About 3 weeks ago I adopted 2 kittens from a shelter. One was about 3 months old and he’s been settling in just fine. The other one was probably closer to 5 months old and the shelter warned me he had been with them for almost 2 months and was still extremely fearful and didn’t want to be touched. They were hopeful that in time he’d eventually get used to people but so far no one was willing to give him a chance.
I brought them home and set them up in the basement. They get along great with each other and the younger one (Squish) now comes up and hangs out with the family quite a bit. The older one (Harry) is still super skittish and stays far away from us if we go down there. Twice I’ve gotten him interested in a wand toy but he barely bats at it before retreating again. When I bring their wet food down at night he comes out and approaches but keeps his distance until I leave.
No surprises here, I knew it would take some patience. The problem is, a couple of days ago I noticed Harry was squinting one eye as he peered out from his hiding places. Sometimes it was completely closed. I tried to catch him last night just so I could take a look and he fought like a wild animal and bit my finger pretty bad.
So now I’m wondering what if his eye doesn’t get better? How do I get him to the vet and have I totally wrecked any chance of him trusting me when I tried to catch him?
I’ve been reading and decided maybe it was a mistake to let him be in the basement so I ordered a large cattery cage that I can put in my home office so at least he has to be near me for a significant portion of the day. If he’s not destined to be a lap cat, that’s fine. I just don’t know if it’s a lost cause. There seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions and I’m not even sure how to classify this one.
I brought them home and set them up in the basement. They get along great with each other and the younger one (Squish) now comes up and hangs out with the family quite a bit. The older one (Harry) is still super skittish and stays far away from us if we go down there. Twice I’ve gotten him interested in a wand toy but he barely bats at it before retreating again. When I bring their wet food down at night he comes out and approaches but keeps his distance until I leave.
No surprises here, I knew it would take some patience. The problem is, a couple of days ago I noticed Harry was squinting one eye as he peered out from his hiding places. Sometimes it was completely closed. I tried to catch him last night just so I could take a look and he fought like a wild animal and bit my finger pretty bad.
So now I’m wondering what if his eye doesn’t get better? How do I get him to the vet and have I totally wrecked any chance of him trusting me when I tried to catch him?
I’ve been reading and decided maybe it was a mistake to let him be in the basement so I ordered a large cattery cage that I can put in my home office so at least he has to be near me for a significant portion of the day. If he’s not destined to be a lap cat, that’s fine. I just don’t know if it’s a lost cause. There seems to be a lot of conflicting opinions and I’m not even sure how to classify this one.