Very aggressive kitten

Question
Hi, my fiance and I just got a kitten yesterday. She is approximately 8 weeks old and after that we dont really know too much. We have been told that her mother is a very good friendly cat.

Since we brought her home she has just sat in a corner when either of us are near her. She would hiss and make a sort of growling sound if we came too close. Initially we put this down to new environment etc and left her alone for a while just to let her settle.

She wouldnt move out of the corner so we put down some water and food for her and she took these. When we went near her again it was still the same growling and hissing and she wont let us touch her. We put her litter tray down and left her water and went to bed.

When we got up this morning it was obvious she had been exploring her new surroundings and she had used the litter tray so we thought things were looking up. However, she still wont let us near and still does the growling and hissing.

Is this normal? Do we just need to give her more time or does it sound more serious.

She also seems to have a cold or something and there is a little fluid coming from her left eye. Could this be making her cross and should we be concerned about it? Would a trip to the vet be needed and if so, how do we get her there without distressing her more than she seems to be at the minute.

Any help or advice you could give would be greatly appreciated as we are both very worried.

Answer
Hi Stephen.  Indeed, a vet visit would be advisable.  Though a kitty cold is usually viral like the human cold, cats tend to get secondary bacterial infections along with the viral infection.  So most times, a cold will need treatment with antibiotics.  If you are seeing some eye discharge, there may also be an eye infection, which should be treated with an antibiotic eye ointment.  It is entirely possible that feeling under the weather is contributing to her foul mood.

Unfortunately, a trip to the vet is going to be stressful no matter how you slice it.  The best I can recommend is to cover the carrier with a towel on all sides but one (so there is air flow), and then leave her in the car while you wait in the vet's office for her appointment, so she doesn't have to see strange animals or hear strange noises and smell strange scents for any longer than necessary.  Air conditioning in the car may be needed while she waits, obviously.

Some friendly kittens will react to the stress of a new home aggressively.  In all honesty, an 8-week-old kitten isn't emotionally developed enough to handle separation from her mother very well.  They are intended by nature to be with their mothers until 12 weeks old if at all possible.  The mother would've started separating herself from the kittens more and more between 8 and 12 weeks so that the kittens would have been more prepared to leave.  It could simply be that the kitten just doesn't know how to handle this sudden separation and is reacting aggressively out of fear.  I think I'd give her a few more days to calm down.

It could be, though, that she was not socialized with people enough.  Fortunately, she's still young enough that you can do this with her now.  I work with unsocialized kittens daily.  Best thing to do with them at this age is to wrap them tightly in a towel so that they're immobilized, with just their heads exposed, and stroke their heads and talk to them for 15 minutes or so a few times a day.  I know it seems mean.  She will certainly not like it at first.  But you have a small window of time to socialize her at this point, so you must go about it aggressively.  In just a couple weeks, socialization is going to become extremely difficult.

Also, try to sit on the floor as much as possible so you're closer to her level.  Avoid loud noises that may startle her, and handfeed her treats if she'll take them.