Am I harming my kitten? « Daily Kitten Chat Forum

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Am I harming my kitten?

(25 posts)

Started 2 years ago by Elm
Latest reply from eleniki

Hi everyone,

I have a kitten that is 5 weeks old today. from the day she was born I ahve spent 5-10 minutes every day holding, petting and talking to her. I have 10 cats total but have never had a kitten before. She is quarantined from the other cats until she is old enough to come among them safely. About a week ago the kitten started crawling up onto my bed (since she is locked in my bedroom) and sleeping there. Now the only time she will get/stay off of the bed for any time is when she needs to eat. What I am worried about though is the fact that if her mother and I both walk into the room at the same time she will always come to me first rather to her her mother. I am worried that this might hurt the kittens relationship with her mother. Any help or advice here would be greatly appreciated. Oh, another thing of note, if I am not in the room with her she will sleep on my pillow or blanket and if I am in the room she will crawl up onto my shoulder and snuggle herself up against my neck which means that for the last week or so she has gotten quite a bit more than 5-10 minutes a day.

Thank you,
Eric
AKA Elmseeker

Posted 2 years ago by Elm #
It sounds like this kitten has really bonded with you. That's not a bad thing. At 5 weeks, mama cat is probably starting to wean her anyway. She should still have contact with mama since there are other things she needs to be taught, but if mama isn't complaining about the kitten sleeping with you, I wouldn't worry about it.

Posted 2 years ago by CheetahBoysmommy #
Thank you so much,

I was so worried because I know that kittens, like human babies, have a special relationship with mom and I really didn't want to hurt that. I was telling my wife yesterday that this kitten is probably going to be very special to me forever. When I was a kid I had cats that had kittens and a dog that had lots, and I do mean LOTS, of puppies but we never kept any, they always had new homes and were gone away from us as soon as they were old enough. This will be the first kitten I will have had from birth and on into adulthood. I think I am just as nervous in caring for her as I was for my children when they were babies. Which was quite some time ago now the oldest 2 are 18 and 19 :). The funny thing is that if at the turn of the century you had told me I'd have 9 cats and be posting questions about a kitten on forums I'd have laughed in your face. I won't say I hated cats at the time but I had always thought of them as being quite snobbish and didn't bother with them much. My former roommate had a cat, however that changed my mind completely. Ever since I have always had a cat or 2 around the house. 2 of the cats here now are actually just being babysat for a friend who just had a baby and is afraid that the baby is allergic. They asked us to watch them until the baby was 6 mos. old and could be tested properly. 1 is a cat I was sitting for another friend who left her with me so long I finally called her one day and told her she iether had to pick up the cat or I was keeping her forever...she's still here. :) 3 others were rescued from an alley shortly after they were old enough to be away from mom, one of these is the mother of the kitten. 1 we took in when she had a litter of kittens that at 6 weeks old all turned up dead one day when the owners were out, they blamed the cat and were going to have her put down until i told them I would take her instead. Someone left kittens about 12 weeks old on my doorstep one day and I took those in as well, not having the heart to put them out, one of them has since died though :(. And the other we also rescued from the same alley and is feral, we're working on domesticating him but it's not as easy as it would seem. And, of course, there is the kitten (Snowball which turns out to be a bad name since her mom is part siamese lol) I have a souple of pictures of her and will try to post one as my avatar here so you can all see her. She's so precious! Anyhow, I've rambled enough, thanks for the advice.

Eric
AKA Elmseeker

Posted 2 years ago by Elm #
Eric, you sound like a total kitty champion! We love kitty dads on this site! Welcome to TDK and I hope you hang out with us, we are a lot of fun and we love our kitties! I live in NZ and I have two cats, Jasper and Libby (my avatar). If you click on her, you can see their Catster pages (gotta get some more pix of Jasper up there, lol).

Posted 2 years ago by jcat #
Welcome to TDK and enjoy that new baby!! I have a feeling you will have many great stories to share!

Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #
Thank you for the warm welcome, I will certainly be around. that Catster looks interesting but it's going to take me a while to make pages for all my little lovies. :)

Posted 2 years ago by Elm #
Welcome Elm, I see your wonderful furry family on catster. My kitties sent a friends request.

Posted 2 years ago by 2bpurring #
Hand raised babies are very special. I am glad that she is bonding with you. In a couple of months she is going to be just another cat to her mama, but you will be her daddy forever.

Posted 2 years ago by KYKAT 12 23 #
Welcome to TDK Eric! I love reading about the sweet bond you're developed with your little one. Mom kit is probably much relieved to have such a loving kit-dad as you to take her little one under your close supervision. Enjoy her completely and any questions you have at all we have lots of people here with sooo much practical and professional experience that you should never be lost for answers and advice. Hope you take pics.....We adore kitty pics!!!! =D

Posted 2 years ago by Karenopa #
Welcome, Eric! Snowball thinks YOU are her mommy! You should seriously consider spaying/neutering the parents--there are too many kittens in shelters without homes. Snowball is a little beauty.

