NikkiA
Site Supporter
Hi Kim, there is a thread on it called "savannah kitten behavior" you can also search "Jarvis". He is the only Jarvis on this board 
In a nutshell, Jarvis came home too young, 8 weeks. Mike and me had never had a young kitten before, and were new to cats. We had brought Diablo home in November 2011, and Jarvis came home in May 2012. Diablo was so easy we thought we had a clue. We didn't.
I had worked for a vet in high school, and we would tame the feral rescue kittens that came in. I tried those techniques on Jarvis. No one had ever taught me good cat manners before. So there I was, picking up the kitten, snuggling the kitten, making loud noises, and when he lashed out, scruffing him. He hates being scruffed, whereas diablo responds well to it. I did this for several months, and got nowhere with Jarvis but a couple of fantastic scars.
We stumbled across this site, and started reading. I asked for advice. At that point, Jarvis had bonded with our new baby, Mickey blue eyes, and with Mike, but not me. He was growling at me, hissing at me, and running from me.
The group suggested that Jarvis was scared, and that my anxiety was making it worse. They were right.
I backed off, and decided I would let him come to me, or not, mostly on his terms. I did make two changes to our routine. I became the sole provider of food for a time, and I offered Jarvis more play. Eventually he realized I wasn't trying to scare him, and started to trust me. We built on that. I started working on simple grooming, together with Mike (clipping nails), and moved up to picking him up and carrying him. I also started paying a lot of attention to his body language, and stopped comparing him to our other cats. There was a lot of hand feeding involved, and still is. Jarvis is food motivated. I pick him up daily, and carry him. I always have a treat for him when I put him down, so that he associates being picked up with getting a yummy snack. I try to listen when he is meowing, or growling, or hissing, and whatever is bothering/scaring him, I try to address if I can. He has not intentionally scratched or bitten me in a long time, and now gets in bed and snuggles with me almost every night. He also whines incessantly for attention, will swat at my iPad, shred my magazines, take my books...
He will always be a cat who jumps at loud noises and is worried by changes to his routine. But he has learned that humans are nice, and as a result is far more outgoing with strangers than I ever thought he would be, and is a love with Mike and me. He even asks for belly runs now. But only in the morning and only on his terms he turns 3 this week, and still isn't much for petting, but loves his snuggles.
In a nutshell, Jarvis came home too young, 8 weeks. Mike and me had never had a young kitten before, and were new to cats. We had brought Diablo home in November 2011, and Jarvis came home in May 2012. Diablo was so easy we thought we had a clue. We didn't.
I had worked for a vet in high school, and we would tame the feral rescue kittens that came in. I tried those techniques on Jarvis. No one had ever taught me good cat manners before. So there I was, picking up the kitten, snuggling the kitten, making loud noises, and when he lashed out, scruffing him. He hates being scruffed, whereas diablo responds well to it. I did this for several months, and got nowhere with Jarvis but a couple of fantastic scars.
We stumbled across this site, and started reading. I asked for advice. At that point, Jarvis had bonded with our new baby, Mickey blue eyes, and with Mike, but not me. He was growling at me, hissing at me, and running from me.
The group suggested that Jarvis was scared, and that my anxiety was making it worse. They were right.
I backed off, and decided I would let him come to me, or not, mostly on his terms. I did make two changes to our routine. I became the sole provider of food for a time, and I offered Jarvis more play. Eventually he realized I wasn't trying to scare him, and started to trust me. We built on that. I started working on simple grooming, together with Mike (clipping nails), and moved up to picking him up and carrying him. I also started paying a lot of attention to his body language, and stopped comparing him to our other cats. There was a lot of hand feeding involved, and still is. Jarvis is food motivated. I pick him up daily, and carry him. I always have a treat for him when I put him down, so that he associates being picked up with getting a yummy snack. I try to listen when he is meowing, or growling, or hissing, and whatever is bothering/scaring him, I try to address if I can. He has not intentionally scratched or bitten me in a long time, and now gets in bed and snuggles with me almost every night. He also whines incessantly for attention, will swat at my iPad, shred my magazines, take my books...
He will always be a cat who jumps at loud noises and is worried by changes to his routine. But he has learned that humans are nice, and as a result is far more outgoing with strangers than I ever thought he would be, and is a love with Mike and me. He even asks for belly runs now. But only in the morning and only on his terms
he turns 3 this week, and still isn't much for petting, but loves his snuggles.