Accidentally hit my cat... How can I remedy the situation?

[321eeboob]

I feel really bad now... I had fallen asleep on the couch. I suddenly woke up from a sharp pain in my face, and feeling very confused, I flailed my arms around, and accidentally hit my 6 month old kitten. (I think she might have been trying to play with my hair when she attacked my face) After I hit her, she just lay beside me for about a minute, before jumping away. Have I lost her trust for good? Is there anything I can do to remedy the situation?

 

[fornana]

No the trust is still there, and salvageable. 

Give her some treats. Play with her often, buy some nice cat furniture (or DIY w/ boxes), and spoil her with toys. Those are some key ways to a kitten's heart 

She might be wary for awhile; it may have really scared her. But don't worry if you do what I posted above you guys should be fine.

Be mindful of your tone of voice around her and your body language too. Get down to her level, and invite her up to join you on the couch or your bed. However, don't force her to do things she doesn't want to do. 

 

[snowpawprint]

i agree with ForNana , the trust is not lost.spend your time playing with her and cuddling her!

 

[msserena]

She'll forgive you! Animals are pretty forgiving. I accidentally do all sorts of things to my cats - step on their tails, shut doors with paws in them, shut doors with tails in them, make one fall off something. Whenever I realize what happened, I always go to my kitty, which usually will run away & I say, oh I'm sorry & keep saying their name. When they know it wasn't on purpose they come to me & then I touch them to make sure they aren't injured.

 

[catlover73]

I feel really bad now... I had fallen asleep on the couch. I suddenly woke up from a sharp pain in my face, and feeling very confused, I flailed my arms around, and accidentally hit my 6 month old kitten. (I think she might have been trying to play with my hair when she attacked my face) After I hit her, she just lay beside me for about a minute, before jumping away. Have I lost her trust for good? Is there anything I can do to remedy the situation?

These things happen sometimes.  I do not think you have lost her trust for good.  I think she reacted the way she did because she was startled. Just give her a little bit of time to calm down. My hubby accidentally did the same thing to one of our cats when she climbed up on the bed.  She is not a good climber and accidentally scratched him a little while he was asleep and he smacked her off the bed.  She ran out of the room and hid in our den.  I happened to wake up when she fell off the bed so I went and sat on the floor in the den and told her daddy was sorry he accidentally hit her.  I just sat on the floor and kept talking to her and it did not take long for her to come up to me and let me pet her.  Once she walked up to me and I could tell she was not injured I just petted her for a little bit until she walked away.  She came back to bed later and slept on my pillow later that night. I told my hubby what happened the next day and when he got home from work he gave her treats and apologized to her.  She got over it very quickly.  One of my other cats likes to sleep on my feet and I have accidentally kicked him out of bed too.  He just walked away and came back later.

If she is acting like she is scared of you just let us know and we can give you tips on how to help her.

 

[321eeboob]

Thank you everyone for the advice! My kitten is now avoiding me. Some background... I adopted her 3 months ago, she was a stray I found in the park. She has always been very skittish (I suspect that people haven't been too kind to her), and it took quite a while before she would even approach me. I used to have to place her food bowl on the ground, and leave the room so that she could come out to eat. I hope I haven't undone the progress we made over the past few months...

 

[catlover73]

Is she avoiding you or is she hiding from you?  What were the steps you took to earn her trust the first time?  Perhaps for today just as long as she is still eating, drinking and using the litter box then just give her some space to calm down.  Tomorrow start trying the same steps you used the last time.

 

[elliesvictim]

One time while carrying dinner to the table I almost end stepped on my kitten. To avoid stepping on her I shifted my weight to the other leg, kicking the leg that was going to step on her in the air. My kitten saw I was about to step on her and jumped...into the path of my flailing leg. This hooked her about 4 metres high and 4 metres away. She freaked for a little while but I think was more surprised than anything else.
You at some point will accidentally step on her, kick her or drop something on her. If you don't do it on purpose it's an accident.