Please Help! My kitten is driving me crazy...

I have a four week old kitten that was dropped off outside of Petco where my friend works. She found him about a week and a half ago, and she wanted to keep him but because she has a cat that doesn't like other cats, she couldn't. So she wanted me to "babysit" it for a while (meaning until I fell in love with it and wanted to keep it). And I felt bad for it because it's eyes are kind of messed up (it's hard to explain, but we think that someone tried to force it's eyes open.)
So my problem is that little Huckleberry cries constantly. And it is the most ear-piercing cry I've ever heard from a cat. He needs attention literally ALL THE TIME. He won't sleep when I sleep. And he always wants to play... which means that when I hold him and try to just chill and pet him, he wants to be hyper and run around, and he starts to play with my hand and scratch and bite my fingers. And then when I put him on the floor he runs into the other room only to cry and cry! And he scratches and plays with just about anything, whether or not it moves. And when I bring him in my bed to sleep with me, he just gets all active. And then I'll put him on the ground and he'll cry and then knock out, and then I'll bring him back on the bed and he'll immediately get all hyper. Maybe it sounds like a normal kitten... but it really isn't. His cry is different than most kittens... I swear it's like a cry from hell. And I don't understand it... he always has food and water, he knows where the litter box is... he has toys and I'll play with him... but the problem is I could play with him for an hour, and when I stop he'll just start crying. Anyone have any suggestions? What can I do?

Good for you for saving this little one. Your kitten is just a baby and requires special love and care since she ideally should not be away from her momcat. This is a very informative site for care of such young kittens. Let's move this to our Kitten Forum.

Welcome to parent hood

Maybe he has some Siamese in him or a simalar breed of very vocal cat. Some cats are just a lot louder then others. Has he been to the vet yet? Especially for the eye problems, it would probably be good to have him looked at. I don't really know what to suggest. You could try putting him in a bathroom or similar room or a crate with his food and toys and litterbox, dim the lights, play soft music. Like you would with a real baby and hopefuly he might fall asleep. Play with him really actively first. Oh try an interactive toy that can keep him occupied for awhile at night. Especially if you give it to him while in the other room for the night after playing with him.

Your kitten is lonely! I can understand that, due to the circumstances, you only have the one, but I think this is the problem. If some uncaring jerk hadn't dumped this kitten, right now he'd be with his mommy & littermates. He's just a tiny baby (four weeks is really, really young!), and is really missing that time he should have had with mom. Maybe you can get a tall-sided box that he can't climb out of (open at the top, of course), and put some blankets in it, and soft, plush toys...something for him to snuggle with? It might have to be a bigger box so his litter pan can be in there too.

Maybe when he's bigger, you can get him a playmate? I know you weren't planning on having even this one, but then he'd have someone to play with & snuggle with. Otherwise you are going to be his sole source of entertainment...quite a burden!

BTW, thank you for taking this wee one in!

Maybe try buying him a small soft toy to cuddle up to as he may relate to that for comfort if you make a bed for him and put the toy in, It worked for me when my kitten was 6 weeks old

Hey everyone... thanks sooo much for your replies and encouragement. I have 2 outdoor cats right now... and have had so many more. But they've always been outdoors... and when they were kittens they always had a companion.

This one is going to be indoor... I guess I didn't realize how much attention he really needed... which is basically any given moment while he's awake lol. He just always has to be preoccupied... and I have to distract him from the misery of doing nothing. I'm just hoping that he'll eventually learn how to entertain himself when I can't be there for him.

When I first got him he was so shy and so timid and looked scared for me to acknowledge him... and I tried everything I could to get him out of his shell and now he's gone wild LOL. I guess I fell in love before I even knew what I was getting myself into. Anyway, thanks again for your posts and reassuring me that this is just normal... I started thinking I had a psycho cat LOL.