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