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When the kitten gets used to being held. How to tame a wild kitten and raise it to be obedient. Mistakes in hand training

Cats are quite capricious, freedom-loving, independent animals. Each individual, even within the same breed, has its own disposition, temperament, habits, and character. Some mustaches constantly require the attention of their owners and literally do not get off the laps or hands of their beloved owner, others are reluctant to make contact with a person and allow themselves to be stroked and cuddled only when they have the desire and the mood. How to raise an affectionate, easy-going pet? How to accustom a kitten to being held? You will learn the answers to these questions from this article.

Unfortunately, not all small kittens are happy to sit quietly and spend time in the arms of their owner, especially in stressful situations or if the pet is very scared. In addition, not all furry cats require increased attention and avoid close contact with humans. This applies not only to wild street adult cats, cats of certain breeds, but also to kittens that you left helpless little lump. But you really want to cuddle and caress your beloved pet.

Cats tend to be arrogant. In most cases, cats allow themselves to be loved, accept our care, guardianship, and attention. Even little kitty

He won’t always sit quietly in your arms, allowing himself to be squeezed for hours. Remember that cats are very capricious and freedom-loving animals. Why don't cats like to be held?

  • The reasons for this behavior may be the following: Breed characteristics
  • , genetic predisposition. Fear of heights, loss of balance.
  • There are cats that are afraid of heights, weightlessness and do not like balance. Sitting in your arms, the kitten experiences fear and discomfort.
  • , feeling anxious, will try to escape from the hands and run to a safe place. Rough treatment of animals.
  • Cats remember their abuser very well, and if you used physical violence, the pet will no longer fully trust you. Sharp , according to the cat, coming from the owner and his hands. Cats do not like the aroma of perfumes, especially citrus notes, or the smell of tobacco. Perhaps you have previously petted another cat or dog and the smell of the “stranger” scares the kitten away.

Read also: What grass do cats eat?

Street kittens and pets taken from shelters are reluctant to make contact. Since childhood, animals have not received much attention from humans and have been deprived of love and affection. It is possible that a street kitten was offended by a person, and the animal harbored a grudge against us for the rest of its life and no longer trusts the person.

Some breeds, due to their breed characteristics, also do not need increased attention and affection. For example, the British and their crossbreeds.

Active, hyperactive, inquisitive kittens are reluctant to sit in your arms. It is difficult for them to sit in one place, much less on your lap or hands. After all, there are so many interesting things in the world.

We quickly accustom a kitten to hands (British, Scottish)

How to train a cat to sit quickly in your arms? The complexity of this process largely depends on the age, character, temperament, breed characteristics, and upbringing of your mustachioed pet.

For example, British, Scottish fold kitten It will take longer to get used to it.
As a rule, kittens develop socialization skills around the second week of their life. Therefore, from now on, you can carefully pick up the kitten in your arms, gradually accustoming it to hands and affection. The process of socialization and adaptation should be as favorable as possible for a small pet.

Accordingly, the sooner you accustom an animal to communication, the faster and easier it is to achieve the desired result. Even if you got a cat and he is not six months old, if the right approach accustoming an animal to your hands and raising an affectionate pet will not be difficult. Especially if the cat had a positive experience in communicating with the previous owner or with a person.

  • During the first days, do not bother your baby with your excessive attention. The little pet explores a new territory, gets used to the smells and surroundings. Everything is interesting and curious to him.
  • Protect the animal from stress, communicate with the kitten in a gentle tone, but at the same time pay attention to the cat as much as he wishes.
  • Do not squeeze or forcefully hold the animal in your arms if it breaks out. If the kitten meows, lower the pet to the floor, caress, calm, stroke, interest him with a toy.
  • At first, you need to hold the kitten in your arms for no more than 3-5 minutes, gradually increasing the time. Talk to the kitten in a gentle tone, treat him with a treat, and interest him in playing together.
  • You can take a feather and play with your baby when he is on your lap. As soon as the fluffy gets used to it and begins to trust the owner, he will sit peacefully and more calmly in his arms.

