Mary Allen
Kittens learn a lot from their cat mother and siblings in the first few weeks of life, but people can also contribute to kitten education. The main thing is to establish a trusting relationship with the young animal. With the following tips, you will succeed.
Even if you want to raise your future kitten yourself, you should not separate the little kitten from its mother too early. At the age of twelve weeks, the little ones are usually so far along that they have learned enough from their peers and are ready for a loving human family of their own.
When separated from their mothers too early, kittens are often insecure and anxious, making parenting difficult. The same applies if the little kittens grow up in a low-stimulus environment so that they are not familiar with normal everyday noises such as food processors, traffic, and vacuum cleaners.
Raising Kittens in Their New Home: Establishing Trust
Most people want to raise kittens to be trusting, petted, and maybe even cuddled. You can also teach small and big cats tricks, but for the basic training of a kitty, it is sufficient if it is not aggressive and leaves the furniture largely intact.
Trust and a feeling of security are important as a basis for this. Your fur nose has to feel completely safe and comfortable with you, then they normally see no reason to become aggressive.
The first step in this direction is: Make sure that your young cat’s basic needs are met. For this she needs:
- a scratching post to sharpen their claws
- appropriate kitten food
- freshwater
- cozy sleeping places
- toy
- climbing opportunities
- hideouts
Especially in the beginning, but also later, it is important that you deal with your new pet. Play with him or tell him something in a calm, gentle tone to help your kitten relax and get used to your voice. Pet and praise the little cat when it comes to you. She gradually gains confidence.
How Do I Raise a Kitten? No Penalties, But Consistency
In order not to lose the trust that has just been built up, penalties should be avoided when raising kittens. Kittens have yet to practice how to behave like a “big” cat. They may not always make it to the litter box on time and leave a puddle on the carpet instead of being housebroken, although they actually learned how to do so from their mom. They also have to learn some rules from scratch, such as that a flowerpot is not a litter box or that it is not proper to jump on the dining table.
If you catch your little cheeky rascal in flagrant, say ” no ” clearly and unequivocally and take him away from the “crime scene”. If the cat then goes to the litter box for her little business, to the cat bed for her nap, and to the scratching post to sharpen her claws, she praises her for it. In this way, you can raise your kitten with loving consistency.
Raising Young Cats: Useful Rules of the Game
In addition to loving consistency when breaking the habit of unwanted behavior, it is also important that kittens do not adopt anything new that could later become problematic. If your kittens’ cuteness distracts you too much from the fact that they’re still predators. What is still sweet in kittens can later turn out to be quite painful in adult cats, for example, the nibbling on the hand, which was so adorable at first.
Therefore:
- Play extensively with your small pet, but don’t let them bite your hands or feet.
- Play fishing rods are ideal as toys for kittens, as your limbs are at a sufficiently safe distance from the claws of the little bullies.
- Set limits immediately if your mini kitty wants to play with your toes and feet once you’re in bed. Otherwise, she won’t understand later that she’s suddenly no longer allowed to do that.
- Does your kitten “bite” you during play, for example in the hand or foot? Immediately says “no” and puts the little tomboy on the ground.
- Ignore the kitten until it calms down and wants to cuddle. Then praise it and reward it with pats or play games with it.
Raising Kittens: You Should Avoid These Three Mistakes
In addition to the penalties already mentioned, there are other mistakes that you should definitely avoid when training a cat. Because: In the worst case, you will lose the trust your little fur nose has already won:
- Screaming: Cats have much more sensitive hearing than humans and react confused to shouting. Human screaming, on the other hand, does not have a learning effect, since cats do not associate it with their misbehavior.
- Grabbing by the neck: Man copied this behavior from nature. But when the mother cat grabs her little one by the neck, she does it instinctively and the kitten relaxes. On the other hand, if you do this to your house cat, the young one will be confused and there is a risk that you will hurt it.
- Violence: Actually, it should go without saying that cats and other creatures should not be raised with violence. In this way, you not only hurt your cat but also destroy any trust in the blink of an eye.