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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Ate hand reared kittens any different?

17 replies

Rarity75 · 12/03/2017 22:58

Just that really. I've got 3 kittens. 2 are hand reared sisters and 1 boy not hand reared.
The girls were premature and completely hand reared. I've read the odd comment about there being a difference in behaviour?

OP posts:
Original poster
Rarity75 · 12/03/2017 23:02

And I obviously can't spell Blush Are not ate!!

OP posts:
Heratnumber7 · 12/03/2017 23:12

What do you think?
I imagine the behaviour of boy cats and girl cats might be different anyway though, hand reared or not.

JennyTaylior · 12/03/2017 23:50

One of mine was found starving at a couple of days old. He was hand reared. He's adorable! Doesn't stray far from home at all. And he constantly begs for food. We call him Pavlov's Cat because as soon a I go in the kitchen he appears. From wherever he is. Just appears and looks pathetic 😄 He's basically a big softy and a bit of a wimp.

Trustyourself2 · 13/03/2017 10:28

My girl was reared by me from 4 weeks old, having found her in the middle of the road in a very sorry state. She's a real dote, but a very scared puss. She is afraid of so many things, I do worry about her quality of life. All of the vets who've seen her have told me that she won't change, but I think that's down to her character more than being hand reared.

Original poster
Rarity75 · 13/03/2017 12:10

My two hand reared girls are very affectionate and cuddly. But so is my non hand reared boy.

Spent an hour on the sofa the other day with him and he was properly wrapped around me nose to nose!

We are a family of 4 humans but they are all bonded to me as 'mummy'.

I have heard that hand reared can be more bitey and have behaviour issues. But mine are all quite normal, I wondered whether it was because I had more than one? They are socialising with each other every day. I do find them more affectionate than previous cats but that could just be personality.

OP posts:
JennyTaylior · 14/03/2017 07:14

My hand-reared boy is the opposite of bitey, complete softy with many moments of madness. (I'm fairly sure he has a form of feline ADHD). I adopted another cat at the same time from the same place; she is not related to him and is a bit older. She was weaned too early, but is fine. She teaches him to be a cat because he's not quite sure. She is also the only pet I have that comes when she is called!

hapagirl · 14/03/2017 10:20

I'm interested in this. Our cat was hand reared at a week and she is very much a house cat even though she has a cat flap she can use freely. She is weirdly obsessed with fleecy material, she goes into a trance of licking and nuzzling. Otherwise gentle and follows me around the house but not overly affectionate sadly. X

coxsorangepippin · 14/03/2017 10:26

Mine is affectionate, confident, playful but bites me. Doesn't bite guests / friends. Vet says that kittens hand reared solo don't get bitten themselves, so they often don't learn it hurts.

cozietoesie · 14/03/2017 11:06

My Oneago was, perhaps, less vocal than the others I've had. (He was abandoned by his mother, more or less at birth, and raised by his breeder.) I don't know if that was due to less interaction with an adult or just his natural bent, though.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 14/03/2017 11:18

Awwwwwww 3 little kittens. Its like something out of the Beatrix Potter stories.
You've left something out, op.
Tut tut.

Original poster
Rarity75 · 23/03/2017 00:45

What have I left out Aww?

OP posts:
PhoenixJasmine · 23/03/2017 00:59

Pictures Grin

I have a a solo hand reared boy I've had since quite literally day 1, found abandoned by a stray mother out in the cold as a newborn. Thought he was dead when he was found, covered in fly eggs. Colleagues thought we should put him to sleep but he still had a gentle suck reflex so I gave him a shot - he's now nearly 7 months old and purring loudly next to me, snuggled up in bed with me and ddog.

Behaviour wise he was very play bitey. This has calmed down now, I have an older cat too who largely ignored him until he started to overtake her size wise (he's going to be a big boy, she's a dainty older girl) at which point she took to swiping him round the head whenever she passed him Grin. She def rules the house.

I don't think boycat knows he's a cat to be honest, he probably thinks he's a dog, he spends more time with the dog, greets the dog before he greets me when we come home! He comes when he's called, and his favourite hobby is riding around the house on DP's shoulder. He basically has no fear of anything.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 23/03/2017 00:59

A picture of course.

barkingfly · 23/03/2017 03:12

Mine is very spoiled, hates all other cats, takes it for granted that I am
her birth mother, and is quite a misery. We adopted her this way, but I would not adopt another bottle baby.

GwendolynMary · 23/03/2017 03:30

Our old girl was hand reared and yes, there are issues. Around toileting (only shits beside the litter tray or human toilet, never in the tray); she's aggressive with everyone, especially strangers. No warning swipes, she draws blood first go every time. On the plus side, she is so scared of our children that she just stays far away all day and comes out for adult time once the DC are in bed.

Her immune system is shot due to cat flu at the shelter as a tiny kitten. She now has a fungal infection in her brain that pushes on her sinuses. A daily dose of diflucan for the rest of her life, with regular (exxy) blood tests to go along.

She's started weeing on our bathmat now too. We do love her, but DH and I agree our next cat will be from a reputable breeder and left with mum for a long time!

DimplesToadfoot · 23/03/2017 04:35

I don't particularly like cats, I would never willingly go out and get a cat shudders

However I had 9 5 day old kittens dumped on my doorstep, 1 died almost immediately, 1 died at the vets, they were sickly with cat flu and in a bad way, I phoned rescues/RSPCA etc all refused to help me, the RSPCA even saying to me "let them die" but I could never do that .. so somehow I managed to hand rear the remaining 7, they all grew up ok, all litter trained ok with normal cat behaviours. When they were old enough I handed over 5 to the Cats Protection for rehoming. I kept 2, my kids won that argument groans as far as I could tell the 2 we kept were normal cats doing normal things, one hated my guts but loved the kids, the other couldn't leave me alone, both slept on my bed. They never had a days illness between them, only seeing the vets yearly for vaccs, sadly we lost them both aged 16 last year :-(

so in my vast experience of 2 .. I conclude they were normal cats :-)

PhoenixJasmine · 23/03/2017 05:41

Problems with toilet training are not a common thing with hand rears, I'm always impressed how quickly they get it. We taught my boy as soon as he was able to poop without assistance - somewhere around 3-4 weeks of age - just popped some of his poop and urine-soaked tissue in a mini litter tray and he got the idea within 24 hours. We had to improvise with a litter tray low enough for him to get in and out of independently.

Am feeling very nostalgic for his baby days now Grin makes up for him waking me up already this morning to tell me there are pigeons outside. Great.

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