Cats 4 Week Old Kitten Hisses And Growls

Ellielikescats99 · Oct 1, 2018

Hello everyone, so my parents have a female kitty who we were under the impression was fixed when adopted at 2 years old til she ended up giving birth to a single jet black baby girl kitten, anyway she will be getting fixed ASAP after this mistake! So the baby girl is 4 weeks today and she hisses and growls at people. The mama is a social sweet cat but she is very protective and keeps her baby under the bed in an unoccupied bedroom and if the baby comes out she will call to it basically saying “get back under there!” Now when my parents handle the baby she hisses and has even spit, at 4 weeks old now it’s even worse than when she was younger. The mother cat doesn’t care when we hold the baby and play with her but the baby is just so aggressive for such a young kitten! Me and my mom were thinking maybe separating baby from mama and bottle feeding to cure the people aggression? I’m not sure I need some tips I’ve never seen a kitten act like this while having a perfectly normal social mother cat. Thanks guys

jen · Oct 1, 2018

I would get momma out of the unoccupied room under the bed and into a room you are in much more often and keep handling the baby more and more. Don't separate them. The baby will see momma cat interacting with you and hopefully learn to calm down.

Ellielikescats99 · Oct 2, 2018

jen I forgot to mention she moves the baby a lot, originally the baby was in my parents closet right next to their bed but she moved her, and if we try to put her baby anywhere else besides where she puts her, she frantically drags the baby around as she is now to big for mamma to carry so we don’t try to move her back into my parents room(we tried a few times) anymore to avoid mama dragging her around looking for a hidden spot. I think having only one kitten she may be over caring for her almost. My parents plan to keep her baby and they want her baby to trust humans and see them as caregivers and companions, we don’t know how to curb this human-hating thing.

jen · Oct 2, 2018

Confine them to a smaller space. She can carry the baby around, she is not likely to hurt her own kitten. Some hissing and growling is not a big deal, not a lot of damage a baby can do. Just treat her like a "feral" cat and go slow, as she gets older give her some treats or something delicious and stinky to eat, have all experiences be positive. Talk to her constantly, so she learns your voices, read things out loud. Give the momma cat treats and pets in front of the baby so she sees it is ok.

susanm9006 · Oct 2, 2018

Some mom cats are just anxious overprotective parents. And some 4 week old kittens are hissers and spitters regardless of their mom’s temperament. The good news is if they are regularly handled and have the opportunity for human interactions, they outgrow it. Pick the kitten up for a minute or two every day and when it starts to explore, sit near it and let it crawl on you. Pet mom so the kitten can see that people aren’t dangerous. I would bet you that in two or three weeks the kitten will be happy to be cuddled and held.