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Original poster

help me out here - one of my kittens has been cowering under the sofa all day and I haven't seen the other since yesterday

37 replies

coldtits · 15/12/2007 21:15

The cowerer is 7 months old, the vanisher is 3 months old, and I don't think either of them have eaten. Or moved.

The vanisher can't have got out, this I know - so where can she be? Will she ever turn up?

How long will they take to settle in - my last cat was a right bully boy and was strutting his stuff before I let him stay!

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Mincepiedermama · 15/12/2007 21:16

Have they only just arrived with you?

controlfreakyhohohohohohoho · 15/12/2007 21:17

you need to make them feel safe. give them a "nest" in a quiet safe dark cosy place.

Mincepiedermama · 15/12/2007 21:20

Ours spent the first few days under the cooker and inside a drawer (accessed from the back. It took us ages to find her.)

I put them in my room, litter tray, food, the lot. Then I let the kids in one by one for the odd visit.

After about a week they started venturing out of my room and bit by bit they came out of hiding.

Now they've intergrated really well. They know us all and hang out nicely. (We've had them about seven months now.)

One slight drawback ... having once had their lavatory in my room, one of them still feels free to use my room as such so I have to keep them shut out.

They're great fun though.

Original poster
coldtits · 15/12/2007 21:23

Yes, they came yesterday and the plan was to keep them ih the kitchen for a week, but ds1 got up, forgot all about them, let them out and they melded into the house!

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Mincepiedermama · 15/12/2007 21:30

Yes don't worry. It takes ages. They'll do it in their own time bit by bit. It's tough because everyone's so excited and wants to see the kittens, you too probably, but you just have to be patient.

Congratulations.

tissy · 15/12/2007 21:34

we once found one of our kittens in a coffee pot in a cupboard!

Original poster
coldtits · 15/12/2007 21:39

Is it ok not to know where one of them is? I am really worried she will starve because she is too scared to come and get some food.

I put some leftover salmon down for them, but still no kitties

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Mincepiedermama · 15/12/2007 22:27

They will come out if they're hungry enough. Eventually mine came out for fish.
I know what you mean about being worried. I couldn't relax 'til I knew they were both OK but they were and they do find the most brilliant hiding places.

I have a good dark bed thingy which I won in a raffle. They LOVE it and sleep in there every day. I'll try to find it for you.

MegBusset · 15/12/2007 22:34

My kitty hid for about a week when I first got her. They will find the smallest space to crawl into and hide. (My cat used to climb over the TV, down the back, into the video cabinet from the back and squeeze onto one of the shelves.)

I would leave a cardboard box with a towel in it somewhere dark and quiet in the house, near where you think they are, and leave food and water by it. I bet they will find it overnight.

I have had my kitty for 10 years now, and still sometimes I can't find her in the house though I know she's in and have turned the place upside down looking for her!

beautifulgirls · 16/12/2007 10:10

Did they emerge? Best just to try to keep the noise and movement in the house as calm as possibly and leave them to it for a couple of days at least. I would keep looking for the missing one just for peace of mind.
You might find a feliway diffuser helpful to help them calm down a bit.

systemsaddict · 16/12/2007 10:13

I'm sure she won't starve, you could leave bowls of food (really enticing food - tuna, salmon) and water in a variety of places so wherever she is she can creep out easily and get at them whenever it's quiet. I'd be more worried that you are going to find a 'little message' somewhere v. unusual - but that's kittens for you! It's amazing the spaces they can get into, let us know when you discover where she is!

maggymay · 16/12/2007 12:27

we thought we had lost one of our kittens a few days after we got them she had climbed into an open bottom draw climbed up the back of the other draws and was hiding in the top one as it was shut no one thought to look there I was worried sick incase she had got out lol and there she was curled up amongst hubbies undies LOL

systemsaddict · 18/12/2007 09:56

Any news on the kittens coldtits? did the vanisher reappear?

Original poster
coldtits · 19/12/2007 13:36

Well, I think the big one has somehow got out and run away as I haven't seen her for 3 days. The little on is around somewhere, I keep hearing her crying over the baby moniter, but I just can't find her. This is a nightmare, it really is. The food I am putting down at night isn't being eaten, all the drawers in the house are open and I am really worried that she is going to crawl into a corner where I can't find her and starve to death, as she isn't eating and is terrified on the odd occasion I have seen her.

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Original poster
coldtits · 19/12/2007 13:37

I have left fresh steamed fish down, plus cat food and cat crunchies, every single night, and none of it is being touched.

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NAB3littlemonkeys · 19/12/2007 13:40

Oh no!

When you do find the kittens put bells on their collars so you will be able to hear them next time.

Have you searched everywhere? Even in places that seem impossible? I lost my kitten and one time she was in my bed, under the duvet with her head on my pillow and another time she was in a tissue box. She really was that tiny.

I really hope you find them both soon.

puccaupunderthemistletoe · 19/12/2007 13:43

The kittens needed to feel some security from the start.

I gave a home to 2 X completely feral kittens, was hard work and lots of time spent making them feel secure and comfortable.

You need to find the smallest kitten! and keep it in ONE room with food, water and peace and quiet for at least a couple of days, prob too late for the bigger one especially as it has escaped.

hatwoman · 19/12/2007 13:45

oh coldtits - it's awful isn;t it. we turned the house upside down looking for one of ours that had - like mincedspidermama's - got into a shut drawer. If you can hear her you need to open / look behind/ on top of / under /in everything. drawers, cupboards, laundry baskets the lot. I'm sure she'll be ok. Are you leaving the food near where you think you can hear her?

MellowChristmasEveryone · 19/12/2007 13:48

crying over the baby monitor. You need to check your DC bedroom, every inch, cupboards, loose floorboards? I don't wish to make you feel worse but the kitten will be starving.

Can you not call someone to help you look. RSPCA?

LazyLinePainterJane · 19/12/2007 13:52

poor kitties!

Ours once hid behind a bookcase that was in an alcove with only a couple of inches space down the side, then they went in the little gap at the bottom of the bookcase, where the kickboard is. Took me bloody ages to find them!

Original poster
coldtits · 19/12/2007 13:54

Every time I go up when she meaows, she stops. I have emptied every drawer and cupboard and ther is a bowl of fish in my rtoom, which is where I suspect she is spending some time at least.

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Original poster
coldtits · 19/12/2007 13:56

There is no every inch in my dcs' bedroom, there is nowhere she can be stuck. They have a bed and a cot in there, that is it. No loose floorboards,nit's a new bult house.I strongly suspect she is upstairs wandering around. I have seen her flitting under the bed. She is 12 weeks old at least, so not so tiny she could hide in a mousehole =- iwould see her.

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Original poster
coldtits · 19/12/2007 13:57

Also baby moniter is very sensitive and will pick up on any sound upstairs.

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MellowChristmasEveryone · 19/12/2007 13:58

So you think she is running from room to room perhaps? Little blighters at this age, surely she will come out for some food soon.

Do you have any chicken you can cook? Mine loves chicken, goes quite mad when he smells it?

Let us know when you find her.

MegBusset · 19/12/2007 13:58

TBH if she hasn't eaten or (more importantly) drunk in three days I would contact your local RSCPA -- they may be able to lend you one of those cat trap things they use to catch feral cats.

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