Kitten separated from mother too soon- Separation Anxiety and treatments

[helloitsmeagain]

My mom and I recently found a kitten (who we presume to be about 6-7 weeks old based on what we know and some research) outside meowing and managed to get her to stick around instead of running away from us. It's been several weeks now and she has warmed up to us. But she is very clingy. Incredibly so. She rubs all over our faces and practically shoves her nose up ours. That seemed somewhat normal to me, but she licks people. A lot. It's almost constant. You can