Advice! Pet and pick up a sleepy, just woken up kitten. Hold him in your arms for at least a few seconds. Over time, the baby will understand that the owner’s hands provide not only food, but also pleasant sensations.

If you want to pet a kitten and pick your pet up, do it as carefully as possible. The animal should not experience any discomfort painful sensations. Hold the kitten by the front legs while supporting the back legs. The pet will not like sudden movements and lifting, and he may be afraid of such actions.

Read also: Choosing a dry toilet for cats - review of devices

If the kitten refuses to come to you, does not want to sit in your arms, call him in a gentle tone and treat him with a treat. Take a toy, a ball, a bow on a string and make sure that during the game, chasing the “prey”, the pet jumps onto your lap.

As soon as the baby is in your arms, caress, stroke under the chin, behind the ear, reward with praise or a treat. Stroke your baby until he begins to struggle and become restless.

When the kitten is in your arms, monotonous, affectionate conversation helps to establish contact with the animal. A cat, listening carefully to the speech of its owner, calms down, closes its eyes, and feels safe.

If the kitten readily responds to affection and needs your attention, pick it up as often as possible and hold it for as long as it wants. No violent actions or insults on your part. Be patient, surround the animal with affection and care, and the furry pet will definitely reciprocate.

What not to do

Even if the kitten is reluctant to make contact, does not want to sit quietly on your hands or knees, never scream, and especially do not hit the animal. Violent disrespect will only make the situation worse. Just patience and consistency in action.

Do not grab the kitten by the scruff of the neck, do not pull the front legs, and do not make sudden movements. The animal should not feel that you are a threat. Your hands should evoke only positive associations. Make the animal want to sit on your hands and lap.

Some people have the opinion that cats do not need to be taught to be handled, since they themselves are ready to sit on their owners’ laps for hours. But it is not always the case. Many owners dream of having this purring miracle sitting in their arms, because they so want to stroke and cuddle the kitten, and everyone knows that our pets are a good antidepressant.

They, with their characteristic arrogance, allow themselves to be fed, cared for, but as for their hands... Moreover, this relates not only to adult, taken home, but also to a cat raised with his own hands, raised from a tiny kitten. In our article we will try to explain in detail what causes this cat behavior and how to accustom a cat to handling.

Reasons why a cat doesn't like to be held

Animal psychologists say that there are some good reasons why cats do not like to sit in their owner’s arms. Let's look at some of them:

  • Firstly, it is difficult to sit a kitten in your arms when long time lived on the street. If no one has ever held him in their arms before, he will sincerely not understand why he needs to sit on his master’s lap. Well, they fed me, gave me something to drink, but why these incomprehensible hugs?
  • The cat does not like to be without balance, in weightlessness, this is exactly how the pet perceives this situation when it is at the height of human height.
  • There are cats that are afraid of heights.
  • Bad memories do not allow the kitten to relax and calmly sit on its owner’s lap. If the animal is a street animal or from a family where it was not treated particularly well, or, on the contrary, was abused, then it will be difficult for it to adapt to a new relationship. The cat's memory has a completely different picture of what can be expected from human hands.
  • The pungent odor emanating from the owner may not allow the cat to sit in his arms. As you know, cats have a highly developed sense of smell; their delicate nose perceives even the most insignificant odors. Those odors that come from the owner's hands can be pungent and extremely unpleasant for him. It could also be the smell washing powder, detergent, hand cream, favorite French perfume.
  • There are also some especially freedom-loving breeds that do not tolerate “calf” tenderness, an abundance of communication and the master’s hands. They prefer solitude. These cats are good for busy people to have. business people who are rarely at home. These are breeds such as the British, Scottish Fold.

