Why does my kitten not let me cuddle her?

by Amber.m
(Worcestershire)

Declan, the cute fella :D

Declan, the cute fella :D

We have two cats, Declan (part ragdoll, a cuddly fella, to me anyway). He is constantly wanting cuddles from me and I am always willing to cuddle him.


About 6 months ago we got another cat, Beatrice. She is a lap cat and lets everyone make a fuss of her, EXEPT ME!!!

I pick her up and try to get her to cuddle me, and she does sometimes, very rarely, but she ignores me and runs away from me most of the time. I want to be able to cuddle her as the rest of my family do. What can I do?

Comments for Why does my kitten not let me cuddle her?

Average Rating starstarstarstarstar

Click here to add your own comments

Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Thanks
by: Amber.m

I heard of this and it sounds good, I'm gonna try it, thanks for the feedback :D
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		A different approach
by: Kurt (Admin)

My first thought, Amber, centers around what you said... "I pick her up and try to get her to cuddle me..."

Does the rest of the family go after her and pick her up, or do they wait for her to come to them? I have found that very often, you can't try to get a get to do something they don't want to do at that time.

Instead, you make the conditions favorable, and then let the cat make the choice. If you then respond favorably, your cat will then enjoy the activity and want to do it more.

Does Beatrice like catnip? A certain treat? A certain blanket?

Try placing some catnip or a treat in your hand and get her to sniff it. Then, sit down near her with her favorite blanket on your lap. Place the treat or the catnip on the blanket and encourage her to come over.

Don't force anything, but praise her and pet her if she comes over. Even if she only visits for a short time, that's progress.

Keep in mind that she might go a bit crazy if she likes the catnip, but the idea is to get her to like being there.

Repeat this every day at about the same time and see if you can get her into a routine. Eventually, you may find that she comes to you when you sit down.

This might also work with a certain toy, or even a crumpled up piece of paper that you just start playing with. See if you can attract her, rather than coming at her directly.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Cat Questions.