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Fraidy cats

This is a place to gain some understanding of cat behavior and to assist people in training their cats and dealing with common behavior problems, regardless of the method(s) used. Keep in mind that you may be receiving advice from other cat owners and lovers...not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a trainer or behaviorist!

  
Hyde

184089		 
 
Purred: Fri Aug 19, '05 8:43pm PST 
I've recently taken in two 7 month-old kittens. I'm starting to think that they haven't had much human contact before now (the house they came from had one person who worked full time and 3 other cats). They spend all day hiding from me and they kick up a fuss if I try to pick them up. One is coming along, but still hides. The other won't even let me near him. I also have a 7 year old that I've had for years, and she hisses whenever she sees either of them.

Has anyone had any experience with cats like this? I've had them for over a week now, is it too early to be really worried? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Arthur (Miss- You!- '93-'09)

Bucket of Fuzz

moderator		 
 
Purred: Sun Aug 21, '05 11:05pm PST 
Who did you get them from? Maybe if you talk to them about the kittens' lives before they came to live with you, it might shed some light on their current behavior.
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Plato

I eat, - therefore I am.		 
 
Purred: Sun Aug 21, '05 11:52pm PST 
It takes a few weeks for any cat to get comfortable with his or her surroundings. It takes even longer for an existing cat to befriend a new cat.

Give them time. smile
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Ayla

Ugly duckling- turned beautiful- swan!		 
 
Purred: Mon Aug 22, '05 1:00pm PST 
Yeah, it sounds like they didn't get much exposure to human cuddling. You're basically going to have to feel out the solution for yourself, unfortunately. I've dealt with many shy kitties before. Some do well being left to their devices and coming to you, and some do well being forced into being held and pet.

And yeah, a week in is still pretty early to determine how cats react to each other and their surroundings. I always find that after a month you'll have a good hold on the situation. That's not to say that everything will be fine then, but you'll have an idea of the progress you're making and where things are headed.
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Member Since
08/08/2005
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Purred: Tue Aug 23, '05 12:04pm PST 
I'm not sure the best method to socializing them to you but what worked for me in getting Baghi and Oliver aquainted to each other was bringing Oliver out everyday in his carrier and letting them get aquainted that way. Eventually Baghi got less hostile and more curious about him. We'd also let them get aquainted through a door. He'd be in a room with the door close and they could talk and get used to each other's smells that way. Then I slowly started letting Baghi smell him through a crack in the door. Eventually she was okay. Now she'd be happy to just bathe him all day (the little bugger won't hold still long enough though).
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Hyde

184089		 
 
Purred: Wed Aug 24, '05 7:17am PST 
Thanks everyone for your advice. We tried the "pick him up and force him to get used to cuddles"method and it worked better than we could have hoped. He's now the most affectionate one of the two and has completely come out of his shell. Now, if only we could get all three cats to get along...
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