How not to behave around a cat

Cats are quite freedom-loving and touchy creatures. If the owner has ever offended the cat, the cat will never approach him again. And you can’t even dream of him jumping onto your lap. If the cat receives affection and attention from the owner, then gradually he will get used to the person and respond with mutual affection.

It should be remembered that cats will never do anything against their will. There is no need to forcefully hold them on your knees; this still will not lead to the desired result. The animal itself must want to sit or sleep on its owner’s lap.

If a small kitten tolerates the owner’s caresses normally, then at the first sign of anxiety, it should be released. When the animal begins to nervously beat its tail on the floor, it says that I’m tired, I have a lot of things to do.

Some training methods

If you are not one of those lucky people whose cats love to sit and even sleep in your arms, and you really want your pet to be “tame,” then you need to know that there are different ways, helping to tame this wild miracle:

  • All cats love to eat tasty food, and it is better for a well-fed, dozing kitten to allow itself to be taken on your lap.
  • An affectionate monotonous conversation with a pet encourages mutual communication. He, listening to the owner’s gentle speeches, will begin to squint and squint. In this state of mind, the pet will jump into the owner's arms.
  • Animal psychology claims that a cat should get used to being handled gradually, in several stages. First you just need to pet her behind the ear, all cats adore this. Once the pet is near your palms, you do not need to grab it and hold it by force.
  • You can act with the help of treats. At first, you can feed the kitten by hand, then put the yummy food on your lap. He will certainly jump after her. At the stage when your pet, having jumped for a tasty treat, is in no hurry to jump back, but calmly eats it, you can try stroking it with your other hand. You shouldn’t hold him back by jumping on your lap over and over again; he will get used to it; giving him a treat will help instill in his master’s hands how to receive pleasure.
  • If your cat is afraid of heights and weightlessness, then look at how correctly you are holding it and whether it is experiencing a feeling of pain. When lifting a kitten, you cannot hold it by the withers or by the body near the ribs. You need to hold the armpits of the front paws with one hand, and place the other under the hind paws. This way he won't feel like he's floating in the air.
  • If the kitten is terribly afraid of heights, then first you can pick him up while sitting on your knees.
  • Often the rapprochement between the owner and the cat occurs during play. At first, you can play with a bow or wrapper on the floor, gradually bringing the toy closer to your lap. As soon as the pet is in your arms, you need to let go of the toy and leave it under the full control of the animal. While he is enjoying the caught prey, he himself, without realizing it, is in his arms and at an unconscious level there is a period of adaptation.
  • Some owners carry very small kittens in the pockets of terry dressing gowns; they sit there like kangaroos and get used to the owner’s smell. In the meantime, he will perceive the robe as his property, and the owner's smell will always be associated with the sweet period of childhood.
  • At the very extreme case, pet stores stock cat sprays with increased content pheromones that attract pets like a magnet. If you spray your palms with this miraculous method, the cat itself will reach out to you. You should not use this product often, because, against the background of pheromones, it will become addictive and then another problem will arise: how to wean your pet off cat spray. Catnip can be substituted for cat spray.

You need to understand that the kitten gets used to its owner’s hands faster adult cat, in the latter case more patience will be required.

Knowing the free-thinking and independent nature of a cat, you can get along with your pet without much difficulty. If you still achieve desired result If it doesn't work, then you need to leave him alone. After all, cats are quite characteristic animals, and character, as we know, changes throughout life.

Cats have long been tamed by humans, but stray animals are constantly found. If you pick up a small kitten on the street, but it doesn’t want to show its cute character, be prepared for the fact that it will take time for the baby to get used to it. How to tame a wild kitten that is not accustomed to affection, what its new owner needs to know so as not to endanger himself - about this and much more we'll talk in the article.

First of all, take into account the fact that a kitten hisses at people and is afraid if it was born on the street and did not live near them. But even such an animal can be weaned from displaying aggression if you apply effective methods. Remember - it is much easier to instill trust in a person in a small kitten than in an adult pet.

