Reaching out for some guidance from the vast body of experts here
We've had two 2 month old kittens (different litters) adopted from a shelter for less than 24 hours. I realize that it's probably too early to be too concerned but thought I'd ask anyway. Any suggestions on how we can help one of the kittens would be much appreciated!
After weeks of discussion, we decided to add two kittens to our family. We spent two days at our local shelter playing and petting and cuddling kittens and decided on two that tugged at our heart-strings the most.
One kitten (A - because her name hasn't been decided) is super cuddly, sweet, purrs non-stop from the time you pick her up, doesn't bolt when you reach down to get her, is super-loving and just a doll. The other (B - no name yet) is stand-offish and will bolt and hide when she sees us coming.
Kitten B was the one that hid in a corner when we first met her and hissed at us when we tried to reach into her pen the first day we met her. On the second day we met her, she eventually came to the front of the pen and was playing with us through the grate a bit.
We adopted kitten B knowing she had some socialization issues that would need to be worked through. No problem (we thought at the time). We thought that, given enough time, she would get more and more used to us and eventually perhaps maybe she'd be a sweet cuddly kitty. Now I'm a little worried we didn't do enough research?
For the past 24 hours we have been doing as was suggested by the shelter and, aside from sleep time last night and periods of rest throughout the day, we've been holding and cuddling and playing with both kittens. Kitten A is a puddle of mud from the beginning. If she could speak she would be saying "I just love all of you" all the time. Kitten B hisses at us and hides if we approach her after putting her down - even after holding her for a while. She does not fight being picked up much. She protests just a bit but doesn't bite, scratch or show hyper-aggression at all. Just a little hiss and a mini-token struggle. We were told to wrap her in a towel and love her to pieces and eventually she would work out of those anti-social behaviors. She does relax when we're holding her and never struggles to get away. We can even hold her unwrapped without an issue. She has never purred for us since we met her.
I think our worries are magnified because the two kittens are so completely opposite.
In your experience, with enough time, do most kittens that behave this way develop a sense of trust and end up well-socialized with their humans? Or in your experience, by 2 months are these behaviors set and more of a personality type than a behavior?
There were plenty of loving, sweet kittens from which to choose - we just thought that since she was more likely to get passed over because she was a little "shy", she would be someone we could teach out of this. I'm hoping we were right.
I know it might be too soon to be so worried but I am.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
We've had two 2 month old kittens (different litters) adopted from a shelter for less than 24 hours. I realize that it's probably too early to be too concerned but thought I'd ask anyway. Any suggestions on how we can help one of the kittens would be much appreciated!
After weeks of discussion, we decided to add two kittens to our family. We spent two days at our local shelter playing and petting and cuddling kittens and decided on two that tugged at our heart-strings the most.
One kitten (A - because her name hasn't been decided) is super cuddly, sweet, purrs non-stop from the time you pick her up, doesn't bolt when you reach down to get her, is super-loving and just a doll. The other (B - no name yet) is stand-offish and will bolt and hide when she sees us coming.
Kitten B was the one that hid in a corner when we first met her and hissed at us when we tried to reach into her pen the first day we met her. On the second day we met her, she eventually came to the front of the pen and was playing with us through the grate a bit.
We adopted kitten B knowing she had some socialization issues that would need to be worked through. No problem (we thought at the time). We thought that, given enough time, she would get more and more used to us and eventually perhaps maybe she'd be a sweet cuddly kitty. Now I'm a little worried we didn't do enough research?
For the past 24 hours we have been doing as was suggested by the shelter and, aside from sleep time last night and periods of rest throughout the day, we've been holding and cuddling and playing with both kittens. Kitten A is a puddle of mud from the beginning. If she could speak she would be saying "I just love all of you" all the time. Kitten B hisses at us and hides if we approach her after putting her down - even after holding her for a while. She does not fight being picked up much. She protests just a bit but doesn't bite, scratch or show hyper-aggression at all. Just a little hiss and a mini-token struggle. We were told to wrap her in a towel and love her to pieces and eventually she would work out of those anti-social behaviors. She does relax when we're holding her and never struggles to get away. We can even hold her unwrapped without an issue. She has never purred for us since we met her.
I think our worries are magnified because the two kittens are so completely opposite.
In your experience, with enough time, do most kittens that behave this way develop a sense of trust and end up well-socialized with their humans? Or in your experience, by 2 months are these behaviors set and more of a personality type than a behavior?
There were plenty of loving, sweet kittens from which to choose - we just thought that since she was more likely to get passed over because she was a little "shy", she would be someone we could teach out of this. I'm hoping we were right.
I know it might be too soon to be so worried but I am.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.