Posted 2 years ago by Sheba's Mom in Phoenix, AZ 10/8 #
Thank you all!

Sheba's mom, I want to get them fixed but it's quite expensive, I've set up a chip-in so I can get all of my little ones fixed. the Cheapest I've found so far is at a "low cost" clinic is the "Heaven Can Wait Foundation" and for 9 cats to get fixed it'll cost me a small fortune.

CATS
(Includes Rabies, 3-in-1 Vaccines and additional pain meds for females)

Spay (female) $75
Neuter (male) $50

I currently am out of work and surviving from my wife $674/month disability income, not an easy task mind you, but we manage ok. Here is a link to the chip-in, any help anyone could send would be wonderful.

http://kitties.chipin.com/kitty-rescue

Thanks all,
Eric
AKA Elmseeker

Posted 2 years ago by Elm #
These aren't easy times are they? I hope you manage to find work soon. Love the Catster pages, if you click on my avator, (Button), you'll see my mob, which includes an Eric! I'm MCW by the way, which is far less likely to cause RSI when you type it... ;o)

Posted 2 years ago by MadcatwomanintheUK #
Hi,

Yes, they sure are, for quite a large number of people. I checked your catster pages too and Eric is, of course, handsome like all those who share the name. :)

Posted 2 years ago by Elm #
Elm--Just a suggestion, but why don't you take the money you'd normally spend playing poker (according to your profile)and put it toward what you need to get your kitties fixed? I, personally, find it rather (crass/offensive/rude--you all can fill in the blank) for ANYONE to show up on a chat site and immediately begin begging people for money. Why not just email people that you actually know and ask them for money? This just really leaves a bad taste in my mouth. . .

Posted 2 years ago by FondaHonda #
At the moment, since I have no job and therefor, no money I'm not playing poker any more than I'm dealing it. Trust me, the cats are more important than cards. And I am not begging, someone suggested that I get the cats fixed, which I wish I could afford to do, and I put in 1 link, sorry you feel the way you do.

Posted 2 years ago by Elm #
what i would suggest is to have two rooms with doors, put females in 1 room and males in the other. keep them seperated until you can get them fixed. this is what one of my friends did. it takes some diligence but can be done...

Posted 2 years ago by CSBM #
Great idea, Cheri :)

Posted 2 years ago by FondaHonda #
something doesn't sound right to me. on the chip-in page you say you have 11 cats, but here on TDK you say you have 9. also, you say that the cheapest price for a female to spay is $75. if all the cats you want to spay are female, that's $825 for 11 cats. then why are you asking on the chip-in page for $1500 ??? before i give even $1.00 i want answers please...

Posted 2 years ago by CSBM #
Amen Cheri!!! I'd sure like an explanation too!

Posted 2 years ago by SoxsMom #
The $1500 was an estimate before I got the actual pricing. The chip-in was made for my 70+ friends and family on facebook not for this site, I just mentioned here because someone asked about getting my cats fixed. If you, or anyone or everyone for that matter doesn't want to give anything that's fine. I'm here for the community not for money, that will either come or it won't. I love the idea of keeping the male/female populations separated, sadly it's not feasible in this apartment at this time, once Snowball is old enough to be introduced to the rest of the cats in the house in a couple of weeks this could work though. Thanks for the input, and if you don't want to trust me because I answered someones question, that's ok with me.

Posted 2 years ago by Elm #
Am i harming my kitten by smacking his face or butt when he's biting & scratching when i don't want him to? when i do it i feel really bad but i don't know what else to do cause im still new at this whole kitten thing, never had a kitten in my life he's the first one that i've ever had as a pet. hes about almost three months old & i really don't know how to get him outta this habit. Please someone help!

Posted 2 years ago by Leesha #
Maybe try squirting him with a bit of water when he does it, much more effective than 'smacking' him...

Posted 2 years ago by Sinspearian #
Oh Jade, you couldn't be more right, we keep spray bottles on hand at all times, though thankfully we rarely actually need to use them anymore. The cats are pretty well behaved now. :)

Posted 2 years ago by Elm #
alright im gunna try that & see if it works maybe he'll calm down a little.

Posted 2 years ago by Leesha #
Smacking or punishing a kitten or a cat has no effect other than to make them wary or scared of you. They do not associate the punishment with whatever they were doing at the time; in fact it is probably more likely to make your kitten bite and scratch more, as he now thinks he has to defend himself against the smacks. Cats respond well to positive reinforcement, so try to play with him in a different way, where he doesn't have contact with your hands, and to only handle or stroke him when he's sleepy or calm (maybe just after eating, so it's a good association for him). The spray works when used sparingly for certain things (I use it when my kitten tries to eat pot plants, which could be toxic to her), because then the kitty thinks this will happen everytime s/he goes near that place/plant, and doesn't associate the nasty spray with you. Hope that helps.

Posted 2 years ago by eleniki #

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