We adopted a kitten/cat last night

So FH and I adopted a year old cat from Little Shelter last night. We were told she's very timid and afraid and in with some work, in time she'll be fine.

We got her home last night and immediately she darted from her carrier and under the coffee table. We left her alone and didnt want to scare her even more so we went to bed.

This morning we woke up and couldnt find her anywhere! After 20 minutes of frantically searching our apartment, we saw that she was curled up behind the cable box under the tv.

She didnt eat, drink or use the litter box last night and I was afraid the same would happen again, so we got her into the bathroom and put everything in there with her.

I figure while we're at work today at least she'll have everything in one place.

Does anyone have any tips or helpful advice to make our little baby more comfortable or to get her more accustomed to us?

TIA!

Did you ever see that commercial about how you dont adopt an animal they adopt you. (It has a woman trying to have a dog fetch a ball,, dog wont and then when she stops trying the dog brings it to her...)
Being that it is less than 24 hours,, give it time. i am sure that moving from one place to another has the kitten a little shaken.
It is nice that you took this little one in!

My kitten took about a week to get used to us. Everyday, we would try to catch him and just hold him petting his head (we held him tightly because he kept trying to run away every 5 min) We also fed him some snacks to make him associate good food with our scent.

I do think we spoiled him a bit much because now he follows me everywhere and constantly wants to be near me lol

Good luck!!

I love that commercial....

we recently adopted a kitten (we already had one at home and they werent crazy about eachother at first).
my suggestion would be to keep him in one room for now. if you could keep him in the bedroom with his water, food and litter box for a few days. it will let him get comfy with this area and wont be too overwhelming at first. then after a few days let him roam around. also, dont force him out of anywhere (under bed, behind couch, etc) let him come to you when he is ready and when he does come to you dont be too overbearing. he has to learn to trust his new surroundings and he will do it on his own time.
my kitten took a few days but now he's EVERYWHERE...doesnt hide or nothing...he comes running to you now. we just had to let him decide when he was ready.

i also agree with celeste...i would get strings and stuff to play with the kitten as well.

oh and i would like to suggest buying a spray bottle for training. my cats liked to jump on tables and eat eachothers food and stuff. i spray them with a spray bottle to train them. its harmless but they hate water. also if the kitten is scratching things you can spray it with the water.

food :) and time. GL! Post a picture.

congratulations! first i wanted to say that i think it's great that you adopted a kitten. i've done the same with mine and i think it's so cool. Little shelter is a great place too! (as you know, since you went there :o)

i've had the same experience with my cats (i have two) ...i have to agree with a lot of what is being said... with cats, they take a while to warm up to you sometimes. it helps if you have little treats once in a while to offer them. as well as a fishing pole type toy. it allows them to play with you (at a slight distance) and have fun and connect with you too ... and i'm not sure if you mentioned this, but when you feed the kitty, some people just leave a huge bowl, piled high with food all the time. it's better to only give out the exact measured amount every day ... and this works out well because the kitty will begin to realize you as mommy/giver of food (and eventual pats on head :o) just be patient, positive and calm. and though it can be hard sometimes, don't take it personal when they don't connect (if they don't) right away, because before you know it, you'll wake up and they'll be sleeping by/on you and you'll be accepted into their world forever :o) my adoptees (in album) are maggie and pepe (for giuseppe) good luck! post pics soon :o)

It def takes time....if you are calm and not trying to force it she will come to you. Be patient...she'll end up loving you!!!

i would just give it some time...probably take a good week for her to warm up to u try to keep her in one room with all her things(just like u've been doing)..and whatever you do, do NOT feed her out of your hand..when she get's hungry enough, she will eat & be thinking 'wow - all this time this is what i've been missing!'. u'll be enjoying each other in no time

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Posted by Kimbalina

Did you ever see that commercial about how you dont adopt an animal they adopt you. (It has a woman trying to have a dog fetch a ball,, dog wont and then when she stops trying the dog brings it to her...)
Being that it is less than 24 hours,, give it time. i am sure that moving from one place to another has the kitten a little shaken.
It is nice that you took this little one in!

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there's a similar commerical with a guy who adopted a cat, and the cat ran right under the couch, then eventually comes out and sits with his new companion.

what you did is a great thing. how the cat is reacting is completely normal! when i first brought my kitty home, she ran right under the couch, and finally came out about an hour later, but i couldn't go near her. within a week she was the queen of the castle. she has since moved twice, and has reacted the same way with each move. cats can be very skittish. she'll be fine. it would have probably been better to leave her out so she could get familiar with her new surroundings on her own, but that can be done tomorrow (as long as the house is cat proof!). good luck!!

One of my past kittens we adopted off the street and basically domesticated him. He was terrified of us and tried to hide in every place possible, including a lot of unsafe places like behind radiators and in the motor of the fridge . What we ended up doing was blocking off a lot of unsafe places (we cut up cardboard boxes and taped them to walls, furniture, etc.) and then took half of a cardboard box and cut a little kitty entrance in it. This way we knew he had a safe spot to hide and 95% of the time when we couldn't find him he was there.

On the socializing side, because he was so afraid of us at first we tried to meet him on his 'turf' if you will. Rather than constantly drag him out from behind the couch or under the table we would pet him while he was hiding, this way he felt safe and saw that we wouldn't hurt him. Eventually we got to the point where he would let us pet him in the open, then pick him up, then sit in our laps, and within a couple weeks he was a love bug.

Chances are your kitten won't eat too much at first only because of nerves, and cats don't need a lot of water in general so don't worry about that. She will come out when she feels safe and she's hungry to eat. If 3 or 4 days if she still hasn't eaten anything take the kitten to a vet. Even though shelters have vets there, they usually miss a lot of things. Either because they don't have the proper funds to treat illnesses or from being over burdened. It's probably a good idea to take the kitten to the vet within the first month you've had her either way.

Hope things work out. Let us know how it goes!

Thank you all so much for the words of advice!!

I will try to take pictures as soon as she becomes comfortable with us.

Congrats on your new addition!

the cat will adapt .... sometimes it just takes a bit of time.

they should have told you to start out with the kitten in the bathroom ,... a whole new house is daunting!!

FM me if you have any problem ... I am not a vet, but have had cats all my life