Scared and skittish new kittens

jo2079

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Four days ago we brought two twelve week old exotic shorthair kittens, straight from the breeder where I know they were kept in a pet cage for the majority of the time.

At first they were absolutely terrified and hid under the sofa for the first cuple of days.  The last couple of days they have been busy exploring and love to play, especially with each other!

They are eating and drinking well and using their litter tray.

My only worry is that they are still very skittish and obviously frightened and hate either me or my husband going near them, let alone try to stroke them or pick them up and run as far away from us as they can but they will eat from our hand.  The only time they allow us to come close to them briefly, is when they are on their cat tree at a high level.  However, one of them will purr loudly when you stroke her but the other one doesn't purr at all, which makes me think even then she is still scared.

We have tried the Feliway plug in and catnip spray which does seem to have helped slightly/

Can anyone advise on the best way to get them both to trust us and allow us to handle them?  I am worried as we will need to take to them to the Vets soon and as things are, there's no way we would be able to pick them up to get them in their carrier!

I'm presuming this is all fairly normal behaviour but if anyone can offer any advice or reasurrance, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.
 

yayi

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Four days is not long. It sounds that you are winning their trust even though it seems slow to you. Give it a few more days and things will be fine. 
 
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jo2079

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Thank you, I'm just concerned that they literally run a mile when we go near them, unless they're in their "tree" which is where I presume they feel safe!
 

lamiatron

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in just a few days you have made great progress! congrats!

Because they are still new to your home, and new to you, its understandable that you will need to take them to the vets soon for various things. It would be best to keep them in one room for a few more days, with their toys, litter, and water. This way you can keep track of them both. It will be easier for you to access the kitties too to take them tot he vet. You should have their carriers in the same room. put some comfy cat beds in them and hide treats in them so that they can get used to being in carriers and associate it with good things.

Keeping them in one room will also help them to acclimate better to you and your husband as well as the home. You can help to build trust between you and your kitties by giving them treats every time you come home from work or from being out, visit your cats in their kitty room and give them treats and pets. They will soon start to associate you coming home and being around with good things like treats.

You should also spend time in the room with the kittens. Use a toy that they can both play with that will allow them to interact with you, You can also just sit in the room and read to them, anything you want to read, the hubby can do this also..so that both kittens can learn to get used to your voices. Also when its feeding time, you should put their food down, and if they allow it, pet and praise them while eating.  I did that with my kitten Jet, who was a former stray and a very skittish kitty (still is), but it's helped her to trust me and not be afraid of me at least, allowing me to handle her, clip her claws, check her for anything, take her to the vet, etc

After some time, you can leave the door open and see if the kitties venture out on their own, which they probably will, or maybe they won't...my girl Jet never leaves the bedroom.

The behavior your kitties are exhibiting is very normative.

Good luck to you and your new kitties.
 
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