Picking kitty up

[shera]

Our kitten (4 months) who we have had for 2 weeks doesn't much like being picked up, but I would like her to get used to it if at all possible.  If she just plain doesn't like it, I am also ok with that, but I don't want to make things worse, and I clearly don't have a strong grasp of feline behaviour and body language. Should I pick her up more often, even though she is clearly uncomfortable (but in softpaws, so kinda defenseless), or should I do the very opposite and not try to only pick her as often as I have to, and hopefully over time once she is more comfortable with me, will possibly want to be picked up all on her own?  Partly I am asking because my 3.5 yr old picks her up multiple times a day and her little legs swing but she has her in that under the arms little kid grasp, and I honestly don't know if I should repremand my child (as I have been doing) or just let her keep doing it, because I feel like maybe over time she will be totally ok with being handled (although not in that under-arms way).  She doesn't meow or bite, but if she picks her up 2-3 times in short succession she will go and hide, but at first if she did it only once she would be under the bed.  I think I'm just kinda drawing a parallel here, Lily won't let me hold her even in a safe and proper way, but she seems to almost tolerate the 3 yr olds mishandlings now that she is getting used to it.  What's the deal LOL.

 

[aeevr]

Lacey does not like being picked up, but tolerates it for short periods. I do pick her up and smooch her and put her back down before she gets pissed. When the cat starts flattening her ears, that's a good sign.

Don't pick the cat up like a baby - they tend to especially hate that.

 

[shera]

Lacey does not like being picked up, but tolerates it for short periods. I do pick her up and smooch her and put her back down before she gets pissed. When the cat starts flattening her ears, that's a good sign.

Don't pick the cat up like a baby - they tend to especially hate that.

I don't do the baby cradle thing, my old cat hated that too LOL, but even just to scoop her up and lay her on my chest while I'm reclined and pet her, she hates that, she just seems to want to get away, and it would seem like a pretty good place to be as a cat.  I just somehow think that persistance might work for me as it as somehow seemed to work for he 3yr old, or is that wrong?  I don't want to make her completely afraid of being picked up altogether!  So many of you are whizzes at cat genetics, surely you are as good with cat behaviour.

 

[ritz]

Don't have much advice other than I think it sometimes simply depends upon the cat.

Ritz lived on the streets the first five or six months of her life.  She is my first cat/pet ever, so I didn't know how to pick up a cat.  I concentrated on getting her to trust me so still after two years haven't picked her up except to scruff her and put her into a cat carrier.

Ritz is a lap cat, ocasionally I would lift her up an inch or two and set her down beside me on the sofa.  Not thrilled about it.  I think that is a good way to get the cat use to being picked up.  Followed by a treat of course!

Now Ace is a cat I rescued from the streets because she was running on three paws (leg probably bitten, healed poorly, never broken).  She is staying at a friend's house (Ritz is an 'only child' and I have only one bedroom).  Ace is around 6 to 9 months old.  From day one I could pick her up (albeit ungracefully); from day two or three, she purred, rolled on her back for belly rubs and head butted me.  She was previously owned, who knows why such a friendly cat was abandoned. 

 

[aeevr]

Oh yeah. I do lure my cats into my lap with treats.

I also want to add... kittens are very often not very cuddly - they are too busy being wild beasts for that. Cats often grow into cuddliness as they start to appreciate lounging. Kittens are go,go,go and passed out.

One last point... cats are more cuddly when it's cold so you might have to wait a few months.

 

[shera]

Oh yeah. I do lure my cats into my lap with treats.

I also want to add... kittens are very often not very cuddly - they are too busy being wild beasts for that. Cats often grow into cuddliness as they start to appreciate lounging. Kittens are go,go,go and passed out.

One last point... cats are more cuddly when it's cold so you might have to wait a few months.

That totally makes sense, I bet she's just to "on the go" to be held still.  I think I'll just take cues from her, if she wants to be held, then great and if not then I'll respect that too.

 

[aeevr]

yeah right.

there's no way anybody could look at that cutie and not pick her up and smooch her.

 

[shera]

yeah right.

there's no way anybody could look at that cutie and not pick her up and smooch her.

 LOL, that's the problem I have, but I don't want to make her like it less. 

 

[sk_pacer]

It's a rare kitten that likes being picked up/held, just about as many as there are human teenagers that accept it and that isn't very many. Kitten is at the age were everything must be explored, chased, beaten up. climbed or terrorised and it all must happen every waking minute.  Once the kitten becomes a cat, it will settle down and be more affectionate although it may not still like being picked up.

An aside - I do have one cat that seems to like being held like a baby. I suspect this is because she spent her first winter snuggled inside my sweater and would frequently wiggle so hard to get closer that she would end up lying on her back. If I do pick her up and she flips over, it is because she wants to play and (yes, this is bad and shouldn't be done) and grabs on to my hand and 'kills' it - she can about lift her own weight just with her paw pads to 'kill' the hand, never ever uses claws on me