How else can we help our new kittens be less afraid?

[Scaredycathelp101]

Our 2 new rescue kittens have been with us just over 24 hours. 4 months old, up to now have lived in kennels with litter mates (were with mum for first 10 weeks). Not been handled much, only by the lady who was fostering them.

They are completely terrified. Spent all yesterday evening hiding in the cat basket. Came out during the night & have used the litter tray/eaten a little.

Since we got up this morning they have found new hiding places and won’t come out. Tried enticing with toys/treats but no joy. We have a feliway plug in, have the same food/litter as they are used to, have them confined to one room and with lots of places to hide if they don’t feel safe. They haven’t eaten or drunk anything/been to the toilet all day.

We are trying to leave them to it as much as possible but is hard with 2 kids (9,13) who are desperate to talk to/play with them. How else can we help them feel secure/less afraid of us?

Patience!
Spend some time in their room without trying to interact with them. Sit quietly, read a book, chat softly.
Let the kittens become familiar with your scent and what you sound like. They will gain confidence and come out when they're ready.

Thanks. We’ve been doing this on & off today so will persevere. We’re all out at work/school the next few days so they have plenty of time to explore their surroundings in peace.

It’s so different to my last experience of rescue kittens who were playful and cuddly from the word go, but were much younger when we got them.

I’m worrying myself silly that they’ve been allowed to get too old without adequate handling and as a result, maybe they aren’t going to be suited to a home with kids. Really hoping that in a few more days they feel a bit braver!

It will be fine. Give them a few days.

ROFL. They have you sussed. They're already training you.
You have adopted babies. You'll soon have toddlers. A few months and you'll have teenagers.

Huge box. Lots of peepholes and blankets in.

Keep doing what you are doing. Just sit in there quietly, don't try to interact at first. You know curiosity and the cat .... Eventually they will come to find out what you are. Let them find you.

Time time and more time.
Set them up in one room- whole house is way too much at start.
When kids are calm and settled get them to sit in room and read out loud to kittens…
Then patience and time…

One room, lots of places to hide. Sit in that room and do quiet things like reading and very quiet chatting, listening to the radio etc.
Perhaps try leaving a speech based radio station on, my kitten liked Radio 4 Extra.
If they do venture out to eat etc then no excited noises.

In a few days you will be posting about how to get them to calm down, after you've retrieved them from the top of the curtains, glassware shelves, and wherever else they shouldn't be.

They say with settling in kittens it helps to think in terms of 3 days / 3 weeks / 3 months. For the first 3 days they’re basically shocked and scared and missing mum. 😭 Then they start to settle.

Keeping them confined to one room is good but you need to expose them to humans being around as much as possible. If they’re still hiding in 3 days, gradually reduce their hiding options. If still hiding in a week (they won’t be) take away all hiding options. If you work from home try and do it from that room as much as possible. You want to become an accepted part of their world.

They will get used to you and begin to play but it can be hard work and yes it is harder at 12 weeks than at 8. The rescue should have been handling them several times every day, I used to work in a rescue and that was part of my role.

My cats I got at 4 months old and they hid from me a lot at first and were horrified if I tried to touch them. One is asleep on my lap right now 😃

It took me weeks with my last kitten. He's now a senior cat snoozing next to my feet.

Thanks for all the replies.

Thy currently only have access to one room and we have tried to be around them as much as possible. We’ve encouraged the kids to be present without being too close or trying to coax them - but are having to watch them like hawks as they are desperate to look at them/play with them and they keep trying which isn’t helping.

Kittens came via RSPCA but were in the care of a registered cat fancier/breeder who doesn’t routinely take rescues but helps them out from time to time. She said she hadn’t handled them as much as she’d have liked (my suspicion now is that they may have only seen her at feeding time and not been handled at all).

We have a kitty cam & they’ve only just ventured out at 4am after almost 24 hours of hiding. My immediate concern is that they need to start eating /drinking soon so they don’t become unwell

They’ll find their paws soon enough - 24 hours isn’t a whole lot of time to settle and them using the litter tray successfully is good progress (as opposed to behind the couch etc).

Now, the important thing… pictures?

I had exactly this about a year ago when we brought 2 4 month old kittens home.

We thought they would never come out from cowering underneath the sofa and I could have written your post.

What I know now is that they were definitely just a acclimatising. The DCS were desperate for them to come out and okay and tried all sorts of balls / toys but they still just cowered.

48/72 hours later all of that was forgotten and they were soon running riot and play fighting everywhere. Yours will be the same. As others have said - just 'be' in the same room as them - get on with your normAl life and they will soon come into their own!

