New kitten (always had cats, never a real kitten before)

Hello everyone - great site, I appreciate the ability to ask a community, rather than just reading some random article.

Anyway, I was recently given a kitten yesterday (Wednesday the 13th). I have no idea how old she is, but hopefully I'll find that out on Monday when I take her to the vet. Anyway, I grew up with always having a cat in the house, but we never got them when they were kittens, it was always some stray that sort of adopted us. So anyway, I've got behavioral questions as well as other questions/concerns about things I'm doing and whether their "right" or not.

So here goes...

This kitten's mother was ran over, so her and her siblings were rescued by a co-worker. She nursed them for several weeks and then started to give them away (three kittens). I took this one. I assume kittens are insanely playful, right? All this little girl does is run full speed from A to B, chasing her shadow, biting feet, attacking toys and whatever else she can grab. Then she passes out for about 1 hour normally, right next to me on the couch. I know when she wakes up because she starts biting again. Is the constant biting normal behavior?

She seems to be litter box trained - she'll be playing hard, and then take off like a rocket to the box, do her business, then fire back as fast as she left to continue playing. But, I'm currently keeping her in a spare bathroom while I'm sleeping and while I'm at work. I know she hates it, but I'm just not comfortable with her having free reign of the house yet. My plan is to continue this for the remainder of the weekend, and starting Monday move her to a spare bedroom (where the litter box will be permanently). There I'll keep her for a few weeks unless there's a lot of objection... I just don't know for sure what I should do about it, but that's my current plan of action.

She's 100% playful, and I assume that's normal for a kitten, so her running around the house without any type of supervision spooks me.

Are there any other things I should be concerned about, since she's so little/young? Any surprises I may be in for? Will she grow quickly??? She's so small right now, I look forward to when she's a bit bigger.

Congrats on your new kitten!

It's been a while since I've had kittens, so I will try to remember what I learned. Yes, it's very normal that she has TONS of energy, and wants to play all the time (except when she passes out from all the excitement--kittens usually sleep quite a bit. The biting you probably want to try and put a stop to right away, so she doesn't continue this behavior. Like if she bites your hand, say "ow!!" right away and pull away, and that way she will know she's hurt you. Though this might take a while for her to get the picture. I've never tried this, but I also heard that you can use bitter apple spray on wherever she bites you--they hate the taste which will deter her from biting.

I'm sorry about the momma, that's sad. We kept our kittens in a room too when they were very little. They were just so small, we were afraid they would get into trouble in the big house. So I think that you are doing the right thing there. And yes she will grow very fast!! Before you know it, she will be 3 times as big, and you probably won't even notice unless you take pictures and compare! It's hard to believe how small they are when they're kittens and how much they grow up. I think you're doing a great job.

It sounds to me like you have a kitten!

"Kitten proofing" a house is much the same as child-proofing it. Try to keep her away from electrical wires, or hide them. Close up any small places should could fall into or crawl into and get stuck. Put away anything that might be poisonous, and this would include a lot of things on your bathroom counter. Check to be sure any plants you have are not poisonous.

That's just a quick and by no means thorough list.

Kittens are always hyper and love to play. Give her toys to play with.

Sounds like a normal kitten to me I'm glad she now has a home, what a sad story I have a cat, Chloe, with a similar background (mom died, people found her at 4 weeks old, I brought her home at 12 weeks).

When Chloe was a kitten, she had non-stop energy. She was a biter too (a play biter). You have to stop it now or she'll probably never stop. Don't play with her with your hands. If she bites, direct her to toy. Buy some hard plastic toys she can chew on. She'll be teething soon I imagine so it will just get worse. Watch all the electrical wires in your house, Chloe loved those (still does). That can be very dangerous. Chloe darted around like your kitten too, she was a crazy little thing (still is).

Hmm what else....because she was probably weaned too early, you might notice hear kneading on soft items (your sweater, blankets). This is nothing to worry about. It's like a kid sucking their thumb, it's just a comfort thing.

The best toy you can buy for a kitten is Da Bird. You can really wear her out with this toy. Try to do at least 15 minutes of interactive play at night, but that's just the minimum.

Kittens are a little easier when you have a 2nd kitten the same age. They keep each other entertained. Is there any chance you can go to the humane society and bring home a second kitten? It's still kitten season so I imagine there are a ton out there that need homes.

I've got two kittens I just raised from 2 weeks old bottle feeding.

They were the same way at about 6 weeks. They would CONSTANTLY play and bite my hands and feet. especially tackling my ankles.

After a few months they grew out of it. they still play but not even a quarter as much. They still chase each other from one end of the place to the other, but don't bite me at all anymore. Much easier to live with this way too They're about 7.5 months old now.

Your kitty will settle down, and when he/she does, you'll think to yourself "how cute was it when he/she'd run all over the place and be happy as can be. I sure miss that"

Trust me