Expert: Becky - 1/2/2006

Question
I recently got a siamese kitten for my daughter. She was 9 weeks old. Ever since we brought her home she has stayed hidden under my bed. She is eating and drinking just fine and plays under there at night but wont come out. She has evne been going to the bathroom in one corner under there. We have tried several times to get her out but she goes into attack mode. She bites, growls, scratches and goes crazy. We bought her toys with long strings thinking she might play a bit if we are not too close, but she just looks at it and we tried catnip, she wasn't interested. We put her food and water further form the bed and she wouldn't come out to eat even after we left the room. What do we do?

Answer
Hi Kelly,
This is not good. It sounds like this kitten has never been held and is not used to people.  You will have to get her out from under that bed in order to tame her down.   Wear gloves if you have to and get her out.  Put her in a confined room, such as a bathroom, and you MUST hold her daily at different intervals to get her used to people. Have a treat available, like chicken or beef, to entice her.  Baby meat in the jars will work good too.  They love it!  This is NOT typical behaviour of a Siamese kitten, as I just acquired one at approx the same age, and he is a little angel.  He may not want to be held for long, but he definetley loves the attention.  
This is going to require a lot of patience, but if you endure, I think you will be able to tame her since she is so young.  She may always be a bit timid with strangers, but she should be ok with family if you try to hold her every day for short intervals.  Make it as soothing as possible while praising her and feeding her treats.
Good Luck!!
Becky