New kitten help - showing no interest in anything/not eating

[Millys Mum]

And spray it with catnip (organic is the best!)

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Woo Hoo so pleased Robbie has perked up and is obviuosly enjoying his new "girlfriend" Lilly who is a little stunner.

With regards to scratching the furniture ..... get a scrathcing post and put double sided sellotape on the places she is stratching (it's cheaper than sticky paws).  Nip it in the bud early before she thinks she can get away with it 

[Yvonne]

Beautiful cats - so sorry about the scratching, I presume you have a couple of scratching posts?
Those cat teasers are very good for stimulation - you know the stick with a fish or mouse on the end, they love it and it is quite cheap.

Hope the scratching improves for you soon.

[Christine (Blip)]

Great news for Robbie, Karen and another little one in a good home

[Sootyca]

He did improve gradually with eating but was still very hissy and walked round the house meowing.  I think he was lonely.  He did let me stroke him and fuss him but he was spending all day in his basket in the kitchen, so we took drastic action with him - adopted another kitten to keep him company!  The change in him has been amazing.  He plays, he eats, he wants affection.  I guess he just missed feline company!  They were both adopted from the same rescue centre, but are different litters.  She is slightly younger than he is, and although very affectionate she is a little demon - scratching furniture, up on the kitchen units, getting into places she isn't meant to be and I'm sure she is teaching him bad habits!

Still, they are both adorable.  Robbie is the tabby and Lilly the tortoiseshell.

Karen
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[Yvonne]

Hi Karen,

As it has been quite a few days since you posted, do you have an update on Robbie?  Is he eating properly now?

[Desley (booktigger)]

i am glad that you have got something into him, fingers crossed he continues to eat well, lets hope he doesn't become an addict, some of the shop bought hams arent very good for them due to the salt content. Fingers crossed the meeting with your family doesn't set him back too much

[Millys Mum]

Are you leaving him any dry food? They often nibble on that over night.
Glad to hear Robbie has eaten some ham, he will expect this regularly from now on!!

[Sootyca]

Further progress.  Robbie has now had half a slice of wafer thin ham (well, it's better than nothing) and has gone back to sleep again.  This time though he isn't curled up as tightly as he was, he's more sprawling in his basket which I am thinking is a good sign as he is more relaxed.  We also had a moment when he caught the "fish on a stick" toy as I was waving it over him.

I felt like a proud mum as he took his first bite of ham.

There was an ugly moment when sister and brother-in-law came round.  Despite knowing better, he approached Robbie from above and bent down to try and stroke him which resulted in a massive hissing fit and Robbie taking a swipe at him!  He then did the same to my sister.   

Just need him to start eating properly now and gaining confidence to explore a little!

Thanks for all the help, hopefully he is getting more settled now.

Karen

[Ela]

but good stuff, and a good thing to have in in case of illness.

I agree I always have a few tins in.

[Desley (booktigger)]

Its a convalescent diet - can't be used long term, but is very good short term to tempt cats into eating - Molly had been barely eating at the rescue when I got her, I gave her 1 tin after 2 days of being here as she was still barely eating, and she hasn't stopped eating me out of house and home since (nearly 14 months later!!). Not particularly cheap, but good stuff, and a good thing to have in in case of illness. Good luck, and I do hope you can find soemthing he will eat soon.

[Sootyca]

Yep, he's on the same food as at the rescue - made sure we knew what he liked.  He's also been tempted with tuna which he apparently loves but sniffed at it and ignored it.  I left it on a plate close to him and left him on his own for over an hour but hadn't touched it.

He's been on his own all yesterday afternoon, evening and night (albeit slightly interrupted as he is in the kitchen and it's impossible not to keep going in there!).  I'm in with him now, working at the table and he is in his basket on the floor and he is curled up asleep and isn't worried about me being in here with him.  I'll try him again with more food later and leave him on his own again for a while.  I'm hoping that his hunger will effentually overcome his fear of being in a strange place.

What's AD?  It will definitely be a call to the vets tomorrow if he is still like this. 

Thanks,

Karen

[Desley (booktigger)]

I would see if you can get some a/d from your vets, I haven't known any cat refuse to eat that, and it can work wonders on improving their appetite. Have you been putting down teh same food as he had at the rescue? I wouldn't worry about having to take him back just yet though, it can take a couple of days for them to be relaxed enough to eat - and I wouldn't spend too much time in the same room as him until he has started to eat, just in case he is hungry but you being there is offputting to him.

[Sootyca]

Well, he has moved overnight and used his litter tray.  I had to get a drink in the middle of the night and he as sat on on of the chairs which had a coat draped over it, so he obviously felt more secure.

Still no eating though.  Heated tuna for him and smells at it and licks his lips but won't touch it, even though he must be starving hungry now. 

I've decanted all my work and laptop to the kitchen now so I can spend more time in the same room with him so he gets used to me.  We're not giving up on him easily - if he starts eating he can have all the time he needs to come round and learn to trust us.  As he is still a kitten I'm not sure how long he can safely go without eating - we have thought of the syringe idea but we don't want to scare him any more than he already is. 

If there is no feeding later today I'll ring the rescue centre and see what the lady there suggests.

