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Stray kitten forensics—not what this vet planned for Memorial Day (May 28, 2007)

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I'm a retired AHT who once did alot of feline adoptions, including raising several litters of orphan kittens. I got around the socialization problem by being fortunate to have a neutered male cat who was perfectly happy to do everything for the kittens except feed them (clean them, let them nurse on/sleep with him, protect them, teach them to eat when they were old enough, etc). Does anyone have a spayed/neutered cat with strong maternal behavior that you could borrow? My cat shared a dog crate with the kittens except for potty breaks while I was feeding them. Also, this allows you to tube feed instead of bottle feed at night when you are bleary-eyed (much faster when you have 6 or 7 to do).

# Posted By Maria Shanley | 7/6/08 1:03 PM

I am learning about felines every day! I was hoping that Vincent was stepping in to foster---
Even days old pups don't nurse that often, my goodness--I'd have serious sleep deprivation by now.

And I'm enlightened on orphaned-singleton kitties. There was an old adage about singleton pups, that I found not to be true, having had 2 litters of "singletons"--but they weren't bottle raised either.

Maybe by calling around other clinics, you'd find a close nursing mother cat? Probably wishful thinking. I hope the best for you both!!

# Posted By Barbara A. Albright/New Hampshire | 7/6/08 1:52 PM

If you can find some other orphans your kittie can hang with between feedings, that may make things easier--at least he gets to socialize with other kittens. And bottle feeding 2 or 3 is no bigger deal than doing one-you can even make a rack to feed a bunch at once.

I agree though--bottle raised singletons at least are monsters

# Posted By DrSteggy | 7/6/08 3:05 PM

I raised a bottle fed kitten when I was a kid. He turned out all right -- with me. He would hiss and smack all my friends and would only be friendly at night. Then, he'd climb up on my lap and sleep while I was on the computer. If he snuck outside with my other cat, he'd hide under the porch and you'd have to almost crawl under the house to get him back out. He was never really mean he was just extremely shy around other people. While my other cat -- not bottlefed was very friendly.

I don't know if it's like this with every cat. He only peed on a beanbag not on couches, I think he peed on the beanbag because he though the beans inside would cover it or something. I don't know. He was kind of odd.

# Posted By ashleigh | 7/6/08 3:43 PM

I've hand-reared a lot of kittens, but my best result, personality and temperament wise, was with a little male that was an absolute piggy. He always ended his feeding sessions with a good deal of milk on himself, and I bathed him quite frequently.

I'd hold his tiny self under a stream of warm water in the sink, and then towel him dry. I used my index fingers, covered with the towel, to stroke him very firmly as if my finger were his mom's tongue licking him dry. I wasn't at all gentle about it, but very firm as I rolled him around on the towel.

I have never seen a newborn kitten as happy as this little guy was. He rolled, he purred, he'd lift his legs so that I could rub every little spot of him. It became just as much fun for me as for him, as he totally blissed out with his wet-kitty massage.

He also turned out to be an awesome cat, very devoted to me, and unbelievably gentle and affectionate. I wonder if, while we meet their nutritional needs, we neglect a physical stimulus that is just as important in their development. Perhaps that rolling around that mama cat does when she is cleaning is her own dominance ritual that we omit. Maybe they need more than food and warmth to become Good Cats.

So there you are. Not a bit of scientific evidence, but something to try.

Sue

# Posted By Sue | 7/6/08 9:40 PM

My husband and I hand reared a kitten from a very young age. He developed into a lovely, healthy, good natured cat. We did wean him off the bottle and onto drinking his milk out of a saucer and eating solid food as soon as we could though, so this may have helped.

Oh, just remembered something - we used to wrap him firmly in a cloth when we fed him to stop him scratching us (a natural reflex when feeding). His little paws would work away happily inside the wrap but he never got to interact with us with them in association with feeding. This may have been the (totally unwitting) secret of our success! I had been vaguely worried about him getting into the habit of scratching us and associating doing this with pleasure. We had never heard of the bottle-fed-monster-kitty thing at the time. Looks like we may have, almost by accident, done the right thing!

# Posted By Alison | 7/6/08 10:47 PM

PS - I don't know if that is your kitty in the picture - but I can see the claws at work!

# Posted By Alison | 7/6/08 10:49 PM

hmm, interesting. I've never heard of the bottle-fed-kitten behavior issues either. I bottled a kitten from about 3 weeks on and she turned out fine... but like someone else mentioned, I was also blessed with a neutered male cat who was only too happy to have a teeny tiny kitten to play mommy to.

