Teaching kitten manners? Help!

Hi all! I have a single, 4 week old orphan kitten and I have some questions!

We found him at 2 weeks of age, been seen at the vet twice now (is a healthy boy), and he's eating and pooping just fine. smile.gif

Since he is a single orphan kitten, and my fiancé won't allow us to get another kitten for him..(he's not a cat person but he's really likes our kitty but just doesn't want another cat, and I have to respect that.)

But how can I go about teaching him "cat manners"? What's okay and what's not?

1.) He bites! HARD. We have a lot of cat toys out for him so I try to give him one of them but he just really loves attacking our hands and feet. How can we truly correct this? This is something I need to kick his habit of, quick.

2.) He meows. A lot. After feeding, after going to the bathroom, he'll meow like crazy. So I'll give him attention and hold him close to me and he's still meowing. I feel like I'm not doing something right. Unless he's cold when we let him roam the living room? Cause he's quiet and will go to sleep once he gets in his warm bed box...but I'm not sure what's going on there.

I understand he's just a baby and we're doing our best to give him the attention/and play time he needs. However, I just want him to learn some manners cause I know this is something momma cat would have done.

So any advice from experienced orphan kitty owners I really appreciate any advice!

Btw, this is our Ollie

M monymony

First, are you feeding him kitten milk in a bottle? He still needs to suckle and needs plenty of KMR.

If he's crying a lot he is probably hungry. Most kittens do not meow excessively unless they are hungry! A full tummy guarantees a happy kitten.

How much milk and wet food are you giving him?

He needs about 128 mL's of formula a day right now about every 4 hours at least, especially if he is not eating any wet food. Even so, he still needs his bottle.

He needs a cozy warm nest with soft stuffed toys to cuddle since he has no mom or siblings, and a heating pad set on low under the blanket for warmth and comfort. He needs to stay close to his nest for now too. Does he have any toys?

He is biting because he is teething. His baby teeth begin coming in at four weeks.

You can teach him not to bite by hissing at him when he tries to bite, or by saying no and giving him a gentle tap on his head.

Same when he begins to scratch and you need to teach him soft paws. He is doing normal kitten developmental things. He will eventually learn but it will need to be repeated.

But do praise him when he is good! Time out and other punishments do not work for kittens.

And if you have not started wet food you should give it a try. He is at the age when kittens begin to wean, but they also continue nursing mom for several more weeks.

Let me know about his food and milk please.

Yea he's still on the KMR. He's fed about 22ml every 4 hours. Is that right?

With the wet kitten food he's finally started to take to it, so I'm not sure how to fit that in. I don't know how to dose out the formula and his wet kitten food. How much and when?


I don't want to over feed him but I don't want him underfed...which sounds likes we are

I'm very confused. The vet said we were doing a good job since he was on track with his weight/growth.. Any guidance on dosing out formula AND wet kitten food is helpful.

monymony said:

Yea he's still on the KMR. He's fed about 22ml every 4 hours. Is that right?

With the wet kitten food he's finally started to take to it, so I'm not sure how to fit that in. I don't know how to dose out the formula and his wet kitten food. How much and when?


I don't want to over feed him but I don't want him underfed...which sounds likes we are

I'm very confused. The vet said we were doing a good job since he was on track with his weight/growth.. Any guidance on dosing out formula AND wet kitten food is helpful.

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Yes, the amount is almost on the gram to what SArthur recommended earlier as the rough goal for a day.

Re the combination of  kmr (with goat milk as an OK alternative) and wet food.   Make it easy and count them as roughly the same...   So if you give wet food,  you can have less of the fluid nourishment, by roughly the same  ml / grammes...

Its not easy to overfeed kittens.  They do grow, and they play a lot, so they can eat surprising much food.  Compare with some growing boys, whom can eat several portions,  and yet arent fat.   Observe, kittens are allowed to be somewhat round!

Yeah, you curb the excessive biting scratching by suitable protests, alike his biological mom or siblings would do.  Begin by loudly marking it hurts.  If he contnues, you can hiss, you can blew on his nose, you can softly yet decisively hit with a forefinger - this last doesnt sounds nice, and many advisors are very against it.  But his mom do slaps them vigorously.

So dont use it as your first line of defence, but its in the arsenale if need be.

Its a common advice not to let them play with your hands, use toys or wooden extensions instead.  To not learn them /him  bad habits.

But my experience is, with friendly kittens it doesnt matter much.  They do play with your hands, and do their playful, friendly bites.  But as adults, they are very careful with their love bites... It never hurts.

And yes, when he is teething, he will bite on almost anything.  so some biting toy made of gum = rubber, is surely useful.  Perhaps even with rubber spikes standing out.   Roughly the same biting devices as are used for teething infants.  

You ARE doing a good job with your kitten, but as Stefan said, they are bottomless pits while growing and it sounds like he needs more.

I recommend that you offer the wet food, then the bottle at each feeding. If he eats the wet food, he may still drink the whole bottle or not, depending on how full his tummy is.

Since he is only four weeks old, he may need his feedings a little closer together for a couple more weeks. When with mom, they nurse every couple of hours. So try feeding him every three hours for now and see how he does.

He may be meowing around the living room because he needs to be put to bed after his feedings and pottying. Most kittens need a nap afterwards instead of play.

May I ask where you live?  city and state?

Is there a reason?

Someone in Tx was looking to foster a  kitten.  Her friends cat gave birth to stillborn.

Even if I was in tx, I'm not even looking to re-home my kitten..

But thanks.

Btw, thank you to everyone who has given me the advice I asked for. I've applied it to his care and he seems much happier. it's all a learning process. It's what this forum is for, so thank you.

So glad to hear that your little one is doing better! Hope he has a full tummy and is learning his manners. It's a process, and we are here to help! Please ask questions as you raise him, and give us updates on his progress! I love that our advice has helped!

@monymony I didn't see this mentioned in the thread anywhere.    If you have a scale, weigh the kitten at the same time every day.  He should gain 6-10 grams (.2 - .4 ounces) a day minimum.  the other reason for weighing the kitten is so you can calculate how much he should be eating.    He should be getting 8 ml/cc for every ounce he weighs during a 24 hour period.  Round up (not down) to make it easier to divide by the # of feeding in the 24 hour cycle.  @stefanz said to figure in the wet food but I am not sure how to do that.  He can gain much more than the minimum so you may need to adjust the amount every other day or so.