Help me with kitten behavior!

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  • #850076
    Stephanie
    Participant

    Hi maybe someone can help me. I just got a 12 week old kitten. He came from a breeder but with a bad start in life. I found out that he lived in a single room with 5 other cats and one food bowl for the first three months of his life. With little human contact. That being said I don’t know what to think because he acts very strange for a kitten. The first three days he we cried and hid on and off. He eventually started to come out and look around the house. Very carefully. At night he would come in the room and look in on us and sniff around and jump on and off our bed. Which was fine. He would come to me after breakfast and walk around and sniff me a bit. Then we would play and he laid down a bit. He would lay on my lap once in awhile for a few minutes. He would not let us pet him at all. He would head butt us. But if we tried to pet him a little he would roll on his side or back and knead his paws with claws out. So we left the petting alone. The last few days he has been very strange. No petting. He is not interested in playing and just wants to sleep. I know he is a baby but he sleeps from 11 in the afternoon until seven at night. Sometimes almost eight o’clock. He has no interest in me or my husband whatsoever. He just stays in a room by himself on top of a table looking at us. He won’t come in our room at night at all. Petting is a no go still. I go to him in his spot and play with him. Try to scratch his head a little. As soon as I touch him he licks himself where he was touched. He doesn’t seem to be interested in the house at all. He can get rough when he plays. Really wild. Ive almost been scratched a few times by him running around like crazy. He tries to jump and get my hands with open claws. He is eating and using his box okay. What could be wrong. I was told to get him a playmate but it’s not allowed by my landlord. One pet limit. I had to get permission to get him. Could it be that he is unhappy? What should I do? Give him time and space or try to interact with him? Maybe he doesn’t trust people or is bored? I want to give him a good loving home. He deserves that. I’m just hoping that I’m not doing more damage to him. Please any advice.

    #850080
    Buttons
    Moderator

    he seems to be on the right track for adjusting to his new environment.. and the fact that he’s under 14-15 weeks old is very good because most of a cats social learning happened in the first 15 weeks of life so you have time to train him and he will adjust to just about anything he’s exposed to at this age..

    it’s the lethargy I’m concerned about. if you haven’t already I would bring him to your local vet for a check up as he may have parasites all kittens need to be wormed from a few weeks old and then every 4 weeks up until 6 months of age but a vet needs to prescribe the wormer as its dosage is by weight of cat/kitten.. by the sounds of his start in life the breeder doesn’t sound like the response type so he may never have been wormed or vaccinated properly.. get a vet to check him over and remember the absolute most important thing you need to do!!!!! at 5 months of age he NEEDS to be neutered!! it will help prevent illness, and behavioural problems especially if he’s going to be an indoor/outdoor cat..

    #850090
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Buttons gave you very good advice, and you may be able to have him neutered before 5 months especially if he is at least 2 pounds. But the first thing to do is a trip to the vet.
    The real problem here is that your breeder (if that’s what you want to call this person 🙄 ) did not socialize these kittens/cat at all. From the minute they are born, they need to be handled, cuddled and loved on which is what makes them so very loving and tame. It will just take patience and time for your kitten to learn about you, to trust you and realize that he has a wonderful loving home. No yelling, hitting, sudden movements that might frighten him. Just reinforce to him that you love him and are there for him. Get him some toys (wand toys are great and he won’t be going for your hands and feet and legs), kicker toys and a laser pointer that he can chase. Once he is tired out from playing, feed him in a quiet spot away from foot traffic, talk to him and see if he will let you pet him while eating. Then he will groom himself and probably sleep. He will find his way to you in the night for comfort and snuggling, but the breeder did him no favors by isolating him–as it’s almost as if he is a feral cat.

    #850095
    Stephanie
    Participant

    I would never hit an animal. Ever! Hes just so ununtamed. I’m getting tired of being ignored and now he’s starting to attack when we play.

