Socialising cats.
Discussion
My housemate and I have two young cats (11 months)and, although they are fine, they don't really seem to socialise with us as other cats have done in the past and seem scared of the tiniest thing!
A little history:-
Last November 5th five kittens were found in a box on HM pub garden. She took them in and found they were all alive but in various states of health. Next morning she took them to the vet who checked them over. The age of these kittens was estimated at 3 weeks, too young to be away from mum really! HM decided to keep the runt, a little black and white girl weighing 300gm and the boisterous hairy thug boy brother who weighed in at about double her weight.
She had to feed the runt with formula from a syringe for about 10 days, the boy lapped his up from a bowl.
Both these kittens survived, grew healthy and were moved up to my place.
They are both kept as house-cats and have grown well, the boy is still bigger than his sister, but is somewhat lacking in brain power compared to her!
They eat well and have two or three 'play' times during the day, chasing each other and hunting toys. They come to us and rub around our legs at food time.
Problem is that they rarely interact with us at other times. He will lay on the bed at night and (rarely) will sit on our laps for a couple of minutes. She will never sit on our laps but is happy to sit next to us (read clinging to our legs) on the sofa.
Any noises result in them running and hiding for anything up to an hour!
We pick them up as often as possible to get them used to us. Always letting them go when they are ready to be put down, so they shouldn't fear that they are being trapped.
Could they still remember the 5th November and the noise?
Have they missed out on trained skills from their mum?
Even though they were 'adopted' at 3 weeks could they still be feral?
Any input would be good as they are lovely little cats, just a bit scaredy!
A little history:-
Last November 5th five kittens were found in a box on HM pub garden. She took them in and found they were all alive but in various states of health. Next morning she took them to the vet who checked them over. The age of these kittens was estimated at 3 weeks, too young to be away from mum really! HM decided to keep the runt, a little black and white girl weighing 300gm and the boisterous hairy thug boy brother who weighed in at about double her weight.
She had to feed the runt with formula from a syringe for about 10 days, the boy lapped his up from a bowl.
Both these kittens survived, grew healthy and were moved up to my place.
They are both kept as house-cats and have grown well, the boy is still bigger than his sister, but is somewhat lacking in brain power compared to her!
They eat well and have two or three 'play' times during the day, chasing each other and hunting toys. They come to us and rub around our legs at food time.
Problem is that they rarely interact with us at other times. He will lay on the bed at night and (rarely) will sit on our laps for a couple of minutes. She will never sit on our laps but is happy to sit next to us (read clinging to our legs) on the sofa.
Any noises result in them running and hiding for anything up to an hour!
We pick them up as often as possible to get them used to us. Always letting them go when they are ready to be put down, so they shouldn't fear that they are being trapped.
Could they still remember the 5th November and the noise?
Have they missed out on trained skills from their mum?
Even though they were 'adopted' at 3 weeks could they still be feral?
Any input would be good as they are lovely little cats, just a bit scaredy!
I've got 2 cats, brother and sister, who are now 6 years old. They were feral, living under a shed apparently and were trapped with their mother when they were 8 weeks old. They then had limited handling and up close contact with humans for another 8 weeks which is when I got them.
They hid under the sofa for the first few weeks, only venturing out at night when I wasn't around and it took many long months to get to be able to touch them, never mind stroke them.
Even now, if I try to pick them up, the female will scarper. However, if I'm watching telly or using the PC, she'll jump up and plonk herself on my knee. She will also sneak under the bedclothes to snuggle in at night. Her brother is bolder, but still a definite scaredy cat for noises or any kind of upset. I can pick him up for a few minutes for a cuddle but we know our limitsAgain, he'll sit on my knee when it suits him. They both definitely like the human contact though - both follow me round wherever I am.
Every so often they both seem to get a little braver about something new, so it is coming, it's just taking a very long time.
I think what I'm trying to say is just being patient and giving them cuddles on their terms will pay off in the long term. Good luck, and ....pics??
They hid under the sofa for the first few weeks, only venturing out at night when I wasn't around and it took many long months to get to be able to touch them, never mind stroke them.
Even now, if I try to pick them up, the female will scarper. However, if I'm watching telly or using the PC, she'll jump up and plonk herself on my knee. She will also sneak under the bedclothes to snuggle in at night. Her brother is bolder, but still a definite scaredy cat for noises or any kind of upset. I can pick him up for a few minutes for a cuddle but we know our limits
Again, he'll sit on my knee when it suits him. They both definitely like the human contact though - both follow me round wherever I am.Every so often they both seem to get a little braver about something new, so it is coming, it's just taking a very long time.
I think what I'm trying to say is just being patient and giving them cuddles on their terms will pay off in the long term. Good luck, and ....pics??
We had a rescue a good few years back but she was found in a car park and was about 4 weeks old. We hand reared her and she had plenty of human interaction but she never really became a 'cuddly' cat. She would come and sit next to you on the arm of the chair or lay next to your legs on the foot stool when she wanted but she never liked to be picked up and tablets had to be done with a towel and gauntlets! I think it something mum teaches them, either to be afraid of or make servants of us humans. I imagine its similar to an unloved child, if they don't have that love shown to them, they don't know how to show it back and it causes issues down the line. Give it time, they may get braver but it has to be on their terms and in their time. Have you tried just sitting on the floor ignoring them but a treat next to you, just getting them used to you being there or playing with them using food.
We also had a really scaredy lab, but gradually got him out of it by leaving the tv or radio on when we went out so he was never in the quiet, started with it really quiet and slowly turned it up over time. He just got used to the background noise and was fine unless it was fireworks or something. Not sure if it would work with cats though
We also had a really scaredy lab, but gradually got him out of it by leaving the tv or radio on when we went out so he was never in the quiet, started with it really quiet and slowly turned it up over time. He just got used to the background noise and was fine unless it was fireworks or something. Not sure if it would work with cats though
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