OVERCOMING FEAR WITH LOVE (AND TREATS): SHY KITTEN SOCIALIZATION
Meet the kittens Simone Biles, Frederick Richard, and Stephen Nedoroscik! Affectionately dubbed “the Olympians, these undersocialized cuties came to my local shelter, where I was given the opportunity to foster and prepare them for adoption. Here’s their story, and some tips that may be helpful if you find yourself in the position of taking care of cats or kittens that missed out on enough human interaction during their early development. I hope this story will inspire and guide anyone who wants to foster kittens for their local shelters, especially those in need of some extra-special handling!
HOW IT STARTED
The Olympians came to the shelter at around 12 weeks old. They had been found outside with no apparent owner, so it’s unknown how much human interaction they had had. The poor things were terrified! They exhibited many classic signs of undersocialization: refusal to eat in front of people, extremely fearful body language when approached, and panic when handled. As you can tell from the picture below, Simone was the most fearful, trying to wedge herself completely in between the hide box and the shelf.
At this shelter, a possible outcome for healthy, unsocialized cats and kittens is RTF (Return To Field). They get spayed/neutered, ear-tipped, vaccinated, and returned back to the location where they were found. This is a positive outcome for cats that don’t have a good foundation of trust with humans–they can live life on their own terms, and hopefully be cared for from a distance by humans that provide necessary food and medical care. A similar option is becoming a “mouser” cat, which means being adopted out with the intention of keeping rodents and other pests away from the adopter’s property in exchange for food, shelter, and love from afar. However, if a cat is showing signs of some socialization, they are assessed for a bit longer to see if they may be potential candidates for standard adoption (the ultimate goal).
Kittens (as well as puppies and other animals) have a socialization period where it's very important they have frequent, positive interactions with humans in order to develop “friendly” relationships with people as adults. For kittens, this period is between 2 and 7 weeks of age. The greater number of positive and diverse interactions with people during this time, the better! However, this is a sensitive period, not a critical period. This means that kitten socialization to humans can extend beyond 7 weeks, although it will be a little harder to teach older kittens that humans aren’t so scary. Check out this article for more information about socialization periods.
The Olympians’ case proved promising: they didn't show any aggression (no biting or scratching so far), and they were young enough to qualify for assessment and socialization in a foster home. Thus, I was allowed to take them home to attempt socialization, or at least give them a reprieve from the inherent stresses of shelter life.
SETTLING IN AT HOME
The kittens were set up in a Safe Room, a small, quiet space away from the resident cats (in this case, the primary bathroom). This is always best practice when bringing home a new kitten or cat, but especially important for shy or undersocialized creatures. A small space has the dual benefits of (1) reducing fear and feeling overwhelmed and (2) facilitating interactions between the kitten and the person attempting to socialize them. The Olympians were set up with a few comfy places to hide, a cat tree, and of course a litter box, food, water, and toys.
The Olympians mostly hid and remained “shut down” for about 24 hours. They didn’t eat more than a few nibbles, didn’t use the litter box, and didn’t appear to play with any toys. I left them alone (except for a few check-ins for their welfare) in order to allow them to decompress and adjust to their new environment. This is normal behavior for many cats when brought into a new home, even those with plenty of prior human experience! But I knew these guys would take more effort to feel comfortable than just being left alone.
The first thing I did after their decompression period was to stop free-feeding (i.e., leaving food out all the time). 3-4 times a day, I would offer them high-value wet food and kibble while sitting calmly beside them and avoiding staring and sudden movement. If they didn’t eat within about 10 minutes, I would remove the food and try again at the next mealtime. After a couple of sessions, the kittens were motivated enough to eat in front of me. (Safety Note: Never withhold food from a kitten or cat that is underweight or otherwise medically compromised.) In turn, they formed a positive association with my presence: I bring the food and nothing bad has happened, so I’m not that scary! This is an example of counter-conditioning, which is pairing an unpleasant stimulus (me) with something good (the food) in order to change the emotional reaction to the unpleasant stimulus (me) from negative to positive.