They will come round but I agree, if they aren't eating or drinking that's a problem. Maybe try them with something different, the advice is keep it the same but offering a yummy alternative might help. Even some Lik-e-Lix or Dreamies on the edge of the plate. Have you got a water fountain? TempCat drank a lot more once I had one of those.

Also, give them lots of alternative hiding places so they get used to moving around the room. Cardboard boxes with holes cut in the side are great for this. And assuming there is a window, a way for them to get up on the windowsill if they are too small to jump up yet.

Try and keep things calm and quiet and the noise down outside their room (no screaming kids running about) and gradually they will come out of their shell. Once they are a bit braver, short but frequent handling, (with Dreamies to make it seem fun) will help them along. Preferably after a play session (wand toys!) for them to run around & wear them out a bit, so they are tired and more likely to want a cuddle and sleep.

It's only been 24 hours! They will get bored soon and start exploring.

However personality seems to be inbuilt. We recently found a video of the first time we saw our rescues. One spent the whole time hiding in a corner looking petrified - and yes, she grew up to be the insane territorial one with intractable bladder issues. Another lept out of the carrier, hung upside down off our ceiling and shouted at us. He has barely shut up since.

Give it more time.

Patience, it has only been a few hours. They will venture out more as time progresses, and confidence increases. I personally would try to use the house just as you would if they were not there - with the exception perhaps of vacuuming - otherwise they revert to being scared with every new sound in the future, which I think leads to an anxious pet. Hopefully the rescue gave you a bed or blanket they have been using to give them some familiar safe feeling smells? GL

Try to think of it as natural behaviour, not as some sort of problem which you can help them with.

They are tiny, they know they are tiny, and they are in a new place with new smells, new sounds, new vibrations ( not in the hippy meaning, actually different vibrations from the floor and in the air.) a cat relies much more on this information than a human, and they don’t have much intellectual ability to process their circumstances. So they are afraid.

So try to keep things calm and routine, by all means show them you exist but don’t push it by trying to handle them at this very early stage. You’ve had lots of good advice ( especially the cardboard boxes, there is no cat created who can resist a cardboard box), but just try to keep calm yourself and encourage you children to be calm too. They pick up on this, and they will soon be venturing out.

This was all we saw of our new kitten for the first 48 hours. He eventually came out to lie near DD who sat silently in the room on a beanbag for hours, totally ignoring him. There was chicken on the beanbag btw. Years later he is still utterly devoted to her. Explain to your kids the more they leave them alone now the better friends they will be later. Our kittens enjoyed Smooth Cat Jazz (ask Alexa)🤣

are having to watch them like hawks as they are desperate to look at them/play with them and they keep trying which isn’t helping.
I'd hope 9,13 could do what they're told and leave the cats alone, you don't want them to be even more wary

At 9 and 13 they should be able to understand being in the room quietly and intentionally looking in the other direction to the kittens.

I've had a fair few scared feral kittens and its just patience, let them do everything at their own pace. I would just sit with them quietly reading a book and eventually they will come round. Everything is very new for them now and they are just babies.

How a cat behaves towards a mouse it intends to kill:

• staring at it in its hiding place.
• extending forelimbs into its hiding place.
• vocalising.

How your children wanting to play and stroke behave towards a kitten:

• staring at it in its hiding place.
• extending forelimbs into its hiding place.
• vocalising.

A human paying attention to the kitten and wanting to play looks like hunting behaviour. You have to pretend that the kittens are not at all interesting to prove to them that you don't plan to eat them.

Thanks for the replies. Yes it’s only been 36 hours since we got them but they are just so much more afraid than I/we ever expected. When we viewed them at the rescue they were literally climbing up the walls & seemed very confident so I didn’t expect them to fear us quite as much as they do.

We’ve discussed again with the kids the importance of leaving the kittens be until they decide to come to us. They do understand and can do as they are told, they are just very excited and can’t wait to be able to play with them. They are being really good about being calm & talking in calm voices and no jumping/shouting around like normal so they don’t terrify them more.

We’ve got lots of boxes out/cave beds and a cat tree infront of the window so they can look out.
We’ve offered a different brand/flavour of wet food alongside their usual dry food this morning plus left some dreamies out to hopefully tempt them.

They have been out exploring this morning since we have left for work/school. Still not eaten anything by the looks of it.

It’s totally normal, my two were the same, they hid behind a huge cupboard for two days and barely ate/drank and then after a week they were absolutely fine. It takes time, it’s a huge upheaval for them and a new place with new noises and smells etc. I would give them another day exploring on their own and then sit in with them on your own at first, let them get used to just one person at a time.