New Kitty, Need Help!

[kim4761]

Hey everyone,
So I got a new Siamese Kitty about 9 days ago. He's around 8-9 weeks old. We got him from a lady that rescued kittens and I'm 90% positive that is he classified as a "feral." I have researched the differences between feral and stray and he behaves like a feral cat. The first couple of days he hissed at the sigh of me or when he is unsure if I am by him. He hides under my side table. He now eats from my hand when I have snacks/treats in it. I am wondering is he on the right track to becoming more sociable? It's very frustrating because I want him to understand that I'm not going to hurt him. Everytime I grab him to play with him on my bed he purrs and sleeps for a bit. I usually lay with him on my bed for about 2 hours. I am now starting to lay with him on the ground. He only comes out at night to use the litter box, eat and drink water unless I get him from under the table and open him a can of moist food. What can I do to make him more sociable? He roams around my room while I'm sleeping but if thinks I might be awake he runs so quick back under the bed or under the side table. When I play a cat meow-ing on my phone or if he hears a meow he comes out and meows also. What can this mean? Please help...

 

[susanm9006]

If he will eat out of your hand he is doing well and progressing. However he will adapt to you and your home much faster if you don’t grab him, try to pick him up or try to take him from his hiding spots. You need to wait until he comes to you to play or to eat a treat. Then you can try stroking him or pick him up and offer him a treat.

 

[kim4761]

I take him from his hiding spot daily and I pet him and we snuggle on my bed. He loves it and he falls asleep if I dont make sudden noises. He doesn't come out to play by himself, only at night. The only time he will let me touch him is when I take him from his hiding spot. He will eat anything off of my hand and he does not hiss at me anymore unless he isnt expecting me like at night time when he thinks I am sleeping. How can I get to trust me more and get him to come out of his hiding spot? I hope you can see it's very frustrating to me as I never had a cat/kitten react/behave this way before.

 

[susanm9006]

He may like the petting but taking him out to do it makes him continue to hide. You must let him come out to you rather that going to get him. It does take patience and time but if you leave him be he will adjust and start coming out.

 

[kim4761]

So how long do you think this process usually takes? He came out to play today when I was laying down on the floor and moving the toy stick.

 

[susanm9006]

That’s awesome. With kittens once they decide to start exploring on their own they will usually start coming out every day and become more confident of their environment,

 

[kommunity kats]

Cats are creatures of habit. They also need to feel that they are in charge. By you taking charge of him / taking him from his safe spot, your are both invading his sense of security AND developing the habit in him of NOT coming to you on his own . . . because he rightfully does not feel he can trust you to let him move forward in the relationship at his own pace.

Instead of reaching for him, talk to him & offer him a catnip toy on the end of a string to stalk & chase. We have a very affectionate cat now who was hard to get a look at when he first started coming around. He's the older brother of a younger litter, whose mother (a community cat) brought them all to our yard. No matter how far I was from him, if he saw me he'd disappear fast!

As the younger litter grew up, we could not touch them, but they quickly learned to chase a mouse' on the end of a shoe-string, tied on the end of a long reed. Their *shy* older brother began to hide in tall grass in the distance . . . which went on for several months. One evening, though, he shot straight across the yard, apparently just testing to see if we would chase him. We IGNORED him & kept playing with the other cats! He repeated that test a few more times, and the next night began coming closer. Soon, he was arriving early & hunkering down in a pose suggesting he was ready for 'the hunt' to begin! After that we were able to trap them all, & had them neutered. Continueing to feed them, he got more & more used to me, until I was finally able to just touch him. I tried that several times, and he startles very easily. Eventually I was able to stroke him . . . then later to pick him up for a second & put him right down again. I repeated that several times, and began giving him a stroke before setting him back down. Gradually, he began coming to me & sticking around & talking to me . . . I began holding him longer, and he regularly asks to be picked up & stroked now.

But, if I had gone toward him to pick him up, he would have continually felt threatened. I had to act like I didn't care for him to feel safe around me. Ringo is now one of the more demonstrative & talkative of our community cats!

