Will my kitten ever trust me again?
Yesterday I went to take photos of my kittens and one of them, Muchkin was wondering what my camera was (I have a D3100 Nikon it's a big camera) so she started climbing up my leg I took some photos of that but want a better photo of her so I picked her up but she started to panic and clawed my whole arm! I hit her softly and this time laid her on the ground with her paws up and took the photo. Today I tried taking photos of all my kittens but Munchkin ran (of course) but now everytime I take out my camera she freaks out! Will she ever get use to it! She got over me hitting her since I'm her gateway to food.
A cat should never be physically hit! When disciplining your kitten, a spray bottle is much more effective, and they don't associate the discipline with you, but with the bottle. After a couple of squirts all you have to do is show her the bottle and she will stop whatever she is doing. As for the photos, wait a couple of weeks to give her time to forget about the incident, then try the camera again.
Please, don't EVER hit her again. It is totally wrong, whatever your cat has done and however softly you do it. They don't understand smacking and violence you see, except the sort of patting that their mother does to them, play fighting and their own natural instinct to hunt and kill.
Your kitten may never come to be as relaxed around you as she was before, as she now expects you to be a source of pain and distress, and she may never trust your camera again at all. Hopefully her mistrust of you will lessen with time and you should try to regain her trust by always being calm around her, stroking her gently whenever you get the opportunity and yes, as you say, as her feeder, she will try to overcome your violence to her, because you are important to her. Keep trying with the camera but keep it a good distance from her, unless she shows signs of accepting it again.
She is probably a bit frightened by the experience she had with the camera. You should be extra nice to her, petting her and playing with her, for a while. She may forget about the camera entirely. A few days or a week later, try to take a picture of her. See if she is okay with the camera now. Alternatively, you could take a picture with something else, like a phone. It will look different than the camera and she will not recognize it. I would suggest not hitting her in the future. She is a kitten, still learning, and afraid of new experiences. The fact that she was afraid of the camera the first time does not surprise me.
Well, you should never hit your kitten under any circumstances. It never works and the kitten won't know why she's being hit exactly. It just doesn't register to them.
The first time I used my vacuum bringing home my kitten he got scared and ran like crazy. Now every time he sees me getting ready to use it he runs the other way. Cats are smart, only time will tell if your kitty will get use to the camera. But considering she had a dramatic experience she may always run from you when she sees the camera.
Try putting the camera on the floor and leading your kitten to it with a couple of treats. Have her sniff it and examen it to see that it is harmless. In the future, don't pick her up when she doesn't want to be handled and never ever hit her. Not only is that wrong, but she will associate that with the camera.