Reclusive kitten

Question
My cousin found an abandoned kitten and where she already had 4 other cats, she asked my father and I to adopt this cat. She is a Siamese and we guess her age to be about 3 to 4 months old. Ever since we've gotten her home, she hides either in the basement or under the furniture if she is upstairs. We've tried luring her out with food and treats and when you can get ahold of her she loves to be picked up and will stay in your lap for hours, but once she gets tired of this she goes back to hiding. Do you have any suggestions on how to gain her trust and maybe point out if we're doing something wrong? Thanks.

Answer

Luna sitting pretty Hi Angie,

Well the first important thing to do is get her confined to a bathroom.  You need the smallest room possible in order to to the rehabilitation right.  That way, they have to interact with you and will eventually gain their trust if you follow these instructions.  It is good she is only 3-4 months old because it's much easier to rehabilitate a younger cat.  Now don't go thinking confining her to a room is inhumane; it is the exact opposite.  Cats feel more secure in a much smaller space, so she should remain in the bathroom until which time she seems confident and doesn't crouch in a corner.  Give her something she can get inside of, such as one of those pyramid shaped beds or something of that nature.  That way she has a safe place in the bathroom itself.  Now, the important thing is to interact with her as much as possible.  You build trust by providing them with their basic needs.  So, every day, at least three times a day, you need to go in, give her fresh water, feed her the proper amount (at her age, she should get 1/4 cup of food 4 times a day), clean her litter box, and then sit in there.  The common mistake people make is to try to force the animal to bend to their will or their time schedule, which can prove to be a fatal mistake.  You have to let them come around in their own time, especially when you are dealing with an abused animal.  In the case of abuse, it can take months and months, but if you follow my instructions and spend at least 3-4 hours a day with her, I feel you can gain her trust in a matter of weeks.  Now of course this is an approximate time frame as I have not met her and have not had the chance to evaluate her personality and the severity of the problem.  However, here is what I recommend.

Go into her room at the same times every day. In the morning, go in, give her fresh water, 1/4 cup of dry food, and clean her litter box.  Spend a little time in there, just speaking to her if she won't come.  It's important to remember not to approach her.  Just talk to her, make eye contact, use her name, play with some of her toys yourself, but don't move toward her.  Let her come to you.  This may not even happen for first few days, but it will happen eventually.

In the afternoon, at approximately the same time every day, do the same thing.  Refill her water (you should clean the bowl at least once a day, especially if the bowl is plastic--stainless steel is best for water), feed her 1/4 dry, and clean her litter box.  Then, come in with 1/2 a 3 oz can of wet on small plate.  Sit down on the floor and set it directly in front of you.  Wait till she comes out, or makes any attempt to get closer to you.  In the beginning, reward her for even coming toward you.  Speak kindly and calmly to her, use her name, and set the plate closer to her after she has made an attempt to get closer to you.  Each day thereafter, repeat this process, but make her have to get closer and closer.  Important note: if at first she doesn't get closer to you at all, don't leave the food in the room; take it out with you.  Different things motivate different cats, and as I don't know her, I'm not sure what will work better.  Some cats this works with a favorite toy, others are more food-motivated.  Repeat this process until she comes to you and you can pet her consistently while she's eating.  Also try different toys to see what she likes.  As she is a Siamese, she should be very inquisitive and playful in nature, so toys may be very effective.  I recommend stuffed mice, a wauded-up paper ball (my cats love these), and a cat danger toy--either the one with leather tassels on the end, or one with a stuffed mouse.  I do not recommend the ones with feathers on the end because they can ingest them and the spines will get lodged in their throats, and also with some cats, it stimulates the prey drive to a high degree and brings out aggression (this depends on how dominant and prey-driven the cat is).  I personally don't use feathers at all.

Do the same thing in the evening.  Refill her water, give her 1/4 cup dry food, clean her litter box, and sit and talk to her.  Play with her toys, roll a ball, wave a cat dangler, get her interest.  Cats are easily distracted with their favorite toy, believe me.  They will focus on the toy and not you.  Now, don't follow the urge to pet her as she is playing with the toy, as for the reasons I mentioned, this may startle her and send her back to a corner.  Only try this when you think she's ready (after she's played consistently with you for several day) and when she's making eye contact.  Reach for her slowly, and if she freezes or starts to back up, just stop and go back to playing with the toy.  You'll know when she's ready.

Anyway, after about 3 or 4 days of this, introduce some catnip during your afternoon playtime.  I like to sprinkle the catnip on their sisal scratch posts, and they just love it.  If you don't already have one, I HIGHLY recommend them.  Cats need sisal scratch posts to train to scratch only that--I have used them to train all six of mine as well as forty foster kittens/cats, and it always works.  Cats need to scratch to shed their nails, which is a hygienic process for them as much as washing our hair is for us.  Scratching also stretches and strengthens their muscles, which is important for their development.  The sisal rope scratch posts work far better than any other product for several reasons: 1) Sisal is a tightly wound rope that provides the most resistance for scratching, which means it feels the best to them and works the best to shed their nails. 2) It is a unique product unlike any other in your home, so when you praise them when you use it, they associate that material as what is to be scratched.  Carpet posts not only don't shed their nails, but don't allow them to distinguish between that carpet and the carpet in your home.

The important things to remember are that you can't rush this process: different cats take different amounts of time.  All you need for this to work is consistency, time, and patience, and she will come around.  This process may seem tedious, but it's easier than it sounds, and takes less time to do than to type up, lol.  If done properly, I can guarantee that it works.  I have used this process for one of my six cats, as well as thirty something fosters for a variety of issues.  Even if they weren't abused, they were untrusting due to a painful experience or just unsocialized with people.  No matter the reason this always worked.  Some takes weeks, others months, but most take 3-6 weeks on average.One of my fosters was hit by his owner, another was burned by a car engine, and one litter had never even seen people.  They hissed at me for near a week and a half, but they came around.  

Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.  Have a great weekend!  By the way, I am attaching a pic of Luna, my 4th cat.  She was picked up by a Rottweiler when she was just four weeks old, & I spent months rehabilitating her, gaining her trust, socializing her, and gradually introducing her to dogs.  She is now the most social of my six cats (although they are all social and don't hide ever).  They are all socialized to men, women, children, cats, dogs, rabbits, reptiles, hamsters, and a variety of loud noises.  So don't give up!

Best regards,

Holly Martin
Texas A&M University
Animal Science B.S.
Cat Care/Behavior Counselor
holly06petlover@yahoo.com