About new kitten?

[catgirl1976]

So we lost our beautiful cat earlier this year to heart failure and have finally decided we are ready for a new kitten

We got a rescue kitten yesterday. Not told a huge amount about him other than he was born on a farm etc. He’s about 11 weeks old.

Got him home and it’s really clear he’s not been socialised at all and is t used to people. He’s been hiding under the sofa since yesterday afternoon. He won’t come out for food or water although when I came done last night his bowls were empty so I know he ate at least last night. He did come out for a very short explore in the evening but has hidden all day today.

The rescue lady said not to let him hide and to force him to have lots of cuddles to get used to us. We’ve tried twice and it’s clearly really stressful for him being deaf g out of his hiding spot (I have the scratches to prove it). Although once you’ve got him and are stroking him he’s calm. He won’t come out for kitten treats or toys. I’ve spent a lot of time lying on the floor talking softly to him and blinking slowly at him.

My previous experience of cats and everything I can find on line says leave him alone but the cat rescue woman was adamant.

AIBU to think I should leave him alone (he has access to food and water) and he’ll settle and coke out or is the cat lady right and (especially given he’s pretty much feral as far as I can tell) we need to get him out.

The only downside of not being able to get near him is we can’t show him where his litter tray is but I’m hoping this isn’t going to mean we can’t successfully litter train him once he’s a bit more settled

any advice is very much appreciated

Aww, my shy boy is black. Now a cuddle-monster!

The rescue lady isn't wrong - if he's semi-feral and not used to people or being handled, then you have a very short window of socialisation to get him used to being handled.

All the advice about waiting three days/weeks/months is aimed at adult cats - socialising hissing/spitting kittens is very very different and does need to be forced in some way otherwise you end up with an adult cat who is still terrified.

This is good advice:

Sorry, a link would be helpful:

http://www.kittenlady.org/feral

He doesn’t have a name yet - still the subject of much discussion though DH wants Sméagol and I want Spike 🤣

I know black cats have a hard time getting homes which is part of the reason we chose him plus out last cat was black and was the best boy ever.

I’ve got a feather on a wand toy so I’ll give that another go after dinner and se Eid it sparks some interest but I won’t force him or push him

Ours was feral we had her in one room for a week where it was warm with the food and a tray, I went in every night quietly and sat there. I think being in the room in the quite made her calm and by day two she had crawled up for a cuddle. She was soon very excited to see me and by the end of the week was winding around my legs

Oh just seen the feral kitten link which is different advice. Will have a read 😞

Yes - ours have a soft mousie toy and a laser pen (chases the red dot like a fiend )
Not keen on the flapping fish toy till it had ot's batteries removed and the belly stuffed with catnip .

PS. our 13 week old was semi-feral and we did have to force interaction on him - it sounds horrible but there is only a limited window to get kittens used to being handled and if you miss it, then you risk having a semi-feral adult on your hands.

Ours hissed, spat and growled but we still handled him.

I would do this ^

Assume feral/semi-feral if he was part of a feral/semi-feral farm colony, and treat aa such.

Surely the rescue centre would have told you if the kitten was feral? Not all farm kittens are.

Yes, I 'adopted' a year-old semi-feral and settling her was quite different to settling former pet cats or socialised strays.

He's lovely. Have patience, take it easy, leave food and a tray where he can find them. Don't make too much noise... he's only tiny.

Can you get a big feather and waggle it under the sofa to see if he'll play?

Gently does it....

If your dh wants Sméagol I’m surprised he hasn’t gone for Nazgûl due to his colour.

It's really important for people to note that this is a semi-feral kitten - not a domesticated adult cat who is just scared about being in a new home and needs a few days to settle.

They are two very different things and need handling in very different ways. Yes, with adults you just give them as much time as they need (one of mine needed three months before he came out of hiding) but with kittens you have a short window to get them used to be people and handling before it's almost too late.

Semi-feral kittens can be successfully domesticated but you do need to put the work in and be prepared to deal with hissing, spitting and scratching - it really doesn't take them long to settle down if you do it regularly.

Set a crate/cat carrier up as his safe space. Cover it with a blanket or towel (ideally one that has your scent!)

As long as he's not too stressed, close the door over and offer high value treats through the bars (those licky lix are brilliant for this because you can blob it on him so he gets the taste - they'll usually take it from the pack once they've tasted it!)

Do this a few times so he gets to know what the treats are, then offer it while he's out. You basically just need to contain him until he learns what treats are so you have some bribery material 😂

If you can't do that, the put a towel or blanket with your scent in his favourite hidey spot so he gets used to it. You ideally want every interaction to be positive, but you may have to finesse things a bit to get the interaction in the first place!

He's gorgeous! Black cats are the best!

He's beautiful. I'm sure he'll settle
My little Tennyson says hello.

Oh he's lovely! Last time I had feral kittens (11 years ago) it took them both 3 solid days before they would come near me. A full week before either of them wanted to get on my lap/eat in my presence. I spent a lot of time just quietly being with them in the room, letting them do what they wanted to ... no grabbing at them, trying to pick them up etc.

11 years later they are two of the most affectionate cuddly little cats I've ever had. Meeting them, you'd never know they started life in a feral community.

Good grief, it’s early (very early) days- let him have a minute to settle in. He would be much better off with a buddy- most charities only adopt kittens out in pairs, could you get another one?

Little Tennyson

If a rescue offered me a farm kitten I would automatically assume feral/semi-feral, to be honest. Most farm kittens aren't handled much at all and aren't good with people.

Ours was a real hissy/spitty little thing when we brought him home - I just ignored him and picked him up anyway lol. They can't really do any damage to you at that age so you can just persist regardless of their protests.

My local rescue will only adopt out kittens in pairs. Could you get another one, OP?

@ilovesooty oh! Tennyson is gorgeous

Thank you. He was 18 weeks old yesterday.

He doesn’t have a name yet - still the subject of much discussion though DH wants Sméagol and I want Spike 🤣

I'm with you , I'd rather shout "Spike" down the garden and have the Vet call out "Spike1976 please" in a busy waiting room .

Leave him be, poor baby boy.

We kept Daphne in one bedroom for the first week. She stayed under the bed for a lot of the time but she then moved to under a chair with a blanket over it. We would sit in there in the evening and pop in during the day. One of us would sleep in there at night.

6 weeks in and she’s such a loving girl.