I brought a new cat home… It keeps running and hiding.. How can I help it to understand it is in a safe plac
I have one female cat who is very hyper. She is small.. a kitten.. last night I decided to get another cat to keep her company. A friend had a cat who recently (within 3-4 months) had kittens. The cats were living in a barn. I brought home a cute little boy… Now that I have the cat home, he will not come to me (he runs and hides) and my cat is dying to play with her new friend. I’ve tried food, petting it (when I can catch it) etc.. how do I get this cat to understand he is in a safe place? I am really wanting to pet it and show it the ropes, (food placement, litter box, etc)… but I can’t get it to come out long enough to show it everything is o.k. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Tagged with: 4 months • cats • cute little boy • female cat • kitten • kittens • litter box • new friend • ropes • safe place
Filed under: How to keep my home safe
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Hi Hun, I know that this is difficult—but, what you have there is a WILD/ferrell cat. He was born in the wild (in a barn), and at 3 or 4 months old, he is also wild, and it is very difficult to rehabilitate a ferrell cat. Please, for your benefit and the benefit of the kitty you’ve had for a while, take him back to the friend you got him from and let him go. There is not much you can do with him except to leave him alone and let him come to you. BUT, you are taking a chance of bringing diseases into your other kitty that may be deadly.
Now, if you’d like to have a companion for your little girl–first, please (if you haven’t already done so) have her spayed. Then, pay a visit to your local animal shelter. You’ll find soooo many kinds of kittens there that the biggest decision wil be "which one?" Plus, when you get them from the animal shelter, they’ve had their vaccinations, they’ve already been spayed or neutered and they are micro-chipped–all ready to go to a nice home.
But honestly, if this little wild one had of been captured at about 6 to 8 weeks old, you would have been able to do something with him, but NOT NOW–he’s too old, and he’s going to harm your little girl kitty. Please take him back, he will NOT make a good pet. I’ve had experience with these—and, once they go ferrell, there’s no coming back. Yes, to some people, they say that there is–that they can be rehabilitated. Yes–for a while. As they age, that wildness comes back into them, and OH Brother!! I still carry the scars from years ago by being torn up by what "appeared" to be a nice, loving cat. Yes, he was mine–I had him for 6 or 7 years, and the older he got, the meaner he got until I had to have him put down. I will not go thru that again!
She will have to adjust on her own. She’ll be fine.
Give it some time to feel safe, just make sure it has food and water . It will enventually come out and feel more safe.
you just have to let him get used to it. It normally takes a cat about a week or two to adjust to the new setting. Keep him in a room by himself for a few days, and go in there every hour and just sit in a cornor until he comes to you! Don’t scare him by trying to pet him when he is not ready. Then eventually, bring in your other kitten. after they play for a while, you can let him out and he should do fine.
It will take time. Give it a chance to explore the empty room on its own (with you and the other cat in a different room), and give it a separate food and water dish from the other cat so it won’t feel like it has to fight to get food. It’ll probably be at least a week before the cat calms down and starts to adjust.
This happened to my friend and her vet advised her to keep the kitten in one room, instead of letting it go through the whole house. Put a little tray and some food and water in the room and give the kitten a chance to get used to that room. When he seems comfortable with that room, (and give him lots of time) you can then start to introduce him to the rest of the house and your other cat. He’s probably just overwhelmed right now.
Give this new kitten some time. Keep food and water in a place that ‘belongs’ just to the new kitten. Like under the bed or wherever the kitten hides. Keep your ‘hyper’ kitten away for a few days.
After awhile, move the new kitten’s food and water to an open part of the room….then later to another room. Gradually expand your new kitten’s ‘horizons’ and limit the activities of the ‘hyper’ kitten around the new one until they gradually get used to each other.
When you bring a new cat into the household where another resides, that cat immediatly knows it. A lot of cats will fight for the dominance of the house, and perhaps {maybe if the female is older} is too intimiadting for him. Keep her away from him and close the door to the room he’s in. Put a litter box and some food in there, and sometimes go in holding the cat. Don’t put her down, just hold her, and show him she’s not going to hurt him. Eventually, he will loosen up. Don’t force him, however, or he’ll never relax.
Don’t expect him to do it in any hurry. I took in 2 kittens to keep them from freezing. They made friends with the other cats in a relatively short time, but it took me two years to be able to pet them and they are STILL skittish. For now shove the food & water under whatever he is hiding under. Tomorrow move it to another spot in the room. The next day, further towards where you want him to actually eat it. When you finally get to your preferred "feeding station," leave it there. Don’t worry. If nothing else, he’ll come out at night to eat when everyone is sleeping. Be patient. CarolSandyToes1
Even when I move to a new apartment, my cat (who I have had for six years) will run and hide. Your kitten just needs time to adjust. Cats are not fans to change.
let her run an hide when she is ready she will come out if it was living in a barn might be a llitle wild you cannot make it understand give time thats about all good luck sounds like your going to need it
To calm kitty, leave him alone for a little while. Let him adjust. He’s just scared. Leave the doors (where his food, water and litterbox, are) open. Go somewhere else and let him explore. Stay with your other kitten for a while so she won’t scare him. He’ll be fine. It might take him a few days to adjust, just be patient.
Hope this helps!
you cant force a cat to feel comforable around you. what you can do is just sit or lay near his and get his to get used to you being there and occasionally call to him and just wait eventually he will know whats what and get to coming out more often. also you can play with youre other cat in front of him with a toy so he sees that if you dont harm her then why is he still hiding so maybe he will come out to play. good luck! god bless
No need to worry it takes time. My cat acted like this when we first brought him home. It just about a day or two and he’ll be fine.
My cat is 5 months old and he is very friendly, he would like me to pet him all day long. Sometimes he hides, but then he comes out. I think they just like to explore things. It is probably his personality if he doesn’t come to you. All I have to say is his name, which is Simba and he comes running to me.
Just leave him alone and let him get used to his new surroundings. When he’s ready, he’ll come out on his own.