Orphan Kitten 6 wk old

I need major help with an orphan kitten. We got him a month ago, some friends of ours found him, a week old baby, and gave him to us. He could barely crawl. He was so tiny! He cried a lot the first day but then accepted me as his mommy. We bought him formula and an electric warmer. We rent a trailer and the nights get cold out here in the country. All he would do was cry and eat. I kept him in a box so he couldn't get out and hurt himself, and he sure hated the darn box. Only after a few days I figured out a way to pet him to sleep and put him into the box when he was sleepy so he wouldn't cry. I would wake up at night to feed him the formula.

Right now he's 6 weeks old, and he does not let me go anywhere. He either sleeps, eats, or bites me like there's no tomorrow, and he mostly bites. I have to be in the same room as him, and if I'm within reach, here comes the biting. I'm assuming that usually cats get several kittens per litter and they play with each other, but my little boy is by himself and I'm the only source of entertainment for him.

I'm studying for my online Master's, where I have to study most of the day. I cannot be his -punching- biting bag 24/7, and I'm honestly getting tired of it. I'm covered in scratches and bites, and his bites are getting quite painful. But it's not just that, he keeps distracting me because all he wants to do is play with me. I play with him in the morning when he wakes up and at night, and sometimes during the day. That means I sacrifice my hands for him to bite as hard as he can. I got him a couple plush toys and I play sometimes with a piece of cardboard on a string for him to chase around. He's not interested in any of that. His prime target are my fingers.

We're also building a house, and are on a very low budget right now. We can't afford a ton of toys and whatnot for him, but this is becoming a hassle for me. At the same time, I don't want to be a bad mommy and make him depressed or something.

Sometimes he just sits there and stares at me. We've had cats before, but I've never seen one do that.

We got 4 litter boxes in our little trailer home. I put them around the areas where he usually pees or poops, and he uses them most of the time. Because I study so much, it's hard to catch him when he's about to go to the bathroom in a new location and put him on the litter box.

Once we move into our new home, I need to teach him to use the litter box only. I have no idea how to do that. I'm gonna have to put several litter boxes around the house, too. We are moving in around a month.

I'm actually considering to getting another kitten of his age that he can be occupied with while I do my work.

I'm honestly not sure what to do, and I need help!

I'm weaning him right now and I stay away from cat food like the plague. I'm a nutritionist, a human one, but I've read up on cat nutrition, too. The best diet is a raw meat diet. Right now I cook for him because he gets a bloody diarrhea from raw foods. The vet said he's too young to give him meds. I cook animal foods without salt or spices, and he eats that with pleasure, but still likes the bottle once or twice a day. I give him Echinacea + goldenseal glycerite extract once a day for his bloody diarrhea (the vet said it's a bacterial infection).

He's also got fleas. I gave him a bath and got a lot of them out into the towel, but he's still got some more. He's too young to give him flea meds, too. I tried cat-safe essential oils, but they didn't help.

Thanks for reading and I appreciate whatever advice you wanna throw at me!

Fleas first, Fleas are bad in kittens.  They can cause anemia in younger kittens.  Use Blue dawn dish detergent.  You can wash the kitten in it and it will kill the fleas.  Make sure the water is warm. Make a 'ruff with soap bubbles around the kittens neck so the fleas can't move to the kitten's head.   You can also use a flea comb and dip it in a dawn/water solution to kill them.  He might be old enough for Advantage II @catwoman707 will know and the dosage to give.  It would be best to get rid of the fleas before you move into the house.

Biting, also bad.  Your kitten may be teething.  You can try dampening a washcloth and putting it in the freezer.  Once frozen give it to the kitten to chew on.  After it's defrosted, wash and repeat.  You can make some cat toys.  A crumpled piece of paper, and there are ideas on google for making toys with empty toilet paper tubes.  There is a thread somewhere on the site with great ideas, one was to put cat nip in a sock and tie the end.  I love the idea of a 2nd kitten.  I would have one of his stuffed animals handy and put it in the kittens mouth when he begins biting you.  You can also yell ouch!.  He doesn't know he's hurting you.  You need to let him know.  Other people recommend hissing at the kitten to stop unwanted behavior. 

