SOCIALIZATION

The Importance Of Socialization
Socialization is a very important process that will mostly define your cat's acceptance and good relationship with things within his environment. Good socialization skills are developed when kittens are exposed to as many things as possible, including other pets, people, situations, and so on. The more events that your kitten encounters and has positive reactions to, the better response she will have when these events are repeated throughout the course of her life.

It is important that you make the socialization process as entertaining and rewarding as you possibly can. This means that during this process, your kitten will need to accept being handled and being touched by other people so that she will not fear strangers. This will prove beneficial when you have to take your cat to the veterinarian. Make sure that all the experiences your kitten is introduced to are pleasurable experiences. That way your kitten will build a good association between the event and the reward.

While it is easier to teach a kitten not to fear strangers and to tolerate being handled, it can be a lot harder for a cat that has already developed a fear of strangers. These cats feel threatened by the presence of strange people and it is important that you not force your cat to lose her fear. Instead, allow your cat to begin building her own confidences, let her be the one who approaches the strange person, however long this process may take. You can also help speed up the process by having the stranger to give your cat treats or by only giving your cat treats when strangers are around. You will be helping your cat to associate good things with visitors. Once your cat's confidence among strangers has been built up, the next step will be setting up the environment so that your cat will allow herself to be touched by strangers. Once again, the process needs to start slowly and you must not force any sort of situation that your cat might find unpleasant. Since your cat already associates good things with the presences of strangers, the next steps will be much easier to overcome.