A mature cat most often hides in various basements, his character has long been formed, and teaching him good manners is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. Such animals are afraid of people, scour landfills in search of food and become too aggressive, as they are often forced to defend their lives in fights with other homeless animals.

The fact that a kitten or a grown-up pet sits still when it sees a person and is not too afraid of you indicates that it was most likely kicked out into the street. Pay attention to the fur: if it is clean, not tangled, and looks well-groomed, then you have a cat that already had a family and could have been on the street only recently. In any case, if you decide to pick up a kitten or even wild cat from the street, be patient: he will definitely scratch, damage furniture and play mischief in the house.

However, with proper care and education, you can instill good manners in him.

When the feral kitten has calmed down a little, open the cage and gently reach out to him, not paying attention to his hissing. If an animal tries to hit you with its paw, brush it off - let it see who’s boss. Wait until the cat stops responding to your movements and give another treat, but do not put the food dish down.

After 15 hours, the tailed baby will be hungry enough to leave the cage on its own and take the goodies from your hands. If this happens, move carefully and calmly: any sudden movement or loud voice will frighten him. Hold the food in your hand, stroke your pet with your free hand, and then feed it.

Taming Rules

If a cat is not given to a person at all, it is necessary to accustom it to contact gradually.

Pour food into a bowl and place it outside the cage - this will force the kitten to come out of its hiding place. Then gradually move the bowl to the middle of the room. When the pet begins to move further, try petting it and then feed it.

Have you seen a poor wild animal on the street and wanted to take it home? An excellent solution, we fully support it, but first you have to answer the question: how to tame a cat? And after reading this article you will understand that this is not a simple matter at all, it is fraught with many difficulties and even dangers.

Of course, taking home a wild animal, giving it affection, warmth and care is wonderful, a very good idea. But let's take a more sober assessment of the situation and examine all possible problems.

  • He may be ill, and very seriously. The range of diseases can be quite large, but some of them are very dangerous. For example, rabies, which is immediately transmitted by a bite through the saliva of an animal. But at first, a wild animal will most likely show aggression, try to bite you, and each bite can have disastrous consequences for your body.
  • You will need to pay a lot of money right away. Immediately after taking the cat into your home, you will need to take him to the veterinarian, conduct an examination, do a basic set of vaccinations, and worm him. And this is only a standard set, if the veterinarian finds nothing in the animal. If any disease is detected, the list of costs for medications and treatment can grow significantly. So soberly evaluate your financial position and think about the fact that you will have to immediately give away a fairly good amount of money.
  • Taming will take a very long time. The easiest way is with kittens; if they are under 10 weeks old, they will be fully tamed in 2-3 weeks. But taming an adult can take several months, a year, or even more! And all this time, the animal will need to be treated with the utmost care and caution, receiving in return only suspicious glances, aggression towards any attempts to pet it, and rather capricious behavior. Adults have already developed habits, for example, going to the toilet on the street, but it will take a very, very long time to retrain them to use the litter box.
  • A wild cat may not become domesticated at all! Adults are not only tamed for a long time: some of them are never tamed! You will try again and again, but the furry creature will not change its attitude, no matter how hard you try. Moreover, prolonged existence in street conditions makes many cats withdrawn, which is why even after domestication they will most time to be alone, sit on the windowsill, but not on your feet.

The animal may be sick
Need a lot of money for vaccinations

Taming takes a long time
An adult wild cat may not become domesticated

We have given all these arguments for only one purpose: to make you think about whether you really need it. The desire to take a wild animal home is commendable, but it is important to understand that the cat perceives you as an enemy, expects something bad from you, and therefore will react aggressively to all actions. Perhaps it’s better to just feed her every day than to try to radically change her whole life, especially since she doesn’t really want it herself.

And yet, if you decide to tame a cat, then we will help you with this

First you need to prepare some room where you will immediately place the cat. Ideal if you have an unused attic or storage room, or indeed any not particularly needed room. But if there is none, then use your bathroom for these purposes.

