F2 kitten in the house for over a week...

[Els]

I wasn't aware that if I extend my hand to F2 kitten and she doesn't like it. I pet on back of her as well as rub side of her neck.

I do free feed dry food so looks like I need to change my approach and feed her when I'm in the room.

I'll need to figure out how to put a barrier between master bathroom and bedroom (there's no door between two rooms). Would putting barrier on sides of the bed suffice? Or she has to be in a small room e.g. bathroom for time being?

 

[admin]

I wasn't aware that if I extend my hand to F2 kitten and she doesn't like it. I pet on back of her as well as rub side of her neck.

I do free feed dry food so looks like I need to change my approach and feed her when I'm in the room.

I'll need to figure out how to put a barrier between master bathroom and bedroom (there's no door between two rooms). Would putting barrier on sides of the bed suffice? Or she has to be in a small room e.g. bathroom for time being?

You can block off the bed, if that is all you can do...five week old kittens can jump over gates So you would have to add a real door or screen door to block between the rooms...

when you are in the room, best to sit on the floor and just talk to her...let her approach you - read to her, etc. Is there a TV in the room? if not, she needs some kind of sound in the room as well...

 

[DumaLove]

Most likely has nothing to do with socialization. I have an F2 who was very well socialized, but was a singleton and bonded very strongly with one of the breeders. He seemed to transition fine but he is a very nervous boy and it took us a little while to realize when he was stressed. He is almost 2, and only my BF can pick him up. And he can still only be petted when he wants and the WAY he wants. No over the head, not when he's lying down, and if you pet his cheek when he's lying down it has to be on the cheek closest to the floor and with the back of your hand. So each cat will have their own idiosyncrasies, as a pet parent your job is to figure them out. Which can be very challenging since they can't explain the rules to us.

 

[Els]

There's no TV in the bedroom however I do keep tablet with radio show on.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

How old is this kitten? It does sound like she's finding the transition difficult. Some kittens are naturally more confident, it's not necessarily that this kitten is not socialized but that the kitten is not confident yet in her new home. It is a huge change which some seem to manage effortlessly and others take longer. A week is a very short time... especially as she's not been confined to a small room for that time but has a larger space with places to hide and choose not to interact.

Definitely block off under the bed if you cannot manage closing off the bathroom. If the breeder is a woman and you are a man (the thumbnail for your ID seems blue) then try raising the pitch of your voice. I know that sounds silly but if she's used to being talked to by a woman, a higher pitched voice may be more comfortable and reassuring for her. It's worth trying. I got an F1 at a year old once, and you could see a huge difference in her reaction between when I spoke to her and my husband, his deeper voice really unsettled her but if he spoke in a higher pitched voice she was much easier.

Do you have other pets at all? I'm wondering also if she is a little freaked out by the lack of other critter noises... another thing that can help is to leave a radio or tv on at low volume when you are not there sleeping... sometimes too quiet is kinda scary...

Good luck and don't give up!

 

[Els]

She's 16 weeks old now. I got her when she was 14 weeks old and she turned 15 weeks old 2 days later.

Trying to place a barrier between bathroom and bedroom will be difficult (setting a temporary door was not easy but pointless when she jumped onto it). I am looking at options at this point to close off bathroom and last resort would be to place barrier on sides of the bed. I don't think the combined rooms are big but it could be big to others.

Brigitte - you are correct the breeder is a woman and I'm a man. I do have another cat, Jake and he makes noise other side of the door and tried to open door (I keep the door locked).

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

She's 16 weeks old now. I got her when she was 14 weeks old and she turned 15 weeks old 2 days later.

Trying to place a barrier between bathroom and bedroom will be difficult (setting a temporary door was not easy but pointless when she jumped onto it). I am looking at options at this point block and last resort would be to place barrier on sides of the bed. I don't think the combined rooms are big but it could be big to others.

Brigitte - you are correct the breeder is a woman and I'm a man. I do have another cat, Jake and he makes noise other side of the door and tried to open door (I keep the door locked).

yes, a 4 foot door won't keep a kitten confined... especially a SV kitten. I use baby gates with my kittens but not to keep the door open and the kittens in the room, more to slow them down so that I can enter the room without them tearing past me! So more an obstacle than a barrier!

I think the key is simply patience and persistence.

I see two options, you are able to keep her in a bathroom and use boredom with that small room as a tool... you will be the only interesting option.... or you allow her the greater space and know it may take longer for that reason. She has more options when she has the larger space.

 

[Els]

Not sure I have a lot of options to put up a barrier that is roughly 3 feet wide. I was able to salvage left over wood pieces and a 4-foot door and place it between bathroom and bedroom (not secured to the walls but basically standalone). Should I move the kitten to another room? I believe that will further stress her given the fact she's upset from being picked up this morning which is definitely a setback. All doors in the bathroom are closed so she has the bathroom area / tub then master bedroom (the sides of the bedroom are now closed off).

 

[Patti]

I agree with all the others. An F2 can be twitchy - I have had F2 kittens behave similarly to yours whereas their littermate siblings are incredibly outgoing and know no stranger. I think patience is your best friend right now. Don't push the physical contact, especially as Christina has pointed out, don't reach toward her head or face with your hand. If you have a spontaneous moment where you can pet her start at the shoulders and stroke away from the head. Otherwise, sit on the floor and engage her with a wand toy - you can use this to lure her near you and get her to give chase across your legs or lap.

The behaviors you have described in her do not sound necessarily like she has been poorly socialized, but rather that she is more sensitive to change so needs more time and patience to adjust. Since it sounds as though you are already doing many of the things that have been discussed I believe you will see slow but steady progress... again, just give her time...

Does she have a name yet, and do you have any pics of her to share?

 

[Els]

Just an update - a couple weeks ago I tweaked my firewall configuration which prevented me from reaching savannahcatchat.com and at the time I thought the forum was down. I didn't realize it had to do with firewall configuration until about 2 weeks ago. Anyway, Anaya's transition was challenging to say the least and I think I'm partly to blame. I had her in the master bathroom with 4 foot barrier (there's no door between bathroom and bedroom) and that was not enough to contain her in the bathroom so I removed the barrier. She had a lot of places to hide including under the bed. Blocking off the bed made her upset and I decided to move her to a small bedroom which I think helped. She was in isolation for over a month and I spent time with her daily. I decided to introduce Jake by bringing him into the room (they've gotten accustomed to each other by smelling under the door). She appeared to be very happy to see another cat. Eventually, I let her out of the bedroom during the day for about a week. Now, she has free run of the house. I've learned what it is like living with Savannah (and think I am still learning). She fetches the toy like crazy and if I don't pay attention she will tap or nip my ankle / lower leg to get my attention. She's close to Jake even though there's a large gap in age. Anaya is more like an annoying sibling that plays with Jake's tail. Jake has learned to tolerate her but he can be grouchy since he likes his naps.

I have to give credit to Anaya's breeder for her patience and willingness to work with me as well as the advice I've gotten from this forum until I lose access for a couple weeks.

Patti - here are the pictures. She's 6 months old now. The first couple pictures were taken a few days after I got her. The last 2 pictures were taken about 2 week ago. She had spay done a little over a week ago and has recovered nicely.