Kittens behavior: what they do and how to manage them

2023 Author: Alex Livingston | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 11:39

Have we decided to welcome a feline puppy into the house? And how do we manage it? Let's see what the behavior of kittens in the first weeks of life and what we can do to help them get used to the new environment.

Kittens and the environment

Managing a puppy kitten is a very delicate thing to which to devote due attention. A few weeks old kitten is in serious need of many cares from the mother but also from us owners who will strive to become her friends and even a little "parents". (For more information about small kittens and how to educate them, see the link).

Very young kittens, especially in the first few weeks of life, will spend most of their time in sleep: it is essential to create suitable spaces for them to feel warm and in complete relaxation.

Being very small, kittens are always at risk of infection and are very frail. They will always look for heat and a welcoming environment: this warmth will be given first of all by the mother. Then, we owners will have to be good at putting warm beds and blankets to protect it from possible drafts.

The cubicles are important because the kitten will perceive them as environments made especially for him, where he can sleep and relax. What to do then? Making him find at least two in the house will be a gesture taken as a good start to establish a great friendship with us owners. In the early days, the kitten will probably also sleep on us, close to us, on us, to feel the same warmth as the mother.

Then slowly it will detach and begin to explore the surrounding environment, to which it will get used to it with due calm. What should not be missing when you decide to have a cat at home is: food bowl and water bowl, bunks (more than one in different rooms), litter box (to be cleaned constantly), various toys and scratching posts. So we will immediately create an environment suitable for the kitten.

Kittens and behavior

What is the typical behavior of kittens instead? The first few days of life, it will be there mom to take care of the puppy, she will teach him every single thing to know to face life, from how to eat, how to drink, how and where to go to the toilet. The kitten will take her as an essential point of reference and model to imitate and aspire to.

A very small kitten, who is given due attention, should be in full swing health: As he grows, he will also develop his muscle tone and will soon be in full strength! Let's not forget to make the necessary checks and vaccines to the vet to make sure everything goes smoothly and that he is protected from any disease.

He will be very hungry, so much so that he will look for his mother for feeding time very often and even several times a day: after eating, you will surely be calm and relaxed. With the typical movement of making pasta “, Done with the front legs, the puppy will stimulate the breasts of the mother. By doing so, he will take the milk necessary for nourishment: this is a typical gesture, which will come spontaneously.

From the third week approximately onwards, the kitten will have to begin to decrease milk intake: the spontaneous act of feeding will be blocked by the mother-cat which will help him to detach slowly to learn to ingest different food.

The period of the weaning. This will include a radical change in nutrition that will make the kitten accustomed to increasingly consistent foods. His hunger will gradually subside: however, it will always be necessary to check the amount of food to be given to him, to avoid that he is too greedy and overdoing it.

Being a puppy, what should NEVER be missing is the game. Both the mother and the owners will be his friends and playmates! Let's take some games that he can chase, with which to play "hide and seek", which he can consider as prey to find and catch. Then let's give him all the necessary attention. Also on our part, scratching, cuddling, games with which to stimulate him will be welcome: all this will make him happy!

Our kitten will be exactly like a newborn who discovers the world gradually. He will always be very lively, full of life and ready to have fun with anything he finds! He will gradually settle into the place and will make us understand immediately if he is well disposed towards us. The watchwords for a kitten will therefore be: sleep, to eat, to play! If we are able to give him this attention, it will be love!