So, BE PATIENT! Let himself be himself around you, without you encroaching on him. When he trusts you enough, he will COME to you voluntarily. Even then, though, you need to remain patient & allow him 'room' to approach you & decide how long he wants to stay close.

Purring has multiple possible meanings, including that they are anxious.
So, don't assume that his purring means he feels safe & content.

 

[kim4761]

I read online that for feral cats you should feed them on a schedule but I'm in college and sometimes I don't know when i'll be home so I leave food out for him and water. Do you think maybe I should remove the food and bring it out only when I am home? Also, he'll eat canned food is I set it by his hiding place but he will not go to the bathroom (where I keep his food and water) to eat unless I am not there or if I am sleeping. I understand that I need patience but however I am a very impatience person so you should know how frustrating this may be to me. I won't take him out of his hiding spot anymore and I'll just let him be I guess until he is ready to come out. It's been a 9 days since he's been with me I hope he will come out by himself soon... He eats snacks/treats when I place it by his hiding spot otherwise, no. Today, I tried to see if he will eat it out of my hand, and he did not even try to come close to the snacks on my hand. He still hisses at me sometimes but not as often as when I first got him. Thanks....

 

[kim4761]

This is my cat. I've always been a dog person but they are too come with too many responsibilities but I wanted a companion while I'm away for school. It gets very lonely when you're here by yourself haha.. I just want him to know that there is nothing to be scared of. He also has a big scratch post which he plays around with at night. Do you have any tips on how I can make him more at home / comfortable?

 

[kommunity kats]

One thing you might try is to wear an old sweatshirt to sleep & then work hard in. Place that -unwashed- arranged in a spot where the cat might like to curl up on it to sleep, starting in an area near where he often is anyway. This could get him more used to your scent in a safe environment & situation, even when you are not even present.

 

[ailish]

I adopted my first cat last August from a rescue. I don't know her entire history, but she had had a litter in the spring. When I adopted her she was about a year old and had been at a foster home while she nursed and weaned her kittens. In other words, not feral, but before rescue who knows the circumstances. I brought her home and set up my room for her. At the time she liked to be petted, but was pretty scary. She got out of the carrier when I brought her home and went behind some furniture, where she stayed for about a month. She would come out to eat if no one was there and at night. It was a good two months before she would come out of my room in daylight. I told someone I felt like I didn't have a cat. Everybody said to just give her a chance, she would come out when she was ready. She did. It took longer than I would have liked, but they do come out in their own time. She is a wonderful, affectionate cat now. She isn't Ms. Gregarious and she's a force of evil if you are a rodent, but I couldn't ask for a nicer pet. All will be well, just let him go at his own speed.

 

[kommunity kats]

[I'm trying to delete, but it insists that I post something, so this is it.
The reason is because it keeps posting a wrong title instead of the link in my post.]

 

[kommunity kats]

This web-page provides list of links to articles that have a lot of information for people 'in your shoes' to consider . . . which I myself have found very helpful . . .

"How & When to Care for and Socialize Feral Kittens"

 

[kim4761]

He wont eat treats out of my hand anymore and I let him be for the past two days. I've been tossing treats to him and putting treats about 1 ft away from me and he has come out to take it and eat it. He still only comes out of the hiding place at night and still hisses at me. Last night, I was trying to take him out of his hiding spot and I couldn't get him out so I let him go and he hissed and spit at me. I found that awhile back when I was playing this cat meowing ring tone he responded to it and meowed back. Do you think maybe he needs a friend? Would you suggest if I got another kitten who is already socialized to come play by me it will make him see that I am not a threat?

 

[kommunity kats]

You need to do some reading on the dos & don't of taming feral cats.
PLEASE READ: "How to Socialize A Kitten"-&- "Socializing Kittens".