# Posted By charity | 7/6/08 11:03 PM

For the air conditioning, can you just go to Wal-Mart or Home Depot and get a cheap ($100) little window unit to just keep a room cool? I would keep a window air conditioner on hand, even if I had central, just for this purpose.

# Posted By margherita | 7/7/08 8:34 AM

So far so good with my uncle's male kitty (hospitalized for an abscess a few days ago and on loan 'till he comes back from vacation). Wish me luck and thanks for the idea. I'll keep you posted.

# Posted By Dr. Patty Khuly | 7/7/08 11:44 AM

With wildlife they feed with a puppet-clad hand to avoid taming down. Maybe something like that would help?

# Posted By emily | 7/7/08 1:07 PM

I am on my second orphan courtesy of my sister. She was the tech that always managed to get suckered into rearing the orphan kitties left on the clinic doorsteps. Cletus is quite the monster, but in an insistently social way. We don't know if it was being raised with great danes who thought he was a squeaky toy or the mothering duties taken over by her bossy "mother hen" parrot that made him what he is, but we love him and all of our visitors love him (he won't give them a choice).

At first, I refused to take him because I was expecting a new baby, But I was still missing the last orphan she gave us (Dweezil slipped out the door on one of his typical suicide runs but this time never returned.) Cletus turned out to be like a litter mate to my newborn. Now, 6 years later they are best buds.

# Posted By Jennifer H | 7/7/08 1:25 PM

I think Sue's comment about the bathing and toweling and rubbing may be right on.
Can't remember the author, but there has been research on monkeys, and failure
to thrive in orphanage babies, that showed young 'uns need physical contact and
affection.

This thread makes me wonder if it explains the divine Miss K's mysterious past. We
inherited her, knowing that she came from a show home, having been spayed at
10 months old, with the usual indoor contract and the warning that she DID NOT
LIKE other cats. Seeing another cat makes her fly to the highest yardarm and
stay up there, growling a deep growl that does not seem like it could come out of
an animal who weighs in at 6.75 pounds. She is a very sweet, affectionate cat
who LOVES people, sometimes to the point of leaping on to the shoulder of strangers.
I was able to teach her to wear a leash and harness at the age of six years. She
also likes rough rubbing and mussing of her fur, and will flop over to be massaged
by her dad every morning.

# Posted By Miss Kitty's Mom | 7/7/08 7:44 PM

Dr. Khuly, don't know if you're even still reading this far down the page, but about keeping bottle-fed kittens from being monsters... I heard about a system for teaching puppies that there are frustrations in the world, so that the puppies can learn patience at a young age. I wish that I remembered the name, but I don't. Some of your readers might. The system involved some mild aversives (applying cold water to the pads of the feet, very briefly holding the puppy upside down, etc). That sort of thing might be helpful for your kitten. I wish I could be more specific!

# Posted By Jessica Hekman | 7/8/08 8:02 PM

I learned all of this all too late with my bottle-baby, Angel. She was a cuddle bug until she was spayed. After that, she completely changed and started with the biting and scratching whenever someone would try to pet her. Though, as kitten and all the way up to today, she never interacted with the dog despite his best efforts. We though that was a bit odd. Her behavior definately improved some when we switched her off of low quality foods. We love her for what and who she is but it can be so frustrating at times.

# Posted By Nicole | 7/10/08 7:49 PM

My four hand raised babies are very sweet until you get them to the vet. Annie (now 14) turns into a tiger at the vet and no one can handle her but me. My other three are not aggressive at the vet but will strongly resist being restrained and medicated or treated. When one of my babies had to have his eye examined, it took two techs to hold him still so the doc could get the stain in his eye. I think the problem with hand raised babies is that they are SPOILED. It tears my heart out to hear a kitten cry, so every time any of my cats made so much as a peep, I was at their cage, seeing if they were hungry, cold, lonely, and they were constantly being cuddled and coddled.

And why are some of my posts going through but not others!

# Posted By robyn w | 7/11/08 2:52 PM

I must have been very lucky. My bottle-raised singleton had a rather submissive personality. He was obviously confused as to what sort of critter he was, and his health was a bit fragile, but he was a complete doll.

# Posted By Laurel | 7/13/08 8:26 AM

Guess we were pretty lucky too!
One of my closest friends and I hand-raised three kittens. They've grown into three really sweet full grown cats. They love to be petted or played with, and they love playing with toys. Their only "negative" is that they are too doggone intelligent to learn to stay off the tables, counters, shelves, etc. But it definitely sounds like that's a small price to pay for three wonderful kitties!

# Posted By Melinda | 8/14/08 4:53 PM

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