Remove all unnecessary objects from the room, especially shelves, check for holes in the walls anywhere, and also be sure to close the windows and place a tray, throw toys on the floor, and place bowls of food. We also advise you to put up some kind of shelter for the animal (even an ordinary box will do), and change the bright light of the lamps to the dim light of a night light or floor lamp. And you can also put a couple of old personal items on the floor so that the cat gets used to the smell of a person.

Prepare the room so that the cat gets used to the new place and smells.

This is the room you should let your cat out into when you first bring her home. Of course, it’s great if she allows herself to be picked up and brought home, but most often cats respond to attempts to pick her up by running away, so you will need to catch her using a safe trap cage. Find one for rent, it's a simple cage with a slamming door. It is best to cover the trap with a blanket and place a treat inside. Only when you catch a cat, make sure that it does not bite you when carrying it, we have already described the consequences above.

You should leave the cat in the prepared room for at least half a day, let it get used to the new place, gradually get used to your smell, with the feeling that it is not outside. If you enter a room, do so by first knocking on the door, and do not make sudden movements.

Yes, I really want to pet a furry animal, and I want to wash it even more to make it look neat and tidy. But neither one nor the other should be done at first. You even need to start petting the cat gradually, after a sufficiently long period of time. Otherwise, you'll get bites and that's it. At first, just try to play with her, for which you buy special toys or simply make a classic toy from a string and a bow.

Buy your new pet toys

Analyze your pet's behavior before each next step on your part. If the muscles are tense, the gaze is constantly directed at you, and even growls with its ears pressed to its head, then you should not try to pet or play with the animal yet. And one more piece of advice: under no circumstances look at the animal for a long time and without taking your eyes off. The point is that in wildlife a direct, long gaze is regarded as a challenge; it does not bode well. Therefore, no matter how much you would like to watch your pet, if he catches your gaze, then it is best to look away to the side, do not once again provoke the predator.

If you find a wild kitten, then it will be much easier with him. He is unlikely to be able to bite through his hands, and he will not resist so much. Kittens become domesticated much faster; two to three weeks are enough for this. At the same time, just a couple of days after taking it into your home, you can already try to pick up the kitten and sit it on its feet, especially if it is exhausted and wants to sleep.

In any case, working with kittens is much easier, especially up to six months of age. During this period, they have not yet fully developed habits, thanks to which they can quickly be tamed to the tray and the desired behavior can be instilled. The main thing is a good attitude and patience, because kittens sense a person’s mood very well.

Kittens that are too young cannot be adopted without their mother!

If the cat has not yet stopped feeding the kittens (and she stops feeding them about a month after birth), then take the cat and the kittens home with you. When the kittens become independent, release the cat; if you wish, you can first vaccinate and sterilize it.

If you take home a very small kitten, then there will be absolutely no problems with its domestication, because it will see you almost from birth, thanks to which it will quickly assign you the status of owner with all the appropriate behavior.

The only thing to remember is illnesses, be sure to do everything necessary vaccinations see a veterinarian and check the baby for diseases that could be transmitted from the wild mother.

  • Quite often, even domesticated cats spend time alone. They need it so much, so let your pet be alone;
  • Do not try to overfeed the animal right away. In conditions of constant malnutrition, the stomach cannot digest large portions of food. Increase the amount of food gradually;
  • Under no circumstances should you shout or show aggressive behavior in relation to a wild animal, otherwise your long work in building a relationship may be in vain.
  • Thus, it is possible to domesticate a wild cat, but many factors must be taken into account and be sure to weigh the pros and cons. It is very easy to domesticate kittens, but with adults they can be serious problems. And first of all, we advise you to show the wild animal to a veterinarian, because even a small bite can lead to serious problems if the furry creature has serious health problems.

