Concerned about very shy and hissing kittens

Haribo · **Joined:** Tue May 13, 2014 8:50 pm **Posts:** 2

I've just come back from visiting (to be mine in a week) my snow rosetted bengal kitten. The breeder had two litters very similar in age (a couple of days between litters) one of the litters the kittens were active, very playful and vocal. In the litter with my chosen kitten however the kittens where really shy and huddled in the corner and did not want to be touched. When you did go to stroke them they flinched away or hissed.Is this quite normal? The breeder assured me that when I took him home he would settle and be fine. I've just never seen this type of behaviour in an 11 week old kitten before. Any advice or info would be very helpful.

julznala · **Joined:** Sat Oct 12, 2013 5:22 pm **Posts:** 97

I would be nervous at 11 weeks old. They should be socialized and not hissing at people. I had a litter and they loved everyone. They were handled daily by myself and my children. They are very social. I don't know how to fix it though. Between 8-12 weeks is a time where they are strongly imprinted. Have you met the mom of the kittens? Is she friendly?

Haribo · **Joined:** Tue May 13, 2014 8:50 pm **Posts:** 2

I met the mum and dad of the litter, both pretty friendly. But they are not kept as pets so don't think they are handled very often. The other litter that she has (5 days younger than my boys litter) is really lively and don't hiss or shy away. So I'm really not sure what's happened. I pick him up at 12weeks so I hope i can get him socialised from that point forward.

brianj12 · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2014 3:22 pm

I think the right thing to do is walk away, as hard as that is. Tell the breeder your concerns. This is really why you visit kittens to begin with before taking them home, so that you can be assured they are healthy and well socialized and so forth, and it sounds like both things may be in doubt. One option would be to inquire about the kittens in the other litter, but at this point you'd probably be better off just walking away. My $0.02.

Fenstar · **Posted:** Wed May 14, 2014 10:11 pm

I too would be very concerned that at 11 weeks these guys appear not to have been socialised properly. Which is a real shame, because kittens by nature are usually curious and playful. They should not be as you described :(

macman45 · **Joined:** Sun Mar 16, 2014 12:53 pm **Posts:** 7

Concerned about very shy and hissing kittens

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