CatWomen707; this wrap up, and carry such kitten 8-14 weeks at your chest, where it feels your warmth and heart beats. You talk friendly and sing softly... A couple of sessions on at least half an hour each, perhaps even a whole hour... Done.

Good luck!

Thank you guys for all your help! She's eating again and already seems to be getting more comfortable around me. The only downside is now I can't leave the room without her crying. But, she's doing much better. You guys are great. Thanks again!