New kittens crying

selement

I adopted 2 shelter kittens Friday evening, from the same litter nearly 15 weeks old. They have been quite shy and so far don't like us being too close and won't let us touch them, which is fine I know it takes time, but one of them in particular cries when we leave their room (I have been told a 'bonding room' is a good idea until they trust you enough to come up to you). She's worst at night when she miaows a lot more and also tries to open the door which we don't hear her trying other times of day (can hear her banging against it).
Most advice out there about crying kittens assumes you only have 1 kitten and that theyre 8 weeks or younger but we have sisters who do play together.

Any advice? Ignoring the crying feels mean but some of us need to get up for work on the morning! Doing this even though we've been in and out of room all day and played with them for a few hours before trying to leave. They have fresh food and water, clean litter, boxes and beds, a cat tree scratching post and toy mice so I'm not sure what more I can do

Emmala

I think that if you've given them everything they need then it's ok to leave them to settle down, I'm sure she won't fuss for long. Maybe during the day you should shut them in their room for just a few minutes, then make a fuss of them when you open it up, so they get used to being shut in and learn that you will come back. That's what we did with our kitten, he had to go in the study as our older cat has the cat flap overnight, and when we went out, go to school and overnight, the kitten was shut in the study. Sometimes he miaowed, but I used to put him some food down and while he was distracted by it, say bye bye and shut the door.

gettingready

They have fresh food and water, clean litter, boxes and beds, a cat tree scratching post and toy mice so I'm not sure what more I can do

Let them explore, do not shut them away by themselves. I never ever done this, sorry but feels very mean to me. Not sure why would anyone advise something like that?

All my cats over the years were allowed anywhere they wanted and normally ended up on my bed pretty much straight away. I would never think about shutting them away anywhere by themselves.

Fosterdog

gettingready wrote: »

Let them explore, do not shut them away by themselves. I never ever done this, sorry but feels very mean to me. Not sure why would anyone advise something like that?

All my cats over the years were allowed anywhere they wanted and normally ended up on my bed pretty much straight away. I would never think about shutting them away anywhere by themselves.

It's something commonly done with nervous animals, it can be incredibly scary and intimidating to a small and nervous animal having a huge area, plus more places they could hide away and be unreachable especially if they are not friendly enough to come when called yet. The reasoning behind it is that they have a smaller space to explore and get comfortable and confident in first, then they can explore another room, then another until they are free to roam the whole home. It actually makes a lot of sense and is not at all mean or cruel, don't forget these are from a rescue and have probably only had a small pen to live in with maybe occasional access to a play room so they will not be confident kittens eager to explore such a large area.

seven-day-weekend

Just make sure they have a bed, litter tray and water and ignore the crying, they will settle eventually. I agree with them having a 'safe space' while they are still so nervous. Even when they start coming out, let them have that room for security.

gettingready

If they are crying/one is crying then it clearly does not feel like a safe place/comfortable place.

Why not have them in the bedroom with you?

fairy_lights

When one of my cats was a kitten he would cry relentlessly at night unless we let him in to the bedroom so he could sleep on the bed, so in the end we let him do that and he became a lot happier and quieter. I know a lot of people recommend keeping them in one room for a few days to adjust but it doesn't work for all cats.

selement

The bedroom isn't kitten proof yet and I'm a bit allergic so hoping to keep them out of the bedroom totally (although I can see it not lasting!). Also if they came in our room they'd probably just hide under our really low bed. They have boxes to hide in in their room but they wouldn't be totally inaccessible.

The cryer keeps escaping out the room when. I open the door today but hisses at me if I follow but house isn't kitten proof yet so I'm following to make sure she's ok! This is why they're supposed to get used to us first she could have hidden behind kitchen cupboards because we have a hole in them (dishwasher arriving today).

She's fine with us in the room unless she thinks we're approaching her then she hisses (entering room while blocking her exit and reaching to replace food dish with fresh food another time not actually trying to grab her or anything). She sometimes comes right up to us and gives us a sniff without incident and will play with wand toy with us happily

Fen1

I would be careful about having young kittens in the bedroom : they are easily squashed😢

Cats can be very active at night, so she's probably just being naturally nocturnal. Toys and playthings in their room is good.

Try putting liquid / paste treats on your finger for her to lick off. Different cats like different flavours, so keep trying different brands until you get the one she likes. Positive association is good.

selement

They were much quieter last night which I'm hoping is a good sign as we're currently working on trying to handle them a bit. Once this gets a bit better and we kitten proof some more rooms we can let them explore more.