After about 72 hours, all the Olympians were eating consistently in my presence, and Fred and Steve were beginning to play with me. Playing with a wand toy is an incredible way to socialize a kitten and build their confidence. The long wand ensures that the kitten can have some space but also allows you to move the toy and engage with the kitten in a positive interaction. Cats are natural predators that are driven to hunt, but they’re also prey for many wild animals. Playing with a shy kitten will build positive associations with you and help them feel more like predators than prey! Check out this video from cat guru Jackson Galaxy for the best way to simulate hunting with a toy.
Once the Olympians became more comfortable with playing and eating in front of me, I started easing them into being touched. The key to this level of socialization is finding a “high-value” treat they really go nuts for. As with many cats, they all loved paste-in-a-tube treats (specifically Delectables Squeeze Ups), which really paved the way to forming a good association with being touched. To find out your individual kitty’s snack of choice, do a treat preference test!
To start, I would give the kittens a steady stream of paste-y treat while gently petting their cheeks for just a few seconds. Simone took quite a few sessions of this to relax into the pets, but Fred and Steve were so obsessed with the treats that they became comfortable almost right away. Over time, I increased the length of time spent petting, and would sometimes take the treat away for a second or two to get them used to being touched without it. Fred and Steve discovered they actually loved cheek and chin rubs for their own merits! Another tip: the best place to approach a kitten for touch socialization is somewhere they feel relatively comfortable and can’t easily flee, such as at the top of a cat tree.
Encouraged by the progress the Olympians were making, I let them explore a little more space (the primary bedroom). More space is great for playtime and enrichment, but it also makes interacting with the kittens more difficult. The natural instinct of a frightened kitten is to flee, which is what the Olympians did at first whenever I entered the room. I wanted to change this behavior as soon as possible, because the more an animal rehearses a behavior, the more of a habit it becomes and the harder it is to teach an alternative. To encourage not fleeing, I started offering treats in the same location each time I came into the room (their cat tree, where they all felt relatively safe). I also found it useful to block off access to under the bed, because once under there they were reluctant to leave. All three kittens quickly learned to head to the cat tree when I came into the room!
BOUNDARIES: WHERE TO DRAW THE LINE (AND WHEN TO PUSH IT)
Old school methods of socializing kittens and other baby animals largely involved forced exposure. Basically: hold, carry, or otherwise manhandle a kitten until they accept their fate and stop trying to escape. This is known as flooding, and it has been used to varying degrees of success to treat phobias in human patients. While intense forced exposure can ultimately result in decreased fear of humans, it also induces acute stress (not great for developing kittens), and can cause long-term fear or phobias of human-related things (such as being picked up). This is no longer the socialization method recommended by most cat behaviorists due to the high risk of behavioral side effects.
Instead, we recommend allowing an undersocialized kitten (or any shy animal) to set the tone–with some nudging. This means going slowly and offering lots and lots of treats, but also sometimes operating in a space where the kitten feels a little uncomfortable or worried. What we want to avoid is extreme fear or panic, and all interactions should end on a positive note whenever possible. As an example, if a kitten isn’t taking treats you’re offering when you try petting them, end the session and try again later with something a little less scary (e.g., just holding your hand out instead of making physical contact). Going a little slow is always better than pushing a boundary too far and potentially setting back the socialization process. Sometimes all you need to do is sit in the same room and ignore them, allowing them to check you out without being perceived. A good piece of advice is: if you think you’re going too slow, go slower!
THE FRAIDY CAT PROGRAM
The Fraidy Cat Program is a behavioral plan developed for undersocialized cats by the Friends for Life animal shelter in Houston, TX. It’s designed for cats whose behavior towards humans would normally result in a classification of feral and a recommendation to be TNR-ed, but cannot safely be returned to the community due to factors like health issues or a previous lack of experience living outdoors. This is a more extreme situation than undersocialized kittens who still have some time left in their socialization period, but many of the program’s techniques can be applied to any type of scared or undersocialized animal.
