Mittens Siamese Mahwah, NJ

Mittens is a young (about one year) pure bred Chocolate Point Siamese Cat who was surrendered by his owners to the NYC shelter (NYC ACC) due to behavior issues including a bite inflicted on the owner. We don't know the full extent of the situation in his previous home but based upon the information provided poor Mittens is a product of poor cat breeding and inexperienced cat parents.

Mittens was purchased at a pet store as a kitten, the owners admitted this upon his surrender to the shelter. From experience we know that likely when he was purchased, he was under 3 months of age. Kitten's learn a strong fear based reaction from being taken from their mom too early, separated from their siblings too, and placed alone in a cage in a pet store. The process is purposeful since kittens that are very small and cute raise top dollar! Unfortunately, this is where a fear to people can also develop. The kittens are alone, too young, with countless amounts of people (strangers) looking at the them through a window or cage door. This does not socialize them in the way in which experienced breeders/rescuers know to do which is a hands on approach. Instead this pet store environment easily produces fear based reactions (hissing and swatting) to strangers & people. This is what we believe happened to Mittens.

Without experience his owner's likely did not know enough to help socialize him, or possibly did more to damage his trust of people in the home. Mittens has stayed in the fear based mode since he left the pet store and we believe this is what led to his behaviors that ultimately almost cost him his life. We have had him with us for a short time but he has already developed trust with one person. We know that having one person taking care of him will help him considerably, and he will likely be able to lose some of the fear he has developed over time. He still hisses from time to time, but is very motivated by treats and food and due his young age, the right owner can make an impact on him!

His new family should have cat experience, especially with socializing kittens. The new family needs to understand that he may never be good with new people or even young children since they may frighten him. He needs a stable quiet home, but can share his space with another cat as he had a housemate previously. Once he trusts you he allows petting on his terms. His previous owners reported he would sleep in their bed, seek attention, and follow them around the house.

Mittens is a handsome, healthy kitty who has been neutered, vaccinated and microchipped. If you are interested in adopting Mittens please complete our online adoption application;

https://savingfancycats.org/adoption-application

*Due to a high volume of interest, we do not respond to emails or inquiries without an application included.