    How to tame a wild cat. I have wild cats at work. I've been feeding them for five years now. Now only four cats are alive - two from the fourth generation, one cat from the fifth, and the ancestor of all these cats - “grandmother”, as I call her. But I don’t know what generation this “grandmother” is. Judging by how careful she is, I can tell that she is not one of the family either.

    In all the years, she has never allowed me to get closer than three meters to her. Every year she brings three or four kittens, but almost all of them die in adolescence. Some from worms, some from diseases, some from dogs. For some reason, boys die more often.

    I feed them in a shed outside. There is a hole there, which I adapted for them in such a way that the dogs could not get through there. I put dry food and water in the barn for them. We have medical institution, and there are no residential buildings or basements nearby where they could hide from the cold and feed in the trash.

    In winter, the barn is a little warmer than outside. But I installed two large ones inside carton boxes with insulation. Sometimes they sleep there, but in the coldest weather they go somewhere into the sewer manholes.

    All winter I clear snow from the approaches to the hole for them. Even in thirty-degree frosts, they run in the snow and play, although their fur is not fluffy. I never tried to tame them, because... They have been wild for more than one generation, and are afraid of people. Maybe it's for the better.

    In the evening I took him home. Last year, at the beginning of May, two fourth-generation cats calved at the same time, and they could not divide their kittens. I don’t know where they were born, but after the May holidays, a kitten about a week old appeared in a box in the shed. There were no cats nearby.

    I put the food down and went to work. At lunchtime I looked into the barn again and was stunned. There were already three kittens in the box. And after a couple of hours there were already four of them. In the evening there was no one in the box anymore. Only I have the keys to the barn, so no one could take the kittens.

    On the second day the same picture repeated itself. This chaos lasted for two weeks. The kittens appeared and disappeared. I decided to follow the cats. And this is what it turned out... One of the cats took the kittens somewhere into the bushes, and the other brought them back.

    So they carried them around for almost a month and a half until I noticed that one kitten’s eyes were swollen and covered with pus. It was the most beautiful kitten. Gray-blue in color, fluffy and with a short tail. There were two more kittens with the same short tail, and only one with a long tail.

    All spring, a large dark tailless cat was hanging around my cats. I thought that he had been pinched somewhere, but now I realized that he is purebred - and these tailless ones are his children. Subsequently, I took this stud cat home. You can read about how this happened.

    It was necessary to choose the moment, catch the kitten with sore eyes, wash them and lubricate them eye ointment, otherwise he may remain blind.

    At lunchtime I went into the barn and saw that there was no cat nearby, and only the kitten I wanted was sitting in the box. I took him in my hands and quickly wiped his eyes and lubricated them with ointment. I wanted to put it back, but I realized that I couldn’t leave this helpless little lump. After all, this procedure will need to be repeated several more times, and suddenly I will no longer have this opportunity and the cat will go blind.

    I had no choice but to take him. All the way to my office the kitten trembled, hissed and spat. But then he warmed up in my bosom and calmed down. It turned out to be a girl. In the evening I took her home.

    Our savage Pipa

    The pussy didn't come out of the box for almost a week. I was afraid of my other cats and dog. Then she adapted and even began to play. At night she slept with me. She chose our oldest cat instead of her mother and sucked the fur on her neck. She's been sucking him like this for a year now, and he's happy.

    The cat itself is very affectionate, but it almost doesn’t allow itself to be petted. It’s not given to strangers at all, and veterinarians make such a fuss (hisses, spits, bites) that they are afraid to even touch it. No matter how you look at it, several generations of wild cats are making themselves known.

    Here she is, our favorite. Wild but affectionate.

    If I had decided to take her at least a week later, I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep her. She became friends with our cats, but they are still afraid of her.

    How to tame a wild cat? No way! It's gone wild domestic cat, it is possible to tame, but a wild one, and even an adult one, is unlikely.

    The world's most expensive cat, Little Nicky, cost her owner $50,000. She is a clone of him former cat, who died of old age.