Advice for socialising Kittens

GingerLily

Hi,

We've adopted two sibling kittens, 8 weeks old now, and they were strays. They were initially taken in by a Vet at about 5 weeks old and we took them last week.

We're trying our best to socialise them and I'm just looking for advise on whats normal and what to expect.

In general, they don't like being touched and we haven't tried to pick them up since we first brought them home (it upset them a lot).

We've them kept in one room and will continue to do so until they're fully comfortable with us.

We feed them mostly dry food and pet them at dinner time when they get wet food, they're not usually mad about the petting but accept it.

They will eat treats (roast chicken) from our hands.

They'll play with us and are happy to be quite close to us, but don't want us to grab for them.

Last night I finally was able to get one of them to let me pet her on the couch and she stayed there for an hour purring and fell asleep, big step. This morning she didn't want to be pet again, typical!

Its been a week so far, I'm not sure if we're doing the right thing by patient or if we should force things more, I don't want to frighten them. Should we force handling?

Any advice?

D3V!L

Give them time. They'll decide when they're ready to be touched.

GingerLily

D3V!L wrote: »

Give them time. They'll decide when they're ready to be touched.

That's what I thought but the Vet initially told us to handle them regularly though

sillysmiles

You are handling them regularly, you are petting them daily and letting them see there is nothing to worry about

Graces7

Time, and being relaxed about it.

And let them make the running. I used to tell folk when I sold Siamese kittens, to let the kittens come to you.

I took in three young street cats early November. One especially had clearly been abused, another was appallingly wary.

Now the abused one is so loving and the wary one walks in front of me and lies on his back in my path..

If they fight shy of being touched, stop touching? They will come to it in their own time.. let them sniff your fingers if they want.

JUST REREAD YOUR POST; a week is far too soon to expect them to be at ease with you. It really is.
Wait and watch ; avoid petting a while yet.

aonb

My cats are both ex-ferals
First cat arrived as a kitten - it took about 4-6 weeks of doing what your're doing - keeping her in one room, feeding, treats, playing, etc before she would let us touch/stroke/hold her. It was all very slow but worth it in the end, shes a lovely happy house cat now - and completely tame
Our second cat arrived in the garden as a skeletal/half dead feral. She was about 4 years old the vet reckoned. It took about 6 months of daily feeding, finally trapping her to get her neutered, then containing her in one room, and that was the start of her relaxing and settling in. Shes snoring on the sofa as I type

Youve got them early enough to successfully tame them OP - just give it time, and take it slowly, and lots of calm and quiet and gentle handling - as someone else said, what you're doing now is 'handling' - food, treats, games/play will all build up trust.

Well done for rescuing them, and they;ll soon pay you back with lots of love and fun

GingerLily

From reading some "advice" online it sounded as though taming them young was an urgent thing to do, so I was stressing!

We'll continue to pet them when they feed and hand feeding and hope they start to look for affection from us outside feeding times!

aonb

GingerLily wrote: »

From reading some "advice" online it sounded as though taming them young was an urgent thing to do, so I was stressing!

We'll continue to pet them when they feed and hand feeding and hope they start to look for affection from us outside feeding times!

Its early days yet OP.
Dont worry - they've been around humans since 5 weeks, so should be lovely pets once they get used to you new humans and strange house.
Bribery like tuna and cheese and lots of string and paperballs to play with will win them over!

boomerang

Kittens go through a sensitive period of socialisation up to 7/8 weeks of age and with each subsequent week that passes, it becomes harder and harder to "tame" them so that they become confident, friendly pets. I wouldn't agree with taking your time and allowing them to come to you. You need to work very hard now at bringing them around. They won't like it initially, but handle them constantly. Wrap them up, cuddle them in close to you and keep talking softly to them, gently rubbing them etc. Offer them a tasty treat like ham or philadelphia cheese from your hand, and use interactive wand toys to increase their confidence. Keeping them in the one room only is a great idea as it gives you easier access to them. Something like a downstairs loo is perfect as they can't run and hide. Take it from someone who has brought a lot of nervous kittens around!

GingerLily

You see, very very different advice!

Definitely tough to know if we're doing the right thing!

