how to brake shyness?

[westernbabe]

my cat is so sweet shy at frist but sweet. i mean i don't blame her for being shy she was dropped at my house and we decided to take her in, she is litter box trained and very calm. i just worried that her shyness might be affecting her happyness! she lets us pet her and stuff but if we leave than come back later, when you open the door she runs and hides if we fallow her and say it's just mommy or daddy she'll come out and be peted. im not sure how old she is like i said we adopted her from outside lol. i think she was abouse in her previous home bc when u reach for her head she ducks down at first i've tryed letting her smell me first but she still gets scared. she is very well behaved tough don't scratch on anything really kinda lazy and laid back attitude. but is her shyness effecting her happyness in our home?

[Piparskeggr]

A complete household; parents, child, kitty and puppy!

For kitty, all it takes is a minimum of 15 - 20 minutes a day of social time with you and your husband.  I know puppies and children have higher time needs =)

Best of luck!

[westernbabe]

Thank you for ur input our cat that we adopted is named snowflake & we have now also adopted a very young puppy that is also in our house we have named him sarge we r potty training he's a cutie what's funny is we were going to go to the humane society to adopt a kitty or a puppy & now we have both.

[Piparskeggr]

Good on you and your husband for taking in this little stranger.

As Opus writes, patient, persistent kindness is the key.

Here is the link to the original post I made about Teia, the kitty that my wife and I took in 2 1/2 years ago when her previous family lost their home to foreclosure.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Cats/Have-adopted-older-cat--have-3-others/show/966682#post_4672404

...and here is the latest.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Cats/Teia-flees-the-vacuum/show/1649311#post_7515336

Teia has come such a long, long way from where she was...hurt, fearful, very timid, very withdrawn...to the picture you see with the second thread.

If you are interested, do a forum search for the key word: Teia.

Gods Bless and Merry Christmas!

[opus88]

bless you for taking this little homeless one in and loving her....sounds like she had a traumatic time wherever she lived before and its going to take her awhile to know that she is NOW in a safe environment. the key is PATIENCE...she may always be shy, some cats like people just are..or she may show a different personality after she feels safer and the trauma has passed...good luck