hello! I have an almost 4 month old male kitten that I have had in my home since he was a week old. He is a wonderful addition to our house and I absolutely love him.
My question is about socializing him. I have had cats growing up, but I absolutely love raising, training and bonding with dogs and have less experience in the cat world. My kitten has lots of energy and loves to race around the house, play with my golden retriever and climb on everything. He is rambunctious, which I understand is normal for a kitten!
I struggle to know what to do (or if there is anything to do) to encourage him to be a snuggler/lap cat/or just seek out petting. I know that he is going to be playful at this age, but I want to do what I can now at this “moldable” stage of life to encourage him to enjoy human attention. He is very good at letting me pick him up and carry him around for short times. If he is sleepy, he enjoys being pet, chin and ear scratches. And if I have been out of the house for a while, he runs up at my return meowing, throws himself on the ground and purrs while I pet him. So he does show enjoyment for attention, but never climbs into my lap and does not care to be held in my lap for any length of time. Much of the time he doesn’t seem to want petting, mainly because he wants to go play! He is wonderful about not scratching me and rarely tries to bite at my fingers. He’s a wonderful little kitten, but I hope for him to enjoy snuggling more as he grows up
All of this to ask, is there anything I could be doing to help him enjoy human interaction more as he grows up? Or should I expect that to develop naturally? Or will this most likely be his personality? I have tried to treat him when I approach him at times, although I had issues with diarrhea and stopped giving them. They seemed to be the culprit :/ I have experience with socializing puppies, but I understand kittens are different. Thank you in advance!
My question is about socializing him. I have had cats growing up, but I absolutely love raising, training and bonding with dogs and have less experience in the cat world. My kitten has lots of energy and loves to race around the house, play with my golden retriever and climb on everything. He is rambunctious, which I understand is normal for a kitten!
I struggle to know what to do (or if there is anything to do) to encourage him to be a snuggler/lap cat/or just seek out petting. I know that he is going to be playful at this age, but I want to do what I can now at this “moldable” stage of life to encourage him to enjoy human attention. He is very good at letting me pick him up and carry him around for short times. If he is sleepy, he enjoys being pet, chin and ear scratches. And if I have been out of the house for a while, he runs up at my return meowing, throws himself on the ground and purrs while I pet him. So he does show enjoyment for attention, but never climbs into my lap and does not care to be held in my lap for any length of time. Much of the time he doesn’t seem to want petting, mainly because he wants to go play! He is wonderful about not scratching me and rarely tries to bite at my fingers. He’s a wonderful little kitten, but I hope for him to enjoy snuggling more as he grows up
All of this to ask, is there anything I could be doing to help him enjoy human interaction more as he grows up? Or should I expect that to develop naturally? Or will this most likely be his personality? I have tried to treat him when I approach him at times, although I had issues with diarrhea and stopped giving them. They seemed to be the culprit :/ I have experience with socializing puppies, but I understand kittens are different. Thank you in advance!