Nail clippers would be a good investment.  If you start clipping them when he is young he may not mind it when he is older.

If you are not using an enzyme cleaner where the kitten has gone outside the litter box, he will return to the spot and use it again.   I've seen Kitty Attract Litter recommended but I think it's for kittens 8 weeks or older.

Food, I think you need to add vitamins and stuff.  Visit the nutrition forum, there are recipes available.  Some of the people are nicely fanatic regarding foods for the cats.  You will get excellent advice there.

I hope some of this helps.

Your kitten is a cutie.  Thank you for saving him.

Great advice already.

Yes, cut those nails for one, do NOT allow that biting to continue! Fingers and hands are not toys, and the older he gets the more it will hurt and become a nuisance as it is already.

He does need a companion. Same age, as close as you possible can so they are in the same stage of play learning.

You can actually give advantage, with a 1.0 ml syringe (no needle) he would get 0.2 ml, or if no syringe, he can get 5 drops.

You will be amazed at how much better he is once he gets all that energy expended on another kitten!

Also, young kittens will have accidents outside the box unless the box is almost literally right under their noses, they don't hold it to go to a box for another week or 2.

If the vet told you he has a bacterial infection, then your kitten needs antibiotics, and he is definitely not too young to have them. He just needs the correct dosage of clavamox or amoxicillin. And he needs it now. You'll be surprised how quickly it clears up the bloody diarrhea.

Cats need lysine for brain development, so you need to look into supplements to add to the raw diet.

I wholeheartedly agree that another kitten his age is the perfect solution. You'll be amazed at the difference it makes!

Thank you all so much for your replies!

I talked to my mom about a second kitten, she says wouldn't it be double the trouble with 2 kittens? Will they keep us up at night? Right now he sleeps through the night, he doesn't even gut up to eat, I leave food for him in his dish overnight. He's over 7 weeks now.

I will order advantage soon.

Not at all.

Rather than one kitten with far too much energy to burn off each day getting himself into trouble there will be 2 kittens who will take that energy out in play with each other, wrestling, chasing, and exploring together, wearing each other out nicely

So a second kitten is a great solution.

They won't rely on you to entertain them, and in the evening you should give them a good play session before bedtime, wear the last of that energy out of them with a laser light or a wand toy, they will sleep like babies just fine.

It's VERY important the kitten is exactly his age and energy level though, at this age their stages of learning to play and interact change from week to week so if one is older then he will overrun and overwhelm the other one.

Then you will end up having to referee them, which you do not want either.

Another male is my suggestion.

Two kittens are not double the trouble as they keep each other entertained. How many hours is he going without eating? He's very small to not eat frequently.

We live in the country and I will be letting him to play/hunt outside soon on a regular basis. I hope that can take care of his energy. We have a large lot/acreage which will have a large garden, fruit trees, with many pests etc. Would a companion be needed less in this case? Plus if I have 2 cats letting both decide if they go out or wanna stay in according to cats' perpetual lack of divisiveness I think that will drive me crazy lol.

He might get up at night to eat, but as far as I can tell he just sleeps through the whole night and wakes up only when I get up. He doesn't even eat much in the morning even though he's supposed to be hungry from just waking up. But he's growing fast and I notice every day that he's getting bigger and more vicious lol.

I have a suspicion that he's older than he looks because he met his developmental landmarks earlier for his size (retracted his claws at 3 weeks age, for example), or maybe he's just way too smart lol. Since he probably was abandoned by his mother, he was undernourished.

Kittens should not go outside until they are a good nine months old. They also need all their shots to be protected.

He's now about 8 weeks old, the local ACS has several 10 week old kittens, would that be okay for him as a companion? I call him the biting monster.

Sorry about double post, I don't know how to edit posts here. He wouldn't eat liver, neither raw nor cooked. I mix it a little with meat and cooked eggs, he eats everything but the liver. I am thinking of putting it cooked in the blender with chicken meat to make baby food mix. He's slowly getting introduced to raw foods now but not entirely thrilled about them.

Oh, he's very young still! Please don't let him outside until he's much older and fully vaccinated, and even then he should be supervised.

I think a 10 week old kitten would be a great companion. Make sure you do proper introductions at their pace though.