ONLY give them treats when they allow you to touch them.
Otherwise you condition them to not allow you to touch them.
(Why should they, when they get treats anyway?)
So, keep the treat in your fingers, & don't relinquish it until the cat is close *&*
you have been allowed to touch it, even if only briefly.
Slowly add time to your touches.
ONLY when you can pet it freely without it wanting to leave,
gently pick it up but set it right back down again AND give it a treat then.

Also, the kitten should not have free run of the house, or even a room.
Get a large dog crate for him to stay in, with room for a cat carrier (bed inside with a perch on top), and a small kitty litter box (make sure it's big enough for the poop to land inside rather than outside of it).

 

[kim4761]

I've read MULTIPLE ARTICLES and even watched several VIDEOS. I was given this cat not knowing that he wasn't transitioned properly from the lady that my boyfriend bought him from. I put treats by his hiding spots and I sit there because that's when he sees me and he comes out of his hiding spot. He allows me to pet him when he is in his hiding spot. I am so against caging up animals, they should not feel like a prisoner. And there's only so much room I have in my tiny apartment room for me to put his belongings. There's no way I can put a whole crate in here.

 

[kim4761]

I adopted my first cat last August from a rescue. I don't know her entire history, but she had had a litter in the spring. When I adopted her she was about a year old and had been at a foster home while she nursed and weaned her kittens. In other words, not feral, but before rescue who knows the circumstances. I brought her home and set up my room for her. At the time she liked to be petted, but was pretty scary. She got out of the carrier when I brought her home and went behind some furniture, where she stayed for about a month. She would come out to eat if no one was there and at night. It was a good two months before she would come out of my room in daylight. I told someone I felt like I didn't have a cat. Everybody said to just give her a chance, she would come out when she was ready. She did. It took longer than I would have liked, but they do come out in their own time. She is a wonderful, affectionate cat now. She isn't Ms. Gregarious and she's a force of evil if you are a rodent, but I couldn't ask for a nicer pet. All will be well, just let him go at his own speed.

Yes, it definitely feels like you don't have a cat. It's really frustrating when you're doing all you can. This is my first cat, I've never been around cats before.

 

[kim4761]

Hi everyone.. update on Mittens if you care to read progress.
He is coming out of his hiding spot much more. He still hisses at me but it doesn't bother me much anymore. I try my best to play with him daily with the wand toy. He comes out in the morning to watch me do my makeup and when I am in the bathroom he'll come out of the hiding spot as well. He's sleeping on his bed instead of his hiding spot which is under my side table which makes me so happy! The other day he ate some treats off my hand. I hope he will stop hissing soon. These past two days he's been trying to get on my bed at night but the moment he thinks I am awake from movement he hisses and goes away. Any suggestions?

 

[kommunity kats]

Wonderful! AND Congratulations!
Keep up the good work!

You may want to try getting some boxes . . . Cut one hole large enough for him to enter,
with smaller ones here & there all around it just large enough for him to stick his paw & leg through.
Then --after he's entered-- move the wand from hole to hole. . . . have another box he has to climb or jump into, with some ping-pong or hollow plastic golf balls to roll around & chase in there
They can get their teeth & claws in the holes in the golf balls & carry them around.
(Plastic bottle caps can be used instead. I also put these in a box too small for the cat to enter, and they have to reach in & try to extract them---which works best if the box is stationary.)

Corrugated cardboard also makes good scratching-posts.

Bedding can be very difficult to climb, & it will probably be awhile before he can just jump up,
so you may want to devise some steps he can gradually climb up to get onto the bed.

I played a radio for our kittens to get used to a variety of human voices.
New scents, unexpected noises & movements can each trigger Mitten's anxiety.bu,
, as time goes by & you continue to allow him the space & privacy he needs, he will come to trust you more & more, & the hissing should gradually fade away for the most part. (:

 

[kim4761]

He already has a huge scratch post and loves it! I put cat nip on it for him and he seems to love it haha. Yeah I have a side table which S the level as my bed and a chest that he gets on it to get on the side level, that is how he gets on my bed. I also play music and watch shows all the time. I will update you all more but here's some pictures of my kitty