Kitten Troubles
Raising any baby isn’t easy, but how about raising a newborn kitten? This is what this blog will cover today and we hope that this will be of great help if you ever run into or are in a situation with having to raise baby kittens!
Weaning
One of the rules that you must keep in mind when it comes to raising a baby kitten is to not take them away from their mother and littermates before they are weaned which is approximately 8 weeks old. This is because taking them away from their mother before 8 weeks of age would increase the likelihood of them getting sick from disease and would prevent them to developing the necessary socialization skills they will need later on in life.
Nutritious Meals
Just like how we tell our children to eat their veggies, drink a lot of milk, and eat meat if they want to grow tall, felines follow this same rule. Thus, it would be best to refrain from feeding the kitten anything else but veterinarian-approved dry and wet kitten food. This type of food is specially designed for your kitten’s nutritional needs to grow and develop. Most experts recommend continuing to feed your kitten, kitten formulated food until they reach the age of one.
Social Life
Similarly to our puppies, kittens also have their prime socialization period being between 3 and 9 weeks of age but this does not mean that after the prime socialization period, it is ok to withdraw your kitten from socializing. Such opportunities over an extended period of time would allow your kittens to gradually become accustomed to those in your household, other animals, and visitors. It is also vital for your kittens to receive regular human contact around 10 to 12 weeks of age to learn that humans are not a threat to them. Doing these things would help prevent behavioral issues from arising in the future.
Play Time
Although they may seem harmless and just an adorable ball of fur wanting to have some fun. It is important to not play with them using your hands and instead use cat toys. Doing so would prevent your cat from developing the bad behavior of scratching you and other people out of not only frustration but also out of fun. This can be made especially worse if the person is raising the kitten by themselves without any of their littermates as they wouldn’t be aware of the harm that their teeth and claws can cause to others.
Adventuring Onwards!
It is important to provide mental stimulation for your kitten with new smells, new places, new people, etc. However, it is also important to not introduce your kitten too quickly to a new environment to explore all on their own on just day one. Instead, gradually allow them to expand their “territory” to not cause unnecessary stress to the kitten. But before expanding their territory, make sure that the area is kitten approved (i.e. windows closed, electrical cords put away, remove breakable items, etc)!
Alone Time
Although cats are known for their lower maintenance compared to dogs, this does not necessarily mean that kittens can be left alone for long periods of time. Kittens should be checked on every four to six hours and this holds to be especially true for the earlier weeks. Only at six months would it be appropriate to leave your kitten alone for up to 8 hours as they would have more confidence being on their own.
We hope you have found the information contained in this blog useful. Feel free to let us know what else you may want us to cover and we will see you next time!
Citations:
[1] Editorial, Chewy. “7 Things to Do When Raising a Kitten.” BeChewy, Chewy, 20 Jan. 2021, https://be.chewy.com/7-things-to-do-when-raising-a-kitten/.
[2] Geier, Elisabeth, and Elisabeth Geier. “How Long Can You Leave a Kitten Alone?” The Dog People by Rover.com, 9 Dec. 2019, https://www.rover.com/blog/how-long-can-you-leave-a-kitten-alone/.