bad treatment

[josaphine32]

i got a Kitten from a woman who had a small boy of around 2 yrs old, and the day i walked into there house the kitten they were trying to sell was quite timmid and when i was trying to coax the kitten out from under the table the little lad came screaming charging into the kitchen with a trolly and the poor kitten was terriffied, clawed me to bits and as the mother said nothing to the child, i could see this cat was not going to be very friendly towards people,

I thought there and then i would not have this cat as she was very hand shy and timmid, and just said i dont know i will get back to her, I went away and thought about it, and went back within the hour and paid for and took her home, 8 months on she is lovely, does not want to go out alot as too shy and runs away from anything, cough and shes gone, DO THEY EVER GET OVER IT? i wouldnt give her up for the world, but is ther something your pet hates, mine is touching her head, she ducks!!! Some people should not have or sell pets!!!

[Litchick]

josaphine32, thank you so much for going back and getting that baby and giving her a lovely home! My 10 month old kitten was a stray, she was of course nervous and timid in our house at first but became very loving and approachable. However, still, certain sounds (the telephone ringing, loud TV) and sudden movements still do frighten her. The best I can say is to just continue to be loving and gentle with her and reasurre her when she is frightened. If she gets over it, great, if not -- she will know that she can come to you when she needs reassurance.

[PurplePixie]

I have 12 cats at the moment & many of them have had bad starts in life. In my experience, they tend to mostly stay a little wary if they have been hurt in the past...but because of that, I find that the little daily miracles when they make a tiny step of progress are all the more amazing & I never fail to be very moved whenever such a damaged little animal can dare to trust us human beings again.

You might find that if you were to introduce a much more outgoing kitten to your timid one, that she would feel more secure. Lucky kitten to have you save her.

[WendyS]

Josaphine, I sympathise with your problem. These timid animals need a lot of patience. I guess like humans, they take their early emotional scars with them through life. But it may be possible to gradually desensitise her to some of the loud noises which bother her. If you go down to your library or to a really good CD shop you might be able to buy a CD which contains all sorts of noises (cars, telephones, vacuum cleaners, etc.). Another source of search might be a drama group who need access to all these sounds as a background for their theatrical productions. If you play such a CD regularly on a very quiet volume, your cat might gradually become accustomed to the sounds and not take fright quite so easily. Then you could try turning up the volume very slowly to see how she reacts.

[alfiebrady]

We had a kitten that was brought to us by someone who had found it being mistreated by a youngster (throttling it), but instead of being timid/shy/nervous, was the most affectionate and affection-seeking cat possible.

If you visit a rescue centre (Cats Protection, Mayhew, Celia Hammond, etc.) and talk to the staff, I think you'll find that it's possible (not always) to socialise a cat that's had a bad start with human contact, but with a lot of patience, perserverance and love.

Best of luck with your new friend.