Kitten that loved me at first, now seems to dislike me

[kittian]

My 11 month old kitten seems to dislike me lately, I have a feeling it has to do with being the one who doctors her (drops in ears, nail clipping, eye drops etc-all of which she hates) while my daughter holds her. 

She adored me before I started doing this myself (we usually bring her to agency we adopted her from and they do nail trims, revolution, ear cleaning, drops etc for a simple donation), but the woman hasn't answered the phone for a while; so I do it all myself now.

I should also mention no matter where I am she finds a way to be in front of my feet at all times and usually gets caught in my feet as I turn to walk.

She never gets hurt just a lot of quick foot contact. She used to lay with me, cuddle up, and cling to me, now I can't even touch her unless she is laying down somewhere.

When I do try and she is not laying down, her tummy hits the floor as she tries to get away from my touch. I do not force her to anything, and I try to tread very carefully around her, but I want my cuddle monster back  

She will come into my room sometimes at night and cuddle up with me again, but ONLY at night, if I wake up and try to pet her when she's fully awake she reacts the same way she normally does, tries to get away from my touch as fast as she can.

She now belongs to my oldest daughter, by that I mean she is my kittens person now, she will only let my daughter pet her without her tummy hitting the floor, and even

goes to her door with the duster, banging on it to get her to come play. 

She has an 11 month old sister also, but they seem to get along just fine, lots of licking and playing, this is aimed at the humans, aside from my oldest.

 

[Columbine]

Hi, and welcome to TCS

I don't think your kitten dislikes you at all - as you say, she still seeks you out and spends a LOT of time with you. Rather, I think she's simply become wary of your touch from your being the 'bad guy' when it comes to meds etc. The best way round this is to find a treat (either purpose made cat treat, or some extra yummy morsel of cat-friendly human food, and always have that with you to give her as soon as whatever procedure you're doing is over. That way, she'll learn that actually, having these things done isn't too bad, and it's always a sign that something wonderful is about to happen

With my guys, I'll always end anything like that with a cuddle too, and try to get them relaxed and purring before I leave them. Again, this is just creating yet more positive associations with these things. You'll be surprised at how quickly she catches on, and I'm sure you'll have fully regained her trust in no time

If your daughter is old enough, you could also take turns with doing the eye and ear drops, so you both get to be the good guy and the bad guy with her. This should really help rebuild her trust too.

Good luck, and try not to stress. She WILL get through this, and you WILL have your cuddle monster back :heart3:

 

[kittian]

  Thank you for your welcome, and also your reply. I do try to give treats  

  (I always have them on hand when doing this stuff), but she refuses them and runs away after. 

  

My daughter is certainly old enough, but wary of possibly hurting the kittens (she has anxiety issues, so I don't push it). 

I am going to keep trying the shelter again and get the woman to do this stuff again. They don't mind her doing it as she is trained and very good with them. 

 I think Angel is confused as to why I would be trying to hurt her (she acts like the drop in ears and eyes are poison, and clipping nails is torture).  

Maybe with a few sessions there again, I will get my cuddle monster back