The foundation of the Fraidy Cat Program is negative reinforcement. In training terms, this means reinforcing a behavior (i.e., encouraging it) by removing something the animal finds unpleasant. In the case of undersocialized kittens, the behavior we want to reinforce is pro-social behavior (anything that indicates the kitten feels the human is not a threat), and the unpleasant thing we want to remove is ourselves. It sounds a little counter-intuitive (I’m supposed to leave when the kitten is finally starting to warm up to me?!), but it’s actually a very valuable way of communicating with the kitten and building trust. As an example: offer the cat several slow blinks1 and then retreat when the cat offers one in return. The kitten learns that if they slow blink at you, you’ll go away. They’ll figure out that they have control over your actions, which builds a sense of safety and confidence. This is a great place to start if a kitten isn’t responding to methods of counter-conditioning (e.g., the kitten won’t eat in front of you even after several days).
THE OLYMPIAN OUTCOME
The Olympians were only with me for a few weeks, but they made a lot of progress in that time! I was able to work up to holding Fred and Steve for a few seconds while they remained calm. Simone remained the most wary of me, but she would enthusiastically scarf down treats while being pet. All three would approach me on the bed for treats.
Based on their progress, the shelter decided the Olympians were ready for adoption! There was a small hiccup when returning them to the shelter: one of the boys bit a staff member while being placed into a cubby. The bite was likely the result of a miscommunication (the employee wasn’t aware the kittens were undersocialized and needed some extra care in handling). The bite was quite minor, but it drew blood, which meant the kitten had to be placed on bite quarantine. In Washington state (and many other areas), it’s strongly recommended to isolate an animal that draws blood via biting for a certain period of time (in this case, 10 days) in order to observe them for symptoms of rabies. This is an inconvenient but important precaution. At the shelter, an animal is not available for adoption during their bite quarantine. On the bright side, this set-back meant 10 more days with the cuties for me, and a little more socialization for them!
Once the bite quarantine period was up, I returned the kittens to the shelter for Adoption: Take 2. This attempt was successful! All the Olympians seemed much more comfortable at the shelter this time than they did during their original stay. Check out Steve sitting confidently in his cubby! He’s so ready for his forever home.
All of the kittens were adopted within only a few days! This is a much faster outcome than I (and I think a lot of others at the shelter) expected based on their demeanor when brought in. To help ensure further progress with the kittens’ socialization, adoption staff advised adopters that each kitten should go to a home that already has a people-friendly cat. The idea is that the shy kitten can find companionship with the other cat, and can continue learning via observation that interactions with humans are good. At the shelter, there was a plan for Simone to be placed with such a “bridge” cat while waiting for adoption, but her new family found her before that could be implemented!
With the large volume of cats adopted out at the shelter each day, we unfortunately don’t have any specific updates on where the Olympians landed. But I imagine they’re living their best lives with families that show them all the love and patience they deserve.
TIPS AND TRICKS
Here are some general tips for earning the trust of an undersocialized kitten. These tips can also apply to scared adult cats who may or may not have had sufficient human socialization. However, keep in mind that every cat is an individual, and what works best for one cat may be different for another!
Keep the kitten in a [link Safe Room] for at least a few days or even weeks. Slowly increase the space the kitten is allowed to explore.
Offer high-value food multiple times a day while sitting calmly beside the kitten. Remove food if not eaten after 5-10 minutes.
Once the kitten is eating consistently in front of you, add small amounts of petting during feeding or when giving treats. Increase the time spent petting as the kitten becomes more comfortable.
Brush up on your cat body language with help from this guide to identify subtle signs your kitten is feeling scared or could become aggressive.
Use the [link Treat Preference Test] to find a treat the kitten will really go nuts for!
Block off access to underneath furniture and anywhere the kitten can make themselves unreachable. But be sure to offer plenty of cozy hiding places, both on the ground and up high.
Establish a routine! This includes set times for meals and play sessions. Predictability can ease fear and build confidence.
In addition to play sessions with a wand toy, provide other enrichment when you’re not around to give the kitten an outlet for their mental and physical energy. See this [link enrichment blog post] for some ideas!
Offer a treat whenever entering the kitten’s room. Ideally, offer the treat in the same location so the kitten learns to go there when you approach, instead of fleeing.
Don’t be discouraged by slow progress, and celebrate every small milestone!
References:
1: Humphrey, T., Proops, L., Forman, J. et al. The role of cat eye narrowing movements in cat–human communication. Sci Rep 10, 16503 (2020).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73426-0
