My new kitten hides all day. How can I help her adjust and socialize?

Moving into a new home is often frightening for a kitten, and it will take time for Amber to get used to her new home and you. I would give her lots of love and attention when she approaches you, including treats. This shows her that coming up to you is a good thing. Give her treats when she allows you to touch her. I would not try to approach her yourself, allow her to come to you. As she becomes adjusted to her home, she will eventually allow you to approach her.

Congrats on your new kitten! Moving to a new home is very stressful, and adding on flying to this new home, and Adelaide will be very stressed. It will take her a couple of days to get used to her new home. She may be coming out at night when you are asleep, and I would make sure to leave out food and water at all times for her to have when she decides to come out. I would leave her be for now, don't try to get her to come out to you, she will come out in her own time. Leave out some boiled white meat chicken (no bones) or you can soak her kitten food in tuna juice to tempt her to eat. When you do see her moving around, don't make sudden movements towards her, or make a big deal of it. Ignore her until she comes to you, and gently give her pets and praise. Be patient, it will take time for her to adjust, but she will get used to her new home :-)

Poor Pepper. She's had a lot of changes in her short life. It is a very good sign that she is comfortable being held and that she coming out to eat and use the litter box. I would be patient and allow her some safe places that are quiet without other cats. Spending a full 2 months with their mom and siblings is ideas for puppies and kittens, but they can still be well socialized if they were taken away earlier than that. I suspect that she will just need more time to adjust if she is comfortable being held on a lap. One thing that may help is a Feliway Diffuser (https://www.feliway.com/us#redirected). Put it in the place that Pepper likes to hide and hopefully it will help her calm down faster and give her a little more confidence. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Congrats on your new kitten, and thanks for contacting Pet Coach with your question about Kino! Moving into a new home is stressful for a kitten, and it will take time for her to adjust. I would leave her alone for now, allow her to get used to the sights and smells of her new home. When she does come out, praise her and offer her a treat or a toy to play with to show her coming out and interacting is a good thing that will be rewarded. As time passes, she should feel more and more comfortable with coming out, and the treats and toys will make that more enticing as well. Praise her too when she comes out, and you should see over time that she will be calmer and happier in the home. Best of luck, I hope this helps!

Poor Onyx! She sounds quite scared. I would continue to allow her to familiarize herself with her new environment and you as her new ‘human’. Some cats will be quite sociable from the outset, others take time to adjust to new surroundings. Provide her with plenty of hiding places where she can be safe, give her space to become acclimated, and ensure she has food and water available in a safe location. You can spend time just sitting on the floor near her, maybe tease her with a toy on a string and see if you can coax her closer. Take it nice and slow with her and I suspect that soon she will be bouncing all over the house!

I would recommend giving her more space and time. Offer her lots of treats from afar without expecting any interaction. It sounds like she's warming up, it's just slow going. Some cats take weeks or months to warm up, and some never really want to interact with their humans. It sounds like she's totally normal, just not a social kitty. I hope that helps!

It will take time for Kiki to get used to being in your home. There are some cats that will not come out while kids are around at all. I would just give her time and when she wants to come out just give her attention if she would like it. It can take up to a full 2 weeks for their personalities come out. So I would still give her time, but know she may always be a cat who only comes out when the kids are not around. I would make sure the kids are not being too loud if she does come out with them and just let her be if she does come around. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.