Our female kitten let us pet her quite a bit last night, the male seemed to feel left out and allowed some petting but had a sour face the whole time, he didn't move or flinch though which is the progress. The first night we had them we forced the handling, as we had been advised, and he's never really forgiven for that, hopefully he'll forget soon!

They get lots of play on with us, definitely not worried about that (feather wands and fishing rods) as well as lots solo play toys.

Can kittens have cream cheese? I'm Lactose intolerant myself so know that it can cause issues?

Apiarist

GingerLily wrote: »

Can kittens have cream cheese?

Best feed them kitten milk and kitten food. If you want, you can give them some meat to compliment canned / dry food.

GingerLily

victor8600 wrote: »

GingerLily wrote: »

Can kittens have cream cheese?

Best feed them kitten milk and kitten food. If you want, you can give them some meat to compliment canned / dry food.

The poster above suggested cream cheese, I wouldn't have considered a suitable myself!

pawrick

Ensure they also get interaction from other people otherwise there is a risk that they will only tame to you and imo give them lots of one on one time away from each other with you to build their confidence with you rather than relying on each other too much.

8 week old kittens can be tamed but it's just more difficult than if they are younger.

From what you said you seem to be doing the right things but there is always the potential that they may never like to be held at this stage depending on their personalities.

best of luck

.......

GingerLily wrote: »

Definitely tough to know if we're doing the right thing!

Youre doing the right thing

Some cats are more snuggly than others as part of their personality. Our girl is a lovely friendly purring angel, but its all on her own terms and she wont let you hold her (she will submit to a 10 second cuddle if you pick her up just after she has woken up) and wont lie on you or snuggle into you. But she will lie right next to you and purr her head off.

Just keep doing what you are doing.

Im sure I speak on behalf of everyone on the thread when I say - we would like to see pics of the kittens

loveisdivine

Correct above that all cats are completely different. I've one that hates being petted, but come bed time every night she jumps up and insists on sleeping on my stomach. She won't sleep anywhere else, but god forbid I try and stroke her!

Heckler

loveisdivine wrote: »

Correct above that all cats are completely different. I've one that hates being petted, but come bed time every night she jumps up and insists on sleeping on my stomach. She won't sleep anywhere else, but god forbid I try and stroke her!

Agreed. I had 2 cats. The first and older used to love nothing better than to be spun across a wooden floor. Would come running back for more. Slept on the bed and was a hugely affectionate cat. The younger cat was a bit cagey. Would engage in games and all that but wasn't fond of being held and would just about put up with being petted.

Cats are very individual which is why I love them.

GingerLily

UPDATE: both kitties are settling in well!

The girl cat is getting more and more friendly, she's very curious and affectionate now!

Our little boy is still a bit wary but he's come up to us the last few nights for cuddles and has even asked for belly rubs!

I'm still hoping we can work a bit more on on the handling so we can put medication on them / get them in their carrier easier!

They were well behaved in the Vet last week anyway, so they know how to be good!


Thanks for the advice, its been by helpful.

I'm on a phone now so can't add a picture but I will

Graces7

They seem to plateau then make great leaps of progress. still seeing this with my new three. amazed and delights

also they have grown like weeds. I picked one up last night and needed both hands...these were street cats!

Sheepdish1

pawrick wrote: »

Ensure they also get interaction from other people otherwise there is a risk that they will only tame to you and imo give them lots of one on one time away from each other with you to build their confidence with you rather than relying on each other too much.

8 week old kittens can be tamed but it's just more difficult than if they are younger.

From what you said you seem to be doing the right things but there is always the potential that they may never like to be held at this stage depending on their personalities.

best of luck

This happened to my cat as she was very sick and not around people at all until older and she’s still terrified of anyone except her immediate carers!

Graces7

Sheepdish1 wrote: »

This happened to my cat as she was very sick and not around people at all until older and she’s still terrified of anyone except her immediate carers!

mine are "unsocialised " re other folk as I am isolated and rarely see other folk. Wary they are but they stay well away from the road which is a good thing.

My few neighbours know my cats as they are huge compared to the tiny ones here and I gather they "visit" one of the old ones! I have advised him NOT to feed them ...;)

Even when they were new they let me handle them.