Daily Kitten Chat Forum » Purrs

1. 

   Hello! I have been raising an orphaned kitten (he has been without his mommy since 2 weeks of age). He is doing extremely well! Vet checked negative for parasites and fleas declaring him healthy! :) He is our little Christmas gift and are looking forward to watching his personality develop. He has recently become much stronger and VERY playful full of grabbing our faces with his claws and biting us all over.

   CAN I AND SHOULD I BE TEACHING SUCH A YOUNG KITTEN NOT TO DO SUCH WHEN I KNOW THIS IS NATURAL BEHAVIOR THAT HE WOULD NORMALLY BE DOING WITH HIS SIBLINGS IF HE HAD THEM? I have read that single kittens can be biters and am wondering how to prevent this during his adulthood. I am currently trying to teach him to play with a small stuffed animal and toys rather than us.
   ANY IDEAS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED! THANK YOU!

   Posted 2 years ago by Missy #

2. 

   Awwww...What a wonderful Christmas gift!!! Con'cat'ulations!!! It's very normal for kittens to use their teeth and claws very early on. It's their hunting instincts that merely kick in and they don't even really understand their own behavior in my opinion. It's natural. With that I highly recommend you never use your hands to play with and entertain your kitten. Use TOYS ONLY so that they don't associate your hands with these natural urges to ATTACK! I've found at the times that they do begin to use my hands as a plaything it's best to immediately end the play session so they develop a sense of not getting any attention at all for this behavior. In time it will register in their tiny, busy little minds. Good Luck and Enjoy!!! =D

   Posted 2 years ago by Karenopa #

3. 

   How old is the kitten now? I've been raising orphans since they are 3 weeks old too... :) they are now 8 weeks old...

   Posted 2 years ago by dionnewb #

4. 

   Thanks for the advice!!! Makes sense! He is 5 weeks old today and boy is he getting strong! He loves climbing up the netting in his play pen. It's made for puppies so it has a net roof and all. He has his heating pad in there, a stuffed animal, blanket, litter box, scratching post, dish of water, and plenty of room for excersise. He changes on a daily basis! He mainly uses us as his heating pad and gets carried around by us in a baby sling. He is drinking 3 1/2 tbs. of goat milk at a time. Does that sound to be about right for a serving size? He used to drink 1.5 to 2 tbs and is now sucking it down like it's going out of style. He is not yet lapping any milk from a saucer, but is starting to pee on his own some just not yet consistently. However when he does so he always does it in the litter box. He is great! I would LOVE to post his picture on here but I can't figure out how. Please let me know if it is easy to explain. Thanks again! Missy

   Posted 2 years ago by Missy #

5. 

   Hi, Missy. Welcome to the Daily Kitten! Your kitten sounds adorable. You are doing a fantastic job of hand-raising him. I don't know much about the care and feeding of orphan kitties, but many on here have done it successfully. Most recommend using Kitten Milk Replacement (KMR) instead of milk for kittens.

   To post a photo of your kitten (what is his name?), go to your profile here and click on "edit." You will see a link for changing or adding a gravatar. Click on that link. You will end up at a website that gives you step by step directions on how to upload a photo. Be sure to use the same e-mail address on that website in opening an account as you did on TDK. You may not see your photo righ away. Clearing the cache on your computer should make the new avatar appear. (On a p.c. hit Control and F5.)

   As an alternative, or in addition to uploading a photo to use as your avatar here, you can create a webpage for your kitten on Catster.com. It is free and easy to do. You can then link the URL (webpage address on Catster.com) to your avatar here by editing your profile here. Click on my avatar to see pics of my three kits, Digit, Furl and Boots. They are all polydactyl kits (extra toes)! :D

   Posted 2 years ago by Kitten Whisperer #

6. 

   Hey! The others are right, just distract her with toys and teach her to play with them, and not with your hands/face. I've fostered lots of singletons, and they do have problems knowing when playing becomes hurting/inappropriate. You could also try hissing at her, like her mom or sibs would do if she took it too far with them.

   Posted 2 years ago by Skyron #

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