New kitten not keeping herself clean

[MirandaBailey]

We got an 8 week old kitten at the weekend, I was a bit concerned because the mother cat seemed very agressive towards her, but the owner said it was because the other kittens had all gone and she was upset

She's litter trained, though digs so hard that it tends to spray out a lot - but also she seems to get the poo on her paws while covering it up, and she's not washing them properly . I assumed that she'd litter trained by watching her mum, and would therefore have learned washing etc from mum too - but she doesn't wash much. She gives herself a lick and a promise, but not the thorough washing that most cats do.

What should i do? Heyulp!

She's only 8 weeks old - it's perfectly normal for her not to have mastered the art of grooming. You just need to do it for her until she learns. Does she have diarrhoea? Just wondering, as well formed faeces wouldn't usually make a mess on a kitten's paws.

Hi - yes ours didn't get the hang of grooming until about 3 (maybe 4) months old - but then they just started to do it, so hang on in there and maybe take her to the vets to get checked out - she'll need her first lot of jabs at about 9 weeks I think anyway.

Oh, ok. Thanks for that - I was hoping it was just that she's so little.