Kitten doesn't like one roomate

[fairestelm]

I recently moved to a new state with my boyfriend, we are actually rooming with his brother. Well when we got up here we adopted a kitten. When we picked her out theyour told us she was scared all the time, actually when we picked her out she was hiding in her cage, but that didn't stop us from wanting her.

Well when we brought her home she hid for about the first three days, only came out at night to eat and such. We did find that she hid in mine and my boyfriendson closet and slept on a blanket we had there so we would pet her and show her some affection and leave her be. Nown she won't leave my side, she follows me around and meows at me, constantly wants attention and to be on my lap, completely different from that sad littlet kitten that we saw in that cage.

She likes my boyfriend too, though she won't lay with him like she does me, always goes,from his lap to mine. But his brother, she refuses to go hear him, like at all, if he's in the living room she will walk as far as she can away from him to get to where she wants. He hasn't ever been mean to her, he tried to pet her once and she wanted nothing to do with it, so he just leaves her be now. What would make a kitten only like two of the three people in the house? Is there something about him she may not like?

 

[ctbabies]

From my personal experience, animals judge people better than other people do. I also have experience when a cat hasn't liked me but liked everyone else. I had to work to earn that cats love and trust. Once I earned it, he didn't like anyone other than me. He accepted me and didn't like anyone else. He was also 15 years old when I met him so once we made that bond he probably just didn't want to do it again. Younger cats can be the same way. If she was scared at first then maybe she just needs time to get used to him too. Usually though, if a younger cat makes a bond with another person, they keep all of their other bonds as well (probably because they want to have multiple opportunities to get attention).

 

[fairestelm]

That makes sense. She seems to like me the best. I'm the one she gets excited for when I come home from work. What's weird is when my boyfriend leaves the house she follows me around the whole time meowing and jumping on me the minute I sit down. Even if I'm in the living room with the brother she'll do this. But she stops when my boyfriend gets home, then she'll just walk around and come in occasionally to sit with us. She only started that recently though.

But she does let his brother pet her on occasion, but only if she's sitting on my lap or my boyfriends.

 

[gemmamiso]

I wouldn't worry, she probably just needs some time to adjust to the new people/environment. Maybe if he tried to play with her instead of going straight for petting, she would be more accepting. Maybe try letting him feed her once too, just so she knows that he's a good guy. 

 

[fairestelm]

I'll have him try that. We couldn't get her to eat or drink much when we first got her and we could only get her to eat while she was sitting with us, that's improved. She spent most of her day in my room sleeping on the blanket or the bed and she terrorizes the house at night like any normal kitty. But when he's around she wont. But it might be dup to him being a naturally loud person, walks around alot and doesn't sit still. I don't think she likes the sudden movement or the fact he walks real heavy footed. She was sensitive to all the loud noises when we adopted her.

 

[gemmamiso]

Him being so loud might be scaring her, I know a lot of cats don't like sudden/loud noises. If he wears shoes around her, maybe he should take them off because those are probably making him louder, I know my cats get scared when I wear shoes around them. 

 

[fairestelm]

He wears cowboy boots. Me and the boyfriend usually don't wear shoes, but if we do she doesn't seem to mind, but we aren't heavy footed either. She's definitely picked out who she trust and likes better, but she was meant to be our cat anyways.

 

[ctbabies]

My way to get the 15 year old cat to like me is I had a cat brush. I would brush him once a day and it seemed to comfort him and get him used to me. From my experience cats love to be brushed, maybe that would help her calm down and get used to the environment and people. With the cats I have now, they seem to like me more than my fiance. If I walk in the door while my fiance is at work they immediately start purring and following me around but if I walk in the door with my fiance they just stay where they're at and look at us. Same thing with cuddling, they would rather cuddle with me than anyone else. Cats can create as many bonds with as many people as they want but they usually pick one person to pick as "mommy" as I like to call it.

 

[fairestelm]

I'm that person for her. She loves when I come home and it's just me. Follows me, right at my feet wherever I go. Of my boyfriends here she won't do that. Just stays where she's hiding until we get settled, then she'll come running to the room she knows we are in and right to my lap she goes. She liked my boyfriend better when we first got her, but that changed pretty quickly.