10 Tips For Socializing Your Shy Cat
One of the biggest reasons that so many people choose to bring home a cat is so that they have someone with whom they can cuddle. There is something admittedly wonderful about a cat that just wants to sit in your lap and love on you. Purring and just being happy in general, cats make wonderful companions. So imagine your surprise when you come home with your new cat and find out that your new feline companion isn’t all that interested in spending personal time with you. It’s a bit depressing and it’s certainly distressing. Don’t fret; it simply means that you have to work on socializing your shy cat and we have plenty of tips for you.
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Understand the Cat
You might need to start with this step to make the entire socialization process simpler. Your cat is shy, and there is nothing wrong with that. You might want your cat to want to be near you, but you can’t force something on your animal that it doesn’t want. You must be able to understand that your cat could have come from a disruptive or dangerous background. If this is the case, you will need to keep that in mind despite your impatience.
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Be Patient
Your cat is not going to respond to socialization attempts from the start. You have to be patient and understand that your cat needs you to be patient. Your cat is not going to come to you until it’s ready, so stop forcing it so that you don’t make the situation worse than it already is. You’ll need to practice patience so that your cat learns to become comfortable around you.
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Use Positive Reinforcement
This is, perhaps, the most important thing you can do for your cat. When your cat does come out or doesn’t, don’t be rude or angry or impatient with the cat. Instead, be positive about your cat’s attempts to become less shy. Give the cat positive reinforcement for coming out long enough to see you or for not running back to its hiding place in record time the next time it makes the decision to come out of hiding.
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Avoid Stress
Your job is to prevent stress on your cat’s life. Shy cats don’t do well with stressful situations, and you have to keep that in mind so that you don’t make your cat feel even more stressed. Your cat is going to become a lot less shy if you give it time to adjust to its new life without added stress in its life. Be patient and careful, and don’t overwhelm your cat with stressful occurrences at every turn.
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Start Small
Your cat should not be introduced to a million people at one time. Instead, you should keep people out of your house for a few days to allow the cat to acclimate to its new home and life. It will be something positive for your cat and his or her ability to adjust to your new lifestyle. It’s the reason so many people love their animals. They need some time to adjust but usually come around in a matter of a few days.
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Give the Cat a Small Space of its Own
Your cat is going to be much more comfortable if it has a small space of its own. So do yourself a favor and make sure that your cat does have a small space of its own. Give it a bed in a small room, like a closet or a bathroom or a small bedroom. This is going to help the cat feel more comfortable and it will learn to become a bit more social when it has a place of its own it can retreat when things are a bit overwhelming.
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Learn to Keep the Volume Down
One of the most important things you can do for a cat is to keep it down. You do not want to bring your shy cat into a loud house. Unfortunately, this might not be entirely possible if you have small kids, teens or any people that are younger than you living in the house. Remember that your cat will be more comfortable and more likely to come out and socialize if things are quiet, and that’s going to make a big difference in the life of your cat.
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Talk to the Cat in a Gentle Manner
When you do talk to your cat, be gentle. Use a calm, quiet voice that’s not overbearing or crazed. Be kind and soft when you speak to the cat. What this does is help the cat to feel more comfortable and trusting of you. When you are loud, it’s more likely that a shy cat will become scared and nervous, which is not what you want to do to the cat. What you want to do is remain calm and gentle when speaking.
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Don’t Rush the Cat
The cat needs to feel that it has the power to come and go as it pleases, and that’s going to be a lot more possible if you don’t rush the cat. It will, eventually, become a little more comfortable coming out of its special place and socializing, but you cannot rush the cat. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is deciding that the cat needs to be forced out of hiding and introduced to numerous people. This is not the case. This is, quite honestly, one of the worst things that could possibly happen to the cat. Be patient and don’t rush the cat. Work on his schedule.
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Ply the Cat with Treats
It’s all right to bribe your cat into coming out. Most people do this with treats and other sweet things. Your cat is going to appreciate the fact that you are offering up something delicious and wonderful and he or she is going to come out more often if it thinks that it’s going to get something good out of it. It does help. We like bribery with shy cats; it’s proven effective.
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