Scaredy cats

[opera142]

The adjustment period with the kitties is not going well. They pretty much hide while we are home. Sophie hides in the furnace vent. -_______- Idek where Mazy goes. They come out to eat and stare at us a couple of times during the evening.

They are destructive. I suppose, it's Mazy just being a kitten. I come home from work, and stuff is scattered, knocked over, and broken. Also, someone is not covering her poop.

Sophie gets another week of hiding in the furnace, then a citrus air freshner is getting put near the vent. I really don't want to take away her "safe space", but I don't think her hiding there is good for her or the furnace.

We're going back and forth about trapping them. We haven't been able to give them a health check or even a good look over. Trapping them will freak them out, though, and erase all the minor gains we've made. idk, idk.

Comments

[topknot.livejournal.com]

Is there any way you can isolate them to just one room of the house? A room that isn't too big without much they can get into? Like a bathroom or a study? Then you can go in, sit down on the floor, and read or something in there with them on a regular basis so they'll get used to seeing and smelling you. That's what a friend of mine does when she traps feral cats and socialises them.

[idleleaves.livejournal.com]

I second the rec to isolate them if you can. That's what I had to do with Stevie when I brought him home, because he was so terrified of everything and everyone. The room I chose was my bedroom (this was not ideal, but my only choice at the time) and I spent most of my time in there at the time; he'd still mostly jam himself into dark corners but at least he had to look at me and listen to me. After a while I started letting him out around the house when I was home, and I kept an eye on him, but I'd put him back into my room with his food and box and safe places when I wasn't there.

I don't know if that works for all cats, but it worked wonders for him. It might work with your two, if you have a room that'd be okay for that.

(Stevie's now one of the most affectionate, loving cats I've ever known. He's still afraid of most people beside me, and he's 100% indoor kitty, but his recovery's kind of remarkable considering the state he was in when I adopted him.)

[opera142.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they have the basement as their area. We go down there and hang out with them, talk to them and try to engage them in play. We also do non-cat stuff: laundry, bathroom, daily life there so that every trip down there doesn't seem aimed directly at them.