Just after last Christmas, two kittens appeared under a shed in the garden. We live on a farm and this is not the first time someone has dumped a kitten here, but these were very young. We managed to catch them, both females, and brought them indoors where they stayed in a cage for a few weeks and then we gradually introduced them to our two resident oldies.
One of them was immediately at home and has become a loving, if rather demanding companion but the other, Toni, remains defensive and suspicious and will not allow us to even touch her. One year later she is no nearer being tamed. I've tried pheremones, special food treats, everything I can think of but she won't even sniff my hand. They all have access to outdoors and in summer spend most of the day sleeping in the sun, now they tend to stay in the house, they seem happy but little Toni remains afraid and distrustful.
Where have we gone wrong?
What can we try, or shall we resign ourselves to the fact that she'll never be truly tame although she knows where to come for a good meal.
One of them was immediately at home and has become a loving, if rather demanding companion but the other, Toni, remains defensive and suspicious and will not allow us to even touch her. One year later she is no nearer being tamed. I've tried pheremones, special food treats, everything I can think of but she won't even sniff my hand. They all have access to outdoors and in summer spend most of the day sleeping in the sun, now they tend to stay in the house, they seem happy but little Toni remains afraid and distrustful.
Where have we gone wrong?
What can we try, or shall we resign ourselves to the fact that she'll never be truly tame although she knows where to come for a good meal.