Karen
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[COSMIC CREEPERS]

if you leave a little food out over night he will probably eat in time when the house is quite

i shoved moomin up my jumper when she was tiny and layed on the sofa with her head poking out of the top near my face, she was close to me and got more confident been with me , if hes not had much handling then you will have to put hard work in but it will pay off and he will learnto love you as he deserves
 poor thing i bet he is upset ,
him tooing and throwing to the rescue place isnt going to help either , cats and kittens only hiss when there unhappy or scared , he is probably scared
try not to worry , least hes not climbing your curtains and dashing around with glazed mad eyes like a possed devil ( thats what moomin was like )

[Ela]

How long have we to give him before returning him - if he is so stressed he won't eat it won't be doing him any good keeping him here with us.  The lady has said he can be returned if he doesn't settle and she will keep him as her own.  I don't want to have to take him back, and maybe I am jumping the gun a bit here, but I need to do what is best for him.

I personally would never give up on any pet I adopted. He will come round given time and patience. I have had a cat here for 3 weeks now that had been living almost all the time in a tree since November, for the first 2 weeks she stayed in its cosy hooded bed, but during the night she came out to eat and use the tray, during the last few days she has now moved to the heated bed and today she let me stroke her. I have been spraying Feliway in her hooded bed and giving her some Kalm in her food, in fact she started to come round about 24 - 36 hrs after I started to put the Kalm in her food but I don't know if it was that or she would have come round anyway. I think in cases like this you need to keep  them contained in a small a space as possible, give them too much room and it will take much longer for them to feel secure and come round. I have had cats that have not eaten for days, what I do now is give them food where I can count the pieces so I know if they have had a little nibble. If they are then not eating I usually put some tuna on top or give chicken breast that is still a little warm and if that fails I give a/d in a syringe and that usually starts the to eat. If that fails a vet can give an injection B6 I think which usually starts them to eat.

[Sootyca]

Thanks for all the help.   I've left him food down and a few toys out to see whether he moves them during the night - he did show some interest in the "goldfish on a string" toy and one of his mice toys but not enough to want to leave the security of his basket.  He did lick at some ham I put in front of him (didn't eat it though he must be hungry) and has moved round in his basked.

His new name is Robbie (he was called Miles but didn't respond to that).  He does flick his ears when you say his name and he is definitely listening when you are talking to him.

How long can he be safely left without eating?  We don't want to give him back without trying absolutely everything but if he won't eat I don't think there is an option.  I will try heating his food up tomorrow though and see if that tempts him.  Never know, he may have explored the kitchen and eaten everything up by tomorrow, fingers crossed!  We can cope with him being timid if he will start eating as I know he will get more confident in time.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Thanks again,

Karen
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[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I would leave a littlew tasty food for him 24/7 and I bet when you have gone to bed he eats some.

It also may help to leave an upturned cardboard box with bedding in and a hole in the side where he can go and hide, when he is feeling scared.

I am sure he will come round in a few days and it sounds like you are doing all the right things, he will just be very scared and possibly a bit lonely without the other cats around, even if he ignored them.

Now have just changed all the shes to hes LOL, whats his name? 

[COSMIC CREEPERS]

Hello Karen please dont worry your kitty is very scared but will come round
When i got moomin she didnt come near us for 2 days , she didnt have a wee for 2 days or eat she was very scared and i was very worried

Try tempting her with some tuna mashed up ( the smellier the better and slightly warm ) that got moomin eating then pooing 

Mango was very differnt she was stright into the food and litter tray

be patient and she/he  will come round
sasha

[ccmacey]

He will come round in time, it's going to be strange for him with all that space he is unsure about, as I assume he used to be in a pen? He might be one of those cat's that hasn't had much human attention, so he probably wont know what to do around you. Just give him a little time and patience and he will soon see that your not going to hurt him, he should soon get used to his new surroundings. Try also warming his food up so he can smell it more, this might make him eat. Good luck, what have you named him?

[Sootyca]

We picked up our kitten from a local rescue centre today.  He's a lovely tabby, approx 4-6months old (brought in as a feral stray with his mother and littermates), fully vaccinated and neuteured.  All his littermates have been rehomed and he wasn't overly friendly with any of the other cats she had around.  The lady who runs the shelter said he was shy and had been returned once because he would sit and hiss at the people who had adopted him.  They only lasted two days with him.

We had to get him out of his carrying case and put him onto the floor, where he promptly darted to a corner of the kitchen and pressed himself against the wall.  He has let us stroke him and we picked him up once to put him in the bed which we moved to "his" corner.  He did struggle slightly but didn't try and escape once I had picked him up.  We are always in and out of the kitchen, talking to him and checking he is okay.

We are working on the basis that he will come round in his own time and we aren't constantly stroking him and trying to make him interact with us.  However, I'm getting slightly concerned though that in the 6 hours he has been home he hasn't moved a muscle, just sat in his bed and shown absolutely no interest in anything that is happening around him.  He hasn't eaten any food, even tried tempting him with tuna which he apparently loves and he didn't want to know!

I know it will take time for him to get used to his new environment, the shelter was more like a foster home than an RSPCA shelter and this is obviously a huge upheaval for him.  I've looked on the Wizz-Cats site for advice on timid kittens, and will be setting myself up in the kitchen tomorrow, but wondering if anyone else has any ideas.  How long have we to give him before returning him - if he is so stressed he won't eat it won't be doing him any good keeping him here with us.  The lady has said he can be returned if he doesn't settle and she will keep him as her own.  I don't want to have to take him back, and maybe I am jumping the gun a bit here, but I need to do what is best for him.

Karen