Shy Kitten

[atp0726]

I rescued 2 feral kittens that i found were raised in a woodchuck hole in front of my home. The plan was to foster them but we gotten attached. The kittens were aprox 8-9 weeks when we trapped them and completely feral. They are now a little over 4 mths. I keep them in our guest bedroom at night and they are allowed to roam the upstairs during the day.

One of the kittens socialized much quicker than the other and is seems perfectly comfortable around everyone in the family even seems to enjoy playing with my 2 young kids (supervised) The other is still very shy, will run from everyone in the house except me. He seems to have really bonded with me and will sit I my lap for much of the day (I work from home and am with them all day)when he is not playing with his brother.

I really want them to both be family cats and not just one person cats which I feel is the direction the shyer of the 2 is going. Is there a chance he will eventually come out of his shell or is this the type of cat he will be?

I have tried to have them around company whenever possible and the family during feedings. any other suggestions?

 

[ArtNJ]

How old are your kids and how do they behave, generally and around the kittens? Depending on the answer, we may have to redefine "shy" as "normal" and bump your other kitten to "unusually tolerant". In order to bond with an average kitten, children normally need to be past the running around like a wild thing stage, and able to sit quietly and patiently wait for the kitten. Kids have an easier time with puppies -- kittens can be tough for young kids to connect with.

 

[atp0726]

How old are your kids and how do they behave, generally and around the kittens? Depending on the answer, we may have to redefine "shy" as "normal" and bump your other kitten to "unusually tolerant". In order to bond with an average kitten, children normally need to be past the running around like a wild thing stage, and able to sit quietly and patiently wait for the kitten. Kids have an easier time with puppies -- kittens can be tough for young kids to connect with.

Kids are almost 2 (son) and 4 (daughter). My daughter is really gentle and my son well he is heavily supervised around them. I agree one of them is amazingly tolerant more than i ever expected. The other aside from being shy around the kids (actually other than me is most accepting of my daughter) is pretty shy around everyone else that comes to the house including my wife. I can pick him up hold him, cut his nails, he reaches up and does this chin rub thing throughout the day which is really rewarding considering he had to be captured in a trap, but I am wondering if he will be happy in a busy house with young kids. The house is pretty big and they will eventually have access to the basement too so they have plenty of place to get away if they are getting stressed.
Under normal circumstances we would not have gotten kittens with kids this young but after fostering for a few months it would be hard to give them up or split them up.
Now I have an entire other thread about the mother I just trapped, which I thought was feral that ended up being a very sweet stray that is now living in the basement recovering from her recent spay. The plan is to adopt her out

 

[ArtNJ]

Others may have a different or broader experience. I've only had one set of kids after all. But from my perspective, I would not expect most kittens to really like most toddlers. An unusually gentle and patient 4 year old might have a shot, but you have to teach her to let the kitten come to her, how to gently stroke a kitten and where, not to ever grab or try and pick-up and what not. The easy going kitten is one thing, but you can't train a skittish kitten to like someone by forcing it. It might almost be harder to teach her the required approach, given how unusually tolerant the other kitten is -- i.e. especially hard to understand why she can't pick up the second kitten, when the first tolerates it so well. I would frankly stop trying with the 2 year old boy, it is likely a lost cause for now, and will only hurt everyone else's chances by stressing her out.

Well, that is my two cents. You might have more success than I expect, but keep your expectations realistic and don't worry about it if they aren't friends. Cats are very adept at evading toddlers and for whatever reason, at least in my experience, don't generally seem all that stressed by them as long as they can do so.