5 Month Olds are still Scared. Boyfriend is now scared too!

Feral kitties definitely present a challenge. I think it's best if
you're totally honest with yourself about whether you are willing to
invest the time in them...this would be a 10-15 year committment.
Nothing wrong with giving them back to ensure they have the chance for
the best possible home.

Just curious, did you get a chance to play with them before you
adopted?


LM007 via CatKB.com wrote:
the kitties and their brothers and sisters were brought to the vet when they
were 3 months old. the mother was never found so they don't know how long
they'd been on their own but they were completely feral when they were
brought in. then they spent 2 month in a cage at the vet. I spoke to the
nice people at the vet and they said that the siblings of these guys are NOT
adjusting well and they don't know what they are going to do with them. I
think you guys are right that we need patience and that they will eventually
come around. But i'm not sure that we have that kind of patience-- to be
honest. and it's hard for me to believe that they won't be skittish. we
don't want skittish cats that hide when people come over. I guess I'm
looking for someone to tell me it's OK to take them back to the vet and let
them find them a better home than we can provide. sorry to be such a bummer
and thank you very much for listening to my problems.

Michelle wrote:
Wow, 13 days? I'm starting to wonder what sort of conditions these
kitties came from. Did you get a history from the shelter?

I really appreciate the responses I'm getting here. It's been 13 days since
we got the kitties and we've been doing everything we can to make them feel
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
suggest that you not get another. A little shy at first is way down the
list of problems one can have with a kitten/cat.

--
Message posted via http://www.catkb.com

we did play with them at the vet hospital where they were living and they
were very playful. They are definitely making progress but we are still
really on the fence. about 5 days ago we thought we were going to take them
back but i'm already pretty attached to them and couldn't do it. They still
run away if I try to touch them but they are jumping up on the bed and
playing with their toy.
thanks for all your responses.

Michelle wrote:
Feral kitties definitely present a challenge. I think it's best if
you're totally honest with yourself about whether you are willing to
invest the time in them...this would be a 10-15 year committment.
Nothing wrong with giving them back to ensure they have the chance for
the best possible home.

Just curious, did you get a chance to play with them before you
adopted?

the kitties and their brothers and sisters were brought to the vet when they
were 3 months old. the mother was never found so they don't know how long
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
suggest that you not get another. A little shy at first is way down the
list of problems one can have with a kitten/cat.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200608/1

LM007 via CatKB.com wrote:
so it's been 6 days since we've had the 5 month old brothers and they are
still really scared and not affectionate. they lived at a shelter most of
their lives so I don't know exactly how much human touch they had. they don't
hiss at us but they don't let me pet them unless they are way under the tub
and I'm stretched to my max. if I play with them for an hour with the toy
they love and then slowly put my hand under the tub they will purr and stick
their chin out for scratching. but that has only happened 2 times. most of
the time if we move or make any noise they run and hide. One of them is a bit
more adventurous than the other. anyhow. My boyfriend is afraid they will
always be skittish and is talking about taking them back and getting one
younger kitten instead. I'd hate to take them back. we are also concerned
because we were planning on having them be indoor/outdoor cats but everyone
seems to think we should keep them inside. we don't want to live with the
smell of kitty litter (we have a tiny house) I'm so nervous that they aren't
going to be affectionate. and if they aren't I won't be able to convince my
boyfriend that we should keep them. I'm embarrassed that we aren't better at
this- any and all thoughts/advice are welcome.


Why would you want to devote your time and money to attending to them
if they weren't affectionate, dear...? Don't you expect anything out of
the relationship, or do you just like getting stepped on...?

In article 64f0c8170b9e7@uwe "LM007 via CatKB.com" u24697@uwe writes:
we did play with them at the vet hospital where they were living and they
were very playful. They are definitely making progress but we are still
really on the fence. about 5 days ago we thought we were going to take them
back but i'm already pretty attached to them and couldn't do it. They still
run away if I try to touch them but they are jumping up on the bed and
playing with their toy.
thanks for all your responses.


Give them time. They apparently had more time to not know people, and
to be scared than they have had to learn to trust you.


Alan