My kitten is very scared, how do I help him?

Cats are very sensitive animals to the environment that surrounds them and can be scared very easily. Whether it’s because of the arrival of a holiday, because of the fireworks or because it is a cat that has been adopted in a shelter, this attitude is more common than you think and is reason for consultation in the veterinary clinic.

Des we want to help you with some tips for know what to do if My kitten is very scared, how do I help him? In these moments we must know how to handle the situation so that it does not become a trauma for life, since in the adult stage the fears are more difficult to eradicate.

Knowing our kitten

It is very common the appearance of doubts when a cat comes to the home, especially if we have not been able to enjoy living with one before. We will start by observing you and letting you investigate on your own. We must see how he behaves before the new and the unknown, as he discovers the spaces, if he wants us to accompany him to go introducing him his new home, etc. First impressions are always important. We will try not to have bad experiences so that your adaptation will be successful.

We can teach him the different toys for cats to see how he reacts to them, if he likes more those with feathers, bells or lights. If we see that someone disturbs or bothers you we will remove it and, perhaps, we can offer it to you when you are an adult, at that moment you may see it with different eyes.

To know you better we will continue fostering exploration of the environment in which he lives, something that can take time. If the custom in our home is to put music in the morning we can be surprised to know that cats like music. We can use it as a way that allows us to transmit concrete emotional states, such as calm and relaxation.

Basically what we have to take into account are the level of Hertz (unit of measurement of sound) in cats goes from 30 to 65.000 HZ, while we as humans only hear up to 20.000 Hz. This helps us to know why cats They are so sensitive to sounds in general. The music at home at low levels does not usually bother them, regardless of the taste of the owners.

A safe environment

At the time of receiving the kitten at home the mission of creating a safe environment must already be studied and reviewed to avoid accidents. But we know cats and we are aware of their exploratory nature. They, in their attempt to discover, will find dangers that we would never have imagined.

La kitty socialization stage It is very important for a correct integration in the family and home, also to avoid fears in adulthood. Socialization starts quickly, but it is around the 8 weeks of life when we must be alert so that he does not have negative experiences that affect him throughout his life. They are the famous “traumas” that trigger fears of shoes, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, scrubber, etc.

The reactions are usually different according to the cat, but the most common are run, escape the “attacking object” and perhaps find a hiding place to hide until the aggressor disappears. This can happen in front of us or when we are not at home with them, which will be more difficult to identify when trying to help.

If we believe that our home is a safe place for our hairball, surely it is, until we prove otherwise and there, we must act. Providing protection, comfort or simply letting you notice that the “aggressor” is not so bad trying to go with us to him.

This is usually very useful in inanimate objects that do not generate annoying noises for the child. Kind caresses or small pieces of food are usually an excellent reinforcement for our kitten relate positively the objects or the people you are afraid of.

Festivities and stressful moments for the kitten

The days of meetings, parties and celebration are usually a time of stress in our cat. In general, in the big cities it tends to be worse, and our pets have a terrible time and we suffer for them without really knowing what we can do.

Being a kitten, we still have time to avoid the appearance of fears in the celebrations, so the first thing will be try to make a good impression of them and that he also feels accompanied at this time. The use of reinforcement is again very important in this case.

Remember we should never move the kitten not leave it alone on these dates because we do not know how it will react, something that can put at stake its emotional stability and may even incite a dangerous situation, trying to hide, for example.

At the time of the fireworks, there are few who will not be scared. The ideal is to be with them and observe their reaction. They can seek to escape to a safe place (wardrobe, under the bed, shelf, etc), stay by our side with a state of alert or not respond to anything and try to flee to anywhere.

Remember that always the call imprinting or first impression before something unknown is what counts, so if we try to take him in arms to comfort him and do not want, let him look for what is the safest for the child, which is not always what we believe or desire. Let’s let him explore and discover what feels best in these moments that we can not qualify for a better time.

How to help a scary kitten?

Now that we know our little one and we know how his reactions are, we can Act accordingly. If we see that our consolation was not very helpful and that he spent the entire night in the bathroom behind the toilet or inside a closet, it is time to take action on the matter.

If through reinforcement and patience we can not make our cat calm down, we can always see our veterinarian to tell him what happened and together find alternative paths according to our preferences. We do not need to take our hairy friend to the specialist because we do not want to cause him more stress but we can tell him what happened.

We must remember that the cat must follow its routine, as it does every day, and for this we must not change its places of food and drink or hygiene. Neither should we be frightened or show excessive excitement, in this way, the kitten will feel that we are a protection for him and finally, do not forget to respect him as a living being, if he wants to hide that he does, it is part of the coexistence to respect each other.

Very serious cases

Especially indicated for festive times where fireworks are used, there is the option to offer allopathic medicationAs Calmex or Calmotonine. However, remember that drugs will not help the fear disappears, it will simply reduce your stress levels. It must be our last option.

Como holistic and natural veterinary I do not recommend this type of solution, especially in a very small kitten. What can be useful are the Homeopathy and Bach Flowers. For both small cats and adults, the results are excellent and we have no side effects. For this, we must talk to a veterinarian or holistic therapist to guide us.

If you want to read more articles similar to My kitten is very scared, how do I help him?, we recommend that you enter in our Basic Care section.