Expert: Ali - 5/21/2009

Question
I just got a 8 week old kitten a couple days ago from a woman who fosters abandoned kittens. I guess the kitten's owner decided that they were old enough to survive on their own and essentially kicked them out of the house. He is eating dry food but still tries to nurse on anything, sometimes on me and especially on my fuzzy blanket. I just want to know if this is normal for kittens or if perhaps the kitten was separated too early from his mother. Also, he was already neutered and has had his first shot, was that too soon for him? I read somewhere that 12 weeks is the earliest to neuter but my kitten is obviously younger than that.

Answer
Alex,

I strongly suspect that your kitten was removed from mom well before he should have been, unfortunately this practice is all too common with folks who don't want to take responsibility to have their queen spayed. All too often this issue extends to taking care of the cat's litters of kittens as well, many folks don't want to spend the money to spay/neuter their pet as a way of helping their pet live longer, healthier lives without adding to the serious pet overpopulation issue worldwide - what they don't realize is that properly caring for a litter of kittens is more expensive than having their female cat spayed. I can send you some information about the health and behavioral benefits of having cats spayed/neutered.

Luckily these babies had someone on their side ready to rescue them and attempt to find them loving forever families. The nursing you're seeing most likely won't disappear so I've found that the best way to deal with this is to redirect the kitty so that he nurses on something safe that won't break down over time. It may be adorable to have an 8 week old kitten who nurses on your ear lobes, fingers, lips, hair or stuffed toys, but it's important to remember that kittens eventually grow up and a behavior that's cute in a young kitten may be unacceptable in a full grown cat.

Since this kitten is at a disadvantage in terms of learning appropriate behavior that mom would normally teach him I'd recommend that you take the time to teach him things that his mother would have if she'd been given the chance. If your kitten starts using his claws or teeth on any part of the human body for any reason he should immediately get the message that these kinds of behaviors won't ever be tolerated for any reason. Teaching the kitten to use a scratch post is the best way to allow him to use his claws for the purpose they were intended for - "sharpening" is a myth, cats scratch trees, furniture, scratch posts, pads or cat trees to exercise their shoulder and back muscles, mark areas within their territory using the scent glands located on their paws and faces and overall it just feels good for a cat to have a pleasant stretch. Cats don't actually sharpen their claws, however they do shed old claw casings to reveal the new nail underneath. Any attempts to scratch or bite people even if he's being playful should be nipped in the bud - gently grab the kitten by the scruff of his neck and lower his body to the floor while you hiss at him, using a quiet, low tone of voice that's similar to a mother cat growling at her kitten to show your disapproval when your kitten behaves badly works well, I use the word "NO!" to get my point across to young kittens that have been prematurely separated from their mother. Your kitten may also need training sessions that are geared towards helping him form a strong bond with you because he's likely to see you as a surrogate parent and that will offer him some sense of security.

It's a good idea to purchase or build some sturdy scratch posts and maybe even a cat tree. I'd recommend choosing rough materials like rope or a heavy duty burlap type material because cats prefer rough areas to exercise their claws. Cats are quite smart, easily trainable once you find out what motivates them and there's no reason why with your encouragement, placing treats or catnip on and around the scratch post/pad or cat tree that your kitten won't successfully learn how to use these items and prefer them over furniture. Essentially by adopting this kitten you should take over where his mother left off in terms of educating and socializing him properly. I normally recommend that kittens remain with their mother for a minimum of 10-12 weeks, this allows mom to completely wean them naturally and teach them kitty basics like how to use a litter box, eat solid food, understand kitty body language and respond appropriately, not playing too roughly with mom or their siblings, how to hunt, stalk and kill prey and how to defend themselves from predators or other cats. Mother cats discipline their kittens almost from birth and they do a great job of teaching them good behavior.

At 10-12 weeks of age some issues that can happen with younger kittens aren't as much of a concern, for instance kittens 8-9 weeks of age or younger can develop serious blood sugar drops if separated from their mother, if issues like these aren't caught in time they can prove fatal. 10-12 week old kittens are also substantially tougher than younger kittens, their bones are stronger which reduces the chance of accidental breaks from falls off of furniture and they're physically stronger so there's less chance that they'll find themselves squashed under a human in bed. I recently had a questioner whose 7-8 week old kitten managed to sneak into the bedroom when they went to the washroom. They were puzzled when they couldn't find their kitten in the morning and as they were making the bed they found him. He was under a pillow and had almost been smothered to death because he wasn't able to get himself out from under the pillow or at least draw attention to himself to make the human laying on him understand that he was there. For this reason I recommend against ever allowing such young kittens to sleep in bed with human beings of any age or size - accidents happen and I don't want anyone to experience such a preventable tragedy.

You mentioned that you were concerned about your kitten's early surgery to neuter him, this has become increasingly common in recent years. I've seen kittens as young as 6 weeks be spayed/neutered and vaccinated. As far as I know the only requirement is that the kitten must weigh 2 pounds before it's safe to put him/her under anesthesia for the surgery. There are good medical and behavioral reasons to spay/neuter cats as early as possible and shelters, animal welfare organizations, rescue groups and private vets want to avoid any accidental reproduction before the kitten is spayed/neutered. As far as I know spaying/neutering a kitten before 4 months of age doesn't have any negative impact on their health provided that the anesthesia is tolerated well. It's my personal opinion that cats and kittens probably shouldn't be spayed/neutered on the same day as they receive vaccines because that can cause some pretty serious stress on their system, but that goes back to the preference of the person having the kitten spayed/neutered and the vet performing the surgery. I also have some information you might be interested in about new research pertaining to vaccination protocols and a cat's overall health. I can also provide some information that will allow you to provide your kitten with the best possible diet so that he can live the longest, healthiest life possible.