Strange Kitten Behaviour

[Pug206 10]

Wondered if any cat/kitten owners could offer me some advise.

 

Basically last night my OH bought a pedal bike (Work purposes) and had to bring it in to the house because we dont have a secure padlock for it or anywhere to store it at the min. We placed it in the living room to begin with and noticed our 6 month old kitten wasnt about (shes normally within two steps of one of us) went to have a look for her and she was hid between our two bed pillows. Thought nothing of it and just left her, a couple of hours later she was still in the bedroom, and i had a feeling the bike was the problem. Took the bike into the bedroom and she ran out. Left the bike in our bedroom all night and she stayed in the living room. (Normally she would sleep in our room with us) So this morning i tryed coaxing her in the bedroom with some treats and she just stood in the living room meowing We've both had to come to work and im a bit worried as the bike is still in the bedroom.

 

Why is she so terrified of the bike? Has anyone had strange behaviour like this before from their cats/kitten?

[medusa 16]

Think about it- how big is that bike compared to the kitten? Can you imagine, if you're a shy kitten, how you'd react to an unidentified threat so big when it moves and comes towards you?

 

Cats take a long time to learn to trust new things and the more nervous or shy a cat the longer they take to cope with changes. It took one of my cats 3 years to cope with being in the same room as the dog when she arrived, and there's no reason to think that your kitten thinks of the bike any different to mine thought of the dog.

 

Has your little one been an indoor cat for the whole of her life this far? The chances are that she's never met a bike before and only knows that it moves, bits of it wobble (like the pedals), parts of it make worrying clicking and clanking noises and the rubber, oil and other things smell very worrying indeed. If she has been outside then you've got no way of knowing whether someone on a bike has nearly run her over, startled her or whatever.

 

What I'd do in the circumstances is to leave the bike where it is without moving for as long as possible to help her to learn that it's not a threat, and then do some other things to help her to see the less threatening parts of the bike.

 

Firstly, using a flannel or duster, stroke her around her head and neck for about 5 minutes and then use that cloth to put her scent around the bike at about kitten smelling height all around the bike. Also give the same cloth your smell and do the same, and the same for your OH. Maybe hang a t-shirt that you've worn in bed on it to make it smell less like a bike and more like your bike.

 

Then start a campaign which involves picking her up in a cuddle and just walking into the same room as the bike several times a day. After you've walked close to the bike, allow her to go down onto the floor and escape as she wishes. Repeat (a lot), bringing her into the room and making it all a lovely fuss. This way she'll get a message that you're quite calm around the bike, so she doesn't need to be on full alert either.

 

From here you can start doing things like playing the game of string pouncing game with her in the same room as the bike- playing relaxes kittens and her being focused enough to have a game will distract her from the big 'threat' that's sitting there. Gradually get her closer into the bike, starting from as far away as she needs to be to become engaged in play rather than focusing on the bike and taking it slowly.

 

If you have to move the bike during this time the best thing to do is to have her held safely in your arms in a cuddle while it moves, so you can reassure her that you're protecting her whilst the big scary thing moves, and it's all fine (there there darling, see, no problem at all and it didn't even try to attack you).

 

Give her time- she's a small kitten in a world of really big things that could all be dangerous and she needs to work out which are dangerous and which are just 'things'.

[Pug206 10]

TBH i had a feeling it was to do with the size. Compared to her the bike is massive but i just wouldn't have thought she'd have been as scared as what she is with it.

When we first brought her home she was scared of the hoover (she isn't now) but not to the extent she is with the bike. (My old cat, who i had for 16years, was around bikes all her life and never even flinched at one.) So i just found it really strange for my kitten to react the way she has. We even introduced her to a big doggy before and she wasnt half as terrified.

 

I tried this morning holding her and moving step by step towards the bike but ended up with a very nasty scratch mark so i darent even attempt that again. I'll try the cloth advise, that may work. I tried stroking the bike (sounds mental) this morning to show her it was ok and she was sniffing at my hands after.

Just really hate seeing her this put off and scared of something (my kittens my little angel) shes a house kitten atm. Shes never been outside.

[medusa 16]

I don't mean to move step by step closer to the bike, more that you have her in your arms and just walk past the bike whilst she's held in one of the 'furry clamp' positions from which she can't really escape. Then if you put her down accept that she will bolt out of the room, but repetition of this in a calm way should produce results in a week or two and she should be less likely to run away and more likely to stay with you and/or have the chance to observe that the bike has not attacked her this time (or the last time, or the one before that).

 

Nervous cats will choose to not engage at all with something that makes them even more nervous, which is a very sensible thing if the thing they're not engaging with is a car or a quarter tonne horse or whatever, but a bike which you've got no choice to have elsewhere is something that you could do with her losing her nerves about as soon as possible.

 

I was going to ask about the vacuum cleaner too- that's another standard 'OMG IT'S GOING TO KILL ME!!!' item for cats and kittens, as are washing machines, especially on spin cycles. Once the item stops being a new thing and starts being normal they're fine- you've just got to get them from here to there.

 

Good luck