New panicking kitten

[smokytopaz]

Pretty Koko

Koko came to live with me a week ago. She is of a nervous breed anyway - a Havana Brown - and I had one before some twenty years ago so I should have known.

She has had a traumatic week. First she ran away and trapped herself in a corner, when I tried to pick her up she had a very unfortunate and distressing accident. :oops: Poor ickle thing. Then she went behind the loo, into the piping or the boxing for the piping and came out of this labyrinth under the bath. I had no idea where she had gone, but some hours later heard little scrabblings from there, took off the side of the bath and rescued her (to no thanks at all!). The piping box thing is now stuffed with towels.

Now she lives under my bed, only to emerge when the house is very quiet and I have put my light out. Koko then comes downstairs eats everything that is down, enthusiastically uses and rearranges her litter box. She then rushes about, plays with toys and belts up and down the stairs having a mad moment. We have two flights of stairs as it is a town house.

Then the morning comes and she sneaks back under my bed and stays there until......

To be fair she has been here only a week. I have read everything on this site and everywhere else. I have ordered the diffuser and spray. I have decided to sit on the floor and read for half and hour or so every morning and afternoon, she has the radio on (my mum thinks I am mad) and hopefully she will come round.

I promise I am not planning a kitten casserole, so any further suggestion will be welcome.

How on earth will I get her to the Vet? The thought of having a siamese on heat and not speaking to anyone is horrific!

[Elaine]

Ofcourse you are mad, that's why you are here:lol:
As you said, it's only been a week and you seem to be taking lots onboard from other posts, which is good. I am sure she will come round in good time. The only other thing i can think of is for you to remain calm and relaxed as she will pick up on it if you are anxous or anything.
All the very best to you both xxx
I am sure there will be others who will share all their experiences with you soon.
Good luck xxx

[angieh]

Just to let you know that we are listening smokytopaz! You and Koko are very new together, she is in a new house and it is very early days. As Elaine says, try and stay calm yourself and that may help her. A few drops of Rescue Remedy for both of you may be in order! How old is Koko? Please let us know how you get on - and a photo would be lovely if you can take one without scaring her.

[Moli]

Everything you are doing is right, you can only wait till she comes to you...I have a black oriential who can be quite skittish, think its the breed, very highly strung, and tend to react to things more, but am sure she will settle down soon....let us know how she goes...

[dandysmom]

I agree, early days; you are coping well and she will eventually come around. The Feliway and Rescue Remedy should help a bit; do let us know how she's doing.

[HappyKatz]

You are doing a great job with Koko :smt023 Koko will calm down as the time passes & she will get used to her new home :cat10 We have a couple girl cats who are panicky. We kneal down to their level, put our hands out to let them sniff them, & talk to them with a soft voice just so they know everything is ok. :cat27 We play with them to gain more trust too...
With time, patience, & love, your little kitty girl will come around :smt049
Keep updating us on how Koko is coming along!

[cats' staff]

I had a moggie who spent the first few weeks hiding in the curtains so it isn't just pedigrees. I think your idea of sitting next to the bed and reading is spot on and in a couple of weeks a small furry nose may well be investigating you! Sounds like you have everything well sorted and I'm sure she'll have settled soon- good luck!

[Leesy]

It just takes time Koko will settle down soon, my first cat Charkie we got him as a kitten from the local farm he was totaly wild, they had to catch him in a cardboard box using bait as food, you can imagine what he was like when we got him homeLOL. But he turned out to be one of the most gentliest and kindest cats you could wish to have.:)

[calismum]

Sounds as if you are doing everything possible to help settle Koko in.

I am sure that after a while she'll be a bit braver.

[Elaine]

How are you and Koko getting along?

[smokytopaz]

Koko and I have yet to establish any kind of relationship. This is breaking my heart because I so wanted to get a Havana brown, I so wanted her to become part of our family and she is nowhere to be seen.

She eats the food. She uses the litter tray. She hides the rest of the time, she is 16 weeks old she should be playing.

She has been in the house for ten days now, when will she feel safe?