    #850096
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Stephanie? First? I’m really sorry for the landlords giving you rough conditions and your kittens brutal start in life but? You’ll give him a happy healthy life. My little one has some biting issues as well. If you don’t have stuffed animals I’d get a few. Redirect. As for cla we out? They’re little so there’s no chance of you being seriously harmed but conditioning away from clawing is done with love and? If you have to? Go online and find kitty caps. They’re cheap. I too was worried about mines choice of where to sleep. First it was the rolling suitcase then he’d come to bed. Then the…yikes! Kitchen floor of all places but? Living in an apt and having a disability I need my body at room temp at all times so….sometimes it’s just cooler in there. He shows no sign of worms and you can look up what those are. If yours shows signs they have deworming stuff at the market or if you can afford Petco etc. Ear mites are something to watch for and if you clean his ears every day he won’t get any. Living in an apt I would suggest keeping him indoors especially after the brutal start in life. Play is important and so is trust. You keep a routine and familiarize him with it and keep him on one you’ll both be okay. At 4 months start brushing teeth. If the cat stuffs too expensive use your finger and rub a tiny bit of Colgate on his teeth and then cold water to rinse so he doesn’t swallow any. Yes scared. That’s all and he needs time. Hell be okay with sleep if you can acclimate him and find favorite foods. Wet and dry. We eat Friskiest. The indoor dry is fabulous for kittens. I’m not sure what breed you have but beware of anything with rice in it. It might tank his taurine. I can ask mine but most people aren’t psychic to consult the tarot so if you have any breed of Siamese or tonkinese I’d steer clear of most anything with rice. Especially dry. Wet down adult dry so he can eat it. Yuri wanted that at first but Friskiest indoor is small pieces so he doesn’t need it anymore. We just switched. ???? Sign of health is grooming. Glad you’ve got the litter box down and make sure you clean it every day. Make sure he has fresh water everyday too. You’re his mommy and he depends upon you. Set limits and be firm. Get a spray bottle. It works to deter biting. I don’t need to use it with Yuri anymore but whined a t him when I had to. He got the message. Hope this helps.

    #850099
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Stephanie, I wasn’t suggesting that you hit your animal, sorry if that’s what you thought. Some people get so frustrated that they DO think that by hitting or swatting is a way of discipline. He will come around, he just has to learn to trust and to enjoy being around people. Play is the best way to divert his attention away from biting and scratching though, and he won’t do it anymore.

    #850102
    Stephanie
    Participant

    It’s okay Kittyzee. I didn’t take it that way. I’m just frustrated. I’ve had other cats with my husband and we never had one like this. I just don’t want to make his life worse. That’s all. It’s very hard to play with him at the moment because I end up scratched even though we use a fishing rod toy. He literally rips it out of my hand and scratches when I try to get it so he doesn’t get hurt. When he’s too rough I stop play and ignore him. It doesn’t help much. He just runs crazy through the house then and starts biting everything like electrical cables. 🙁

    #850103
    Stephanie
    Participant

    Hi Ben,

    We have lots of stuffed animals for him to wrestle and bite. He just plays way too rough. I’ve been scratched so many times just by him jumping on me to get the fishing rod toy. He will be an indoor cat. I’m not allowed to let him out because of the landlord. Smudge is supposedly a British short hair mix. But he doesnt really look like a british short hair at all. He gets Whiskas wet food and some Royal Canin dry food. Mostly he just snacks on the dry food. It’s not a big part of his diet. His breeder gave him dry food for adult outdoor cats. Convience for her I guess. I hope he starts coming around. I love him so much and he’s such a handsome devil. He almost looks like puss n boots from Shrek when he looks at me with his big sad eyes. We’re off to the vet today. Will see what he needs in terms of deworming and I think he needs a few shots. Thanks for writing to me. I need a lot of advice and comfort. I don’t sleep anymore because I’m worried about my cat. ????

    #850108
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Awww Stephanie, it will be all right. He just needs time, and once he is neutered, he will calm down A LOT!! Don’t lose heart, it just takes time and he will be the happiest cat in spite of his first few months!

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