Any Advice?

hiya, ive had fidget for almost one month now and was wondering how long it takes for a kitten to get used to u, i wish i had bought her when she was a kitty because then they get used to you and ive seen most kittens just come up to you and lay on you. fidget only sleeps on my bed but i wish she would be more interactive with me, any tips??(she's almost 10 months old)

--- A fIrSt TiMe CaT oWnEr So soRrY FoR pLaCiNg SoO mAnY pOsTs BuT i GoTtA kNoW hOw To lOoK aFtEr My LiTtLe bAbY! i'M lOvIn ThE fElInE wOrLd! ---

I'm no expert, but if I were in your situation, I would try buying some cat toys, and spending time with your new kitty. Try a dangly toy that you can interact with her. Also, I would recommend picking her up and petting her often, so she can get your smell, and get used to you quicker. I know this next tip may sound a little stupid, but I've found that cats react better to me if I talk soothingly to the cat while I pet her/him. It seems to help me a lot. Try giving her more attention, and soon, she'll grow to know, love, and cuddle before you know it!

CJandBilly

P.S. You shouldn't apologize for making a lot of post. You obviously care about you cat! That's fantastic! I'm saying this one cat lover to another! Hope everything works out great with your new kitty!!!

Lower your expectations. It takes time for cats or kittens to adjust, depending on how they were raised.If she did not have human interaction at around 2 weeks old, she is not going to know how to take you. Simply ignore her, stop picking her up (if you are) and forcing her to cuddle with you. The quickest way to get a cat to accept you, is to ignore her. See to her needs, food, water, vet care, and maintain her litter pans. But other than that, just pretend she isn't there. That allows her to relax quicker and demand that you pay attention to HER!

LOL! That's pretty much oposite of what I said! I've raised two litters of kittens in the past 8 months, and I raised three when I was younger, and I've also worked at a veterinary hospital, and the cats there didn't like me at first, so I spent time with them, and they grew to like me. Everytime I've had a kitten that was afraid of me or didn't want anything to do with me, I spent time with it. If you ignore the cat, won't that give the cat the impression that you don't care about it? How is it supposed to know human love if it's never expirienced it? I am simply saying that I disagree with your methods, hissy. Not meaning it at all in a rude or dishonoring manner, though. Just a difference of opinions.

CJandBilly

You've heard the old saying Curiosity killed the cat?? It works here. If you ignore the cat, then they'll wonder why and come over.

While I ignore the cat, I also talk out loud to everything around it. I talk to the walls, I talk to the plants, I talk to the spoon as I dish out the food. But I never look at the cat and talk to it. I've gotten several ferals to give me headbonks and rubs using this method.

I've had cats come around by the ignoring method and cats come around from the I'll love you and you'll like it method. What's great about cats is that they are all so unigue!

I had a really tough case where neither method worked. I got her to come around through interactive toys, particularly wand type toys. Her favorite was toys with leather danglers on the end. I also spent a lot of time just talking to her.

Sometimes you just stumble across the method that works for a cat and you need to try different things with them. And if you can find what they really like or motivates them, use that to reward them when they are snuggly. Eventually I think that all cats figure out what hands are for - to love and pet them!

Although i do fuss over my two i also found that if i ignore them such as if i'm watching t.v. they come onto my lap to snuggle no problem where as if i was to pat my lap for them to jump up they won't bother!, so yes it does work

The other thing to take into account is that not all cats are lap or cuddle cats.
I have 3 and each has a different personality when it comes to how they give and recieve affection. I would say all three are affectionate but each in his own way. One of my boys, the first one I got, is very affectionate in that he loves a good scratch under the chin, will come sit by you in certain places (mainly when you're reading or doing paperwork) and he does sleep on our bed at the end and he loves to rub his face on you, a lot, however... he absolutely hates to be picked up, never, ever has he cuddled and wouldn't be caught dead sitting on a lap. We got him when he was 8 weeks old at the Humane Society and I thought I could make him a cuddler. I learned quickly that doesn't work. He got lots of loving but as he matured we realized this was just his personality and came to accept that. Another of our cats loves to head butt big time, loves to be held and have his belly scratched and loves to be where the action is but again, never ever sits on your lap although sometimes he will come sit by you. Our third, the youngest is a total cuddler and lap kitty extremely affectionate from the day we got him, but funny thing, he never gives head butts so they are all different but yet all affectionate in their own way. Your kitty may never be a lap cat so I would encourage you to give him time and learn what kind of affection he likes best to give and to receive and accept that in your cat...observe your kitty and be patient. Your kitty will come around, but maybe not exactly the way you want but with love and patience and your acceptance of who your kitty is you will both have loving and affectionate relationship..

I tend to go with the ignore them a bit as that has worked extramely well in some cases for me, but at the same time, my cutest kitty KC wants attention if you give it to her and talk to her in a sweet "asking" voice, but also is terriblly scared so that she hides a lot or runs if your walking around. Distraction and name calling/talking seems to help her if you can distract her to forget she thinks she wants to run away. In her case, maybe she needs more attention but because she hides its almost impossible to give it to her the way she needs it. Introducing a new cat into the house has only made this worse of course, but she sometimes sits out now after a couple weeks instead of running straight away at the first sight of the new cat.

Let you cat know you could have food even when they arnt expecting it, especially if you can find something they REALLY Like. Pet them, love them, talk to them when they arn't expecting it but just sitting near you hanging out. Offer them food, call them to you and lure them into other rooms and reward with food or cuddling. Most of all, give them their space before they reach their limits so that it keeps things on a positive spin in their minds. Good luck with whichever methods you use, I hope you find some that work in your situation with your unique baby.

WOW! that is a lot of advice, im gonna have to try all the methods and see which one works best, thanks a bunch i don't know what i'd do without this site!

Hope we were all of help to you. Good luck with your new kitty!

CJ and Billy Click here! Pic of my kittys, CJ and Billy!

(Pic is when they were kittens) Billy's the orange one, and CJ is the white one.