[smokytopaz]

Oh, I forgot to report, I plugged in the diffuser and sprayed the stuff about a bit on the 22nd, yesterday, hoping this would de-stress her. I wonder if it will help me.

[calismum]

Oh - I do feel for you. I have had a very shy cat in the past and it took a long time for her to settle.

I wonder if restricting her to a small area of the house, one that you are around in, would maybe help? Perhaps that might help her interact with you rather than run to the furthest point to hide.

[smokytopaz]

Well that was my thought today. She has the room with food and litter tray, my bedroom and the upstairs living room to roam in at the moment, I think tonight when I hear her in the litter tray, I will shut the upstairs living room door. Close down her options a bit.

[smokytopaz]

Everyone keeps asking send a photo!! She flashes past to quickly for me to remember where the camera is. I assure you she is beautiful and has gown in the last ten days!

[calismum]

I'm sure she is gorgeous.

I remember seeing them at a show many moons ago and thought they were beautiful.

Think if you can confine her to one room and spend as much time there as you can she will be more likely to settle.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

[smokytopaz]

Thankyou Calismum, she is lovely and way too bright. In time she will settle. However the one I had 20 years ago never ever spoke to my husband and could stay hidden for ages, she only was happy with females (of the human sort) her best friend being Frankie who was a ex-male Seal point, who was a placid and loving as the day is long. Her next to best friend was me.

I wonder if adding another baby is too soon, I have always intended too but I thought in another six months or so.

[calismum]

Thankyou Calismum, she is lovely and way too bright. In time she will settle. However the one I had 20 years ago never ever spoke to my husband and could stay hidden for ages, she only was happy with females (of the human sort) her best friend being Frankie who was a ex-male Seal point, who was a placid and loving as the day is long. Her next to best friend was me.

I wonder if adding another baby is too soon, I have always intended too but I thought in another six months or so.

Think that is a real 50:50.

Now - It may help her settle and at least she would have some one to relate to, assuming they liked each other. It may mean you are 2nd again.

Later - It may unsettle her all over again. It would give her time to get to know you. They may get on really weel or not at all.

Tough call.

[smokytopaz]

Gee thanks.

All about what I thought really.

I will wait (it goes against my nature) and hope that within the next few weeks she starts to settle in.

If not I feed a distant cat I suppose, and catch a fleeting glimpse.

She WILL settle in.

[calismum]

She will;)

[Lorna]

My two were exactly the same, and they are still nervy of new people, you won't see them for dust if anyone else comes into my house, but they're fine with me now! I stressed so much in the start over Ocean and Choco as everyone on here well knows....but they're fantastic now, they just took their time! To be honest I'm glad they're not overly social cats - makes me feel special! xx

PS In relation to keeping her in a smaller area - I did that, it helped! I also made sure that they only had food when I gave it to them first, as in they saw me feeding them, so they associated seeing me put down the food.... eventually that meant that Ocean would rub against my leg etc and I could stroke him when he was eating. Choco was nervous and only really came around to me holding her etc a couple of months ago....it all has to be done at their pace unfortunately! But she will be fine with you!

[smokytopaz]

Hi Lorna, I just read all the posts under 'hissing kittens' ie your two babies. All of which I associated with and all of which give me hope!!
I am eliminating really squashy hiding places at the moment, I really don't think it good for her to sleep under a bookcase. She will be too big in a couple of weeks!
She was playing on the floor in my bedroom last night with a really interesting toy! Progress?

[random]

My Siamese was very shy like this for her first few weeks, she will come round. Best of luck. x

[Lorna]

Hi Lorna, I just read all the posts under 'hissing kittens' ie your two babies. All of which I associated with and all of which give me hope!!
I am eliminating really squashy hiding places at the moment, I really don't think it good for her to sleep under a bookcase. She will be too big in a couple of weeks!
She was playing on the floor in my bedroom last night with a really interesting toy! Progress?

Absolutely, after a little while i started to stroke Ocean when he came near me at feeding time, and it developed from there xx