Are Hand Reared Kittens More Affectionate?
Most hand reared kittens tend to be very affectionate toward people. Although sometimes a hand reared kitten can start to become a biter at about 8 weeks, kitten adaptors need to stamp this out quickly, this can be done by firmly telling the kitten “NO!”, then put the kitten down and withdraw your attention for some minutes.
Hand reared kittens can frequently behave anti-social towards people and other cats, especially if they have not been socialized with people other than their foster human mom. From the perspective of a hand reared kitten, the kitten adopter IS their mom, and are their entire world, as young kittens they are totally dependent on humans for absolutely everything, food, grooming, love and warmth. Sometimes a hand reared kitten can have separation anxiety as adults once they have bonded to their “new” mom, and seem to need more ROUTINE compared to other cats. Often, they were raised in a single room (usually with siblings), coming out to play and be fed and cleaned, but then going back in to sleep. Hand reared kittens are just like human babies in that they will fight sleep and get cranky, but when you put them down in their familiar sleep area, they will drop right off to sleep.
hand reared kittens will always see their human mom as the “parent” and will not relate to another cat as parent because she never had that experience.
Kittens that’re orphaned or separated from their moms too early can develop behavioral quirks and not have all their social signals straight, but the good news is that this can be turned around.
A kitten’s mind will remain receptive to new experiences and lessons well beyond kittenhood.
4 Things To Know About Caring For Hand Reared Kittens
One of the most rewarding but challenging things you could do is foster a kitten.
While the best place for a newborn kitten is with its mother, sometimes it’s necessary for humans to hand raise these vulnerable animals. To set up a bottle kitten for success in life, here are some tips to follow.
It’s vital that mothers and siblings help a kitten learn discipline and socialization. So, a hand reared kitten needs to be introduced to other kittens as soon as possible so they learn how to interact and play.
1. Kitten Habitat Setup
A safe, secure habitat for your bottle babies is very important. One way to set up a home for a kitten starts with a medium-sized dog crate:
- Line the bottom with a towel, placing a heating pad, set on low, in a pillowcase.
- Fold the pillowcase around the heating pad to ensure that the kitten can’t wiggle their way directly to touch the heating pad.
- Place the pillowcase that’s covering the heating pad in the crate so that it takes up only half the area.
- The other half of the crate shouldn’t have a heating pad so the kitten can move away from the heat source. This is important as young kittens can’t regulate their body temperature.
- You can finish off the crate preparation by laying one more blanket or towel inside it, covering both the heating pad and the area without a heating pad.
Whenever you aren’t feeding the kittens or cleaning their crate, they should be locked within the crate to ensure that they’re safe. It’s important to clean the crate out daily.
2. Bottle Feeding
Although bottle feeding a kitten can be challenging, with patience and persistence, it’s one of the most heart-warming parts of hand-rearing a kitten.
Kittens under 1-week old need to be bottle-fed every 2–3 hours. At 2 weeks, they can be fed every 4 hours.
Kitten powder formula and bottles can be bought at a pet or grocery store, The powder formula should be for kittens only, never feed kittens cow milk. The box of the powdered formula will have instructions regarding how to prepare the formula.
To warm the formula between feedings, fill a mug with hot water, placing the bottle upright in the mug for around 2 minutes before the feeding. Before feeding the kitten, you should first test the milk formula on your own skin to make sure it’s above room temperature but not hot. When you’re ready to begin feeding, have the kitten’s stomach down, on your lap. Kittens shouldn’t be on their backs during feeding.
Tilt the bottle at a 45-degree angle, gently nudging the kitten’s lips. Once kittens have successfully latched on, their ears will usually wiggle as they feed and spit the nipple out once they’re done, you need to make sure to burp the kittens by tapping gently on their backs.
3. Keeping Clean
You need to always wash your hands before handling a kitten. Keeping a hand-reared kitten clean is important!
Their bedding should be checked every day, and wash and replace any soiled or messy bedding. As you’re essentially filling in for the kitten’s mother, you also get the very important job of helping the kittens eliminate. It’s important after each feeding to take a warm cotton ball and gently stimulating the kittens’ lower belly and genitals.
If the kitten has missed multiple eliminations, you should call a vet or your shelter for advice and potential care.
If the kitten has fleas, don’t use chemical flea medications. Instead, use a gentler, non-toxic dish soap for baths, and call your local shelter to confirm the preferred way to handle fleas on kittens.
4. Showing Some Love
Physical contact is very important to properly develop a hand-reared kitten. Daily cuddling and gentle petting teaches the kitten to be comfortable around humans and grow up feeling safe and loved. Once the kitten can walk, you should begin offering toys and playtime which helps their motor skills and socialization.
A young hand-reared kitten requires round-the-clock care during their first several weeks of life.
They’re one of the most challenging types of pets to foster, although there’re few experiences more rewarding than watching a bottle baby successfully hit each milestone, watching it develop its unique personalities and then eventually find its forever home.
Can You Take On The Responsibility Of Hand Rearing A kitten?
A lot of people wonder if they could handle the work and emotions to foster a young kitten.
If you’ve seen a newborn kitten, you will have noticed that they don’t do much. They can’t see or hear or even crawl.
You’ll need to get up every 2 to 3 hours to feed the kitten, potty train it and make sure they’re warm, you won’t get much else out of them. The first few days aren’t very gratifying and may even be oddly isolating.
There’s a sense of satisfaction that comes with taking good care of a young animal that’s completely dependent on you. A Young hand-reared kitten can’t produce their own body heat, clean themselves, eliminate on their own or eat without you.
