Hello, I am a proud new mother to a 7 month old male kitten named Wakka! TLDR at the bottom!
Wakka comes from a hoarding situation of 30+ cats with limited food and cat boxes. He was found outside the house too weak to move and was cared for by a wonderful foster mom for the last 2 months. He's missing part of his ear, and his one eye constantly waters but the vet assured the foster family that it was not an issue at that time. My husband and I adopted him two weeks ago!
Our little guy is afraid of everything. We had him in our kitchen and hallway area for about a week where he spent much of his time hiding. I slept near him, talked to him, and tried to just be around in general. He'd eat around me, but he didn't want any affection or playing. When alone, he seemed bored with the small area. We got him a calming collar and a Feliway diffuser, which did seem to calm him down a bit.
We opened his area up to our large living room and moved his hide about two feet from it's original spot. He was making some nice progress and we moved his food further out every two days. He'll eat a foot away from me if I'm not moving a lot or looking at him.
But we noticed he pooped in his hiding place, and started to pee on the carpet next to him to avoid coming out while we were awake. We didn't punish him, but we did put him in the cat box right after he went potty to cleaned his mess. He seemed pretty shook that we had to move him to clean the area.
To our knowledge, he hasn't had another accident, but we'd like to help him get more comfortable, and feeling safer and more confident! He was shy but very affectionate when we first met him, so I'd love to get him feeling better now that he has a forever home.
We plan on condensing his "safe" area to a corner of our living room where he can see everything, and his food, water, and litter box will be closer. He'll have his double story cat hide and a cat tree right next to our couch. I'll also be around him during feeding times and in general, close to him at all times. Is there anything else we can do to help get him comfortable? We have toys out, multiple hiding areas around the house, and we don't force affection or holding on him. I know it'll be a long process, and just want to make sure I'm doing what I can for him!
TLDR: Our 7 month kitten is so afraid of people he's not using his litter box when we're around. What are some tips to help socialize him and get him feeling more comfortable and safe?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/gpku1s/socializing_a_previously_neglected_kitten/
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