Eight-week old scared kitten

Caroline answered while I was typing. I heartily second her suggestions! I had typed:

I’ve never personally raised a kitten that traumatized before coming to us but have taken in several young strays or ferals in years past.

You are doing all the right and wonderful things this kitten needs. In answer to your question, start by spending time frequently in the room with her, talking gently and lovingly but not trying to handle her at first. Start out with rather brief visits quite frequently. Gradually build up to longer and longer visits. As you do, you can slowly settle closer to her during these visits, a little more each time. Give the kitten time to acclimate to you as non-threatening. Try getting her a stuffed animal she can snuggle and go ahead and rub your smell on it. For that matter, if you have a sweater or shirt with your smell on it you don’t mind sacrificing for awhile to cat use, put that in or near her cat bed to get used to your smell in a “safe” place. That way kitty begins to associate your smell with being safe.

Good luck and keep us posted. I’m sure others here at TDK with experience raising traumatized kittens not acclimated to people can give you more clear direction.

Hi CT lady,these other suggestions and what you’re doing are all good,I’ve tamed feral cats this way. I would put them in a secure room with many hidey places and go into the room and just talk,chatty style in calm and reassuring voice,drop a few treats like greenies and reward any eye contact with a happy but not too enthusiastic sound and let her set the pace.It’s also good if you have other cats to let the new kitty see you interact with the other kitties so they can sort of “pass it on” that you’re not a bad sort. 😉

I am rehabbing an 11 year old cat that was in a terrible situation,in a cage surrounded by dogs too(Yorkies though) and she’s finally warming up to me after about 4 months. She is getting quite affectionate and coming out for pets,doing “elevator butt” and so on. She is much more comfortable and makes eye contact and is even making a few playful moves so it is definitely possible to bring a cat around at any age(I think).

You’re doing great please come back and tell us how you do,this is a great community of cat lovers,they are really nice folks.

BTW we’d love a picture. 🙂 A lot of folks set up catster accounts,it is free. Click on some of the other avatars(not mine) and you can see their furry family and again,welcome!

Welcome to the furriest place on the internet. Thank you for rescuing the little fuzzbutt. I would do exactly what the others have said, be patient and non threatening and she will come around. Poor thing hasn’t had a really good start in life. Once she realizes that the rest of her life she’ll be loved and spoiled she’ll turn into a loving happy girl.

What a pretty little girl! She looks just like my Annie BraveHeart! Click on my avatar to see my kitties on Catster. I agree with everyone above that you are doing great with your new kitten and she is behaving very normally for everything she has been thru and brand new to your home. Time will heal all. Welcome to TDK!

What a beautiful kitten Natasha is! Poor baby – how could anyone treat a kitten like that? She is so fortunate to now be in a loving home!

My girls think that Natasha definitely need some kitty friends and so send an invitation!

Welcome to TDK and thank you for rescuing this little beauty. You have excellent advice here but I would like to add 2 things if I may. First for a kitten that small bigger is not necessarily better. She would feel more secure in one small room until she realizes that the wide open spaces are safe. Also if you have an alarm clock or watch that ticks, stick it under or in the stuffed animal. It simulates the sound of a mother cats heart beating. Make sure you kitty proof your home. They can get into all kinds of tiny spaces that you never think of until they are lost. A kitten this young will not take more than 4 or 5 days to feel at home. The introduction to your house cat is important to have a harmonious house and there is excellent information and advice on this site about that. There are a number of tricks you can use but the most important is to not let the resident cat see you making a fuss about the new kitten. They have their pecking order and it is all about territory so make sure the resident cat gets fed first, greeted first when you come in, etc. Once it realizes it is not losing its place with you it will not feel threatened by a newcomer. Looking forward to updates. Here is the url:

http://www.catsinternational.org/articles/getting_a_cat/good_introduction.html

CTLady, you’ve already gotten tons of good advice from others, so I won’t repeat their suggestions. There are a couple of things I’d mention as being specific to this kitten’s situation, however.

First, if you can, I’d sit or lie on the floor when you’re in the room with the kitten; it’s less threatening, and makes you more approachable. (One room would be better than two.) At her young age, I’d start spending as much time in the same room with her as possible.

Start serving a tablespoon of wet food in a shallow bowl or plate on the floor, a few feet away from you (not within arm’s reach). After a day or two, start moving the bowl or plate closer to you. In a few days, the kitten should be eating while the bowl is next to you. Then you can try to pet her. Then switch to a scant tablespoon of plain, unsweetened yogurt. After a couple days, dip your fingers in it. Let her lick the yogurt off your fingers. This will help her learn that hands and fingers aren’t as scary as she first thought. Do this until she’s actively seeking out and sniffing your hands; reward her behavior with using her name in a happy tone of voice, and petting her (briefly).

Second, this kitten will never likely respond well to being ‘scruffed.’ However, that’s a standard veterinary technique used to help handle frightened or feral cats (used initially to control the cat while getting the other hand under the cat for supporting body weight). Your best bet is to choose never to have her handled in such a manner – and warn any vet she sees about this; indicate that her records should clearly indicate that scruffing is a technique not to be used on her.

However, should it be needed in the future, it’s wise to teach her how to tolerate it. (Preferably when she’s at the licking-yogurt-gladly-from-your-fingers stage, and thoroughly distracted from whatever else you’re doing to her.) While she’s licking up yogurt, go ahead and gently grasp the scruff of her neck; then let go, and pet her, use her name in a happy tone, and tell her how happy you are that she didn’t struggle. A bit of repetition, graduating to a firmer grasp and picking her up (while supporting her body weight with the other hand), and lots of praise and petting immediately afterward will probably go a long way toward helping her learn positive associations with being scruffed (and compensating against the conditioning of her earlier treatment).

She sounds as though she’s been rescued from a very bad situation, indeed. Bless you for helping her out! And good luck!

She’s absolutely beautiful, she seems quite snuggly with your husband, so I hope she starts to feel more at home soon. We sent a friends invite too!