Would you adopt a shy 1 year old cat?

[Mumjoe267]

A friend of mine is retiring from breeding due to her own poor health and is rehoming her cats. She has two cats available, both ragdolls. She has asked if I am interested in adopting one.
One of the girls is a 1 year old kitten. She can be quite shy. I have children but my friend seems to think she will be ok. My children can be loud at times as children tend to be but not excessive. My friend has a 4 year old grandchild who she says the kitten is ok with. She also said the kitten can be antisocial. My children are 13, 9 and 8.
I have two other cats, one 3 year old adult ragdoll and one ragdoll kitten who is 13 weeks.
I wouldn’t want to traumatise and upset the kitten. Can adopting a shyer kitten work?

 

[ArtNJ]

Cats can absolutely become less shy over time. It certainly not be the ideal cat for your household, but with patience I think its very likely it can work out well. But its also possible that you have some stress for a good while, and eventually a cat that pretty much just does its own thing. Its impossible to say how it will go, but it does seem like a higher than average risk of difficulties.

 

[RTR]

Sounds like your taking on a lot more work

 

[Mumjoe267]

I’m also thinking too much work….

 

[Mumjoe267]

Just not sure. She’s beautiful so I guess I’m being distracted by her looks. X

 

[lucyrima]

I guess I don't know what the (potential) problems would be once they all accept each other - usually a 10 day thing that can be noisy but not unusual.

 

[Alldara]

I adopted a very shy cat, and she came to love my nieces....but they weren't over full time. The other cats can be great bridge cats, however.

Do you have the space to keep them separate for awhile? The kitten and 1 year old will likely get along quickly but you may have to prepare for your older girl to take longer. The bright side is, the 1 yr old is used to many cats.

I would first want to know how she reacts to other cats. If she's docile you have a better chance at intros. If not, plan for longer if you say yes.

The 1 yr old and 13 week will likely be able to keep each other more busy and stay off the back of your older cat. But I didn't find it hard to introduce my 3 year old to a docile 2 year old cat.

 

[Mumjoe267]

Thank you. Alldara you’ve made up my mind, I’m going to get her. She is used to other cats where she is, she is a ragdoll and not an aggressive cat. She can just be shy. X I’ve attached a pic. She is a lilac mitted GCCF reg

 

[nurseangel]

She is gorgeous. And I think in a loving environment, she will adjust over time. Maybe just to your family. My cats are not shy at all, but all but one of them run from even my brother, because he isn't over frequently.

 

[Alldara]

She's really pretty! Your children are older so that helps a bit too.

Have them give lots of slow blinks to her and high reward treats!

 

[Kat0121]

Thank you. Alldara you’ve made up my mind, I’m going to get her. She is used to other cats where she is, she is a ragdoll and not an aggressive cat. She can just be shy. X I’ve attached a pic. She is a lilac mitted GCCF reg

I think you're making the right choice. My Sophie was quite shy also when I first got her and she was already an adult. She went to a shelter after being rescued from an abandoned house in town with around 20 family members including our Lilith who is her sister. The shelter thinks that the people who lived in the house were backyard breeders who were either evicted or there was a foreclosure and they just left all the cats. I think that Lilith was more socialized than Sophie so she was not as shy.

Sophie took her time to adjust but when she did, her purr-sonality blossomed. That shyness is gone. She's actually the more outgoing of the two and is more likely to approach a visitor than Lily is. I had an A/C repairman over once and he had to come in to check some things. He was standing on a stepstool in the hallway and she went over to see what he was doing and started "chatting" to him which he found quite adorable. He wasn't expecting a furry assistant.

 

[tiggerwillow]

I've known shy cats, it can work but some cats will never cope with children. Don't get a cat just based on looks, look at personality as well - like whether new cat will cope with everyone you want her to live with.

 

[Caspers Human]

Our eldest cat, Casper, was shy and skittish when we first adopted him but, now, he comes to bed and sleeps with us at night.

Our younger cat was too skittish to let people pet him before we took him in. Now, he’s a Velcro kitty.

It has a lot to do with the cat’s personality but also the way they are treated once they acclimate to their new home. If you treat your cats well, they’ll learn to be friendly.

 

[tiggerwillow]

Our eldest cat, Casper, was shy and skittish when we first adopted him but, now, he comes to bed and sleeps with us at night.

Our younger cat was too skittish to let people pet him before we took him in. Now, he’s a Velcro kitty.

It has a lot to do with the cat’s personality but also the way they are treated once they acclimate to their new home. If you treat your cats well, they’ll learn to be friendly.

Question about this: can a child-aggressive cat ever learn to tolerate children? Willow pins her ears back and rushes the gate at kids to swipe at them, she's the one out of my two I get concerned about (reaction wise)

 

[Alldara]

Question about this: can a child-aggressive cat ever learn to tolerate children? Willow pins her ears back and rushes the gate at kids to swipe at them, she's the one out of my two I get concerned about (reaction wise)

I think the best answer is "maybe".

Depends on the cat. Depends on the child(ren).

It can be hard for a cat to move past these kinds of things.
It can take a calm, cat-conscious child to help ease a cat.

Lily learned to like my nieces but she hid more than attacked. Mind, she bit most adults who weren't me (never drew blood) in the beginning. The children were raised with animals though and the one that wasn't, she stayed clear of.

My uncle's dog hated kids but I was raised with dogs and raised to give space, read body language etc. I think I was 5 or 6 when he moved in with us and his dog. I wasn't allowed alone with her, but she watched the dog I grew up with be with me and decided I was fine. I snuck out to give her a cape once and we were friends since. Over the next 4 years I NEVER woke her up from sleeping though. (I could approach my other dog when she slept and lay my head on her, or pat her but I never did that with my uncle's dog).

She was never allowed around my cousins though.

My aunt's dog never learned to tolerate children. After a certain age he just became reactive and nothing helped. So he was kept behind a gate when guests were over.

Cats are like that too. Magnus is fine with one specific neighbourhood child. She can pet him when we go on walks but he doesn't get near any other children.

How's Willow react to sounds of children? Like on the TV?

 

[tiggerwillow]

I think the best answer is "maybe".

Depends on the cat. Depends on the child(ren).

It can be hard for a cat to move past these kinds of things.
It can take a calm, cat-conscious child to help ease a cat.

Lily learned to like my nieces but she hid more than attacked. Mind, she bit most adults who weren't me (never drew blood) in the beginning. The children were raised with animals though and the one that wasn't, she stayed clear of.

My uncle's dog hated kids but I was raised with dogs and raised to give space, read body language etc. I think I was 5 or 6 when he moved in with us and his dog. I wasn't allowed alone with her, but she watched the dog I grew up with be with me and decided I was fine. I snuck out to give her a cape once and we were friends since. Over the next 4 years I NEVER woke her up from sleeping though. (I could approach my other dog when she slept and lay my head on her, or pat her but I never did that with my uncle's dog).

She was never allowed around my cousins though.

My aunt's dog never learned to tolerate children. After a certain age he just became reactive and nothing helped. So he was kept behind a gate when guests were over.

Cats are like that too. Magnus is fine with one specific neighbourhood child. She can pet him when we go on walks but he doesn't get near any other children.

How's Willow react to sounds of children? Like on the TV?

On the TV she'll put her ears back, but not completely back, if children are making a noise on the telly, she makes herself low and figures out where she can go that will mean she is safe from the scary children - I can tell she's scared

 

[Alldara]

On the TV she'll put her ears back, but not completely back, if children are making a noise on the telly, she makes herself low and figures out where she can go that will mean she is safe from the scary children - I can tell she's scared

You might try some desensitization training with her for children's sounds first.

High reward items or interactions paired with very, very quiet children sounds playing. Slowly increasing the sounds as she becomes comfortable with the volume over many sessions.

 

[Lieutenant2]

I would not adopt this cat, it may be a dangerous cat. The term „shy” maybe used to hide the term „aggressive” or „hard to handle”. Don't adopt it. You are putting yourself and your children at your cats at risk, yourself included. Your ”friendo” wants to get rid of his cat and pass the responsibility on you.

 

[tiggerwillow]

A friend of mine is retiring from breeding due to her own poor health and is rehoming her cats. She has two cats available, both ragdolls. She has asked if I am interested in adopting one.
One of the girls is a 1 year old kitten. She can be quite shy. I have children but my friend seems to think she will be ok. My children can be loud at times as children tend to be but not excessive. My friend has a 4 year old grandchild who she says the kitten is ok with. She also said the kitten can be antisocial. My children are 13, 9 and 8.
I have two other cats, one 3 year old adult ragdoll and one ragdoll kitten who is 13 weeks.
I wouldn’t want to traumatise and upset the kitten. Can adopting a shyer kitten work?

Have you met the cat?

 

[Alldara]

M Mumjoe267 Did you end up going forward with the adoption? How's it going?

(We'd love to see intro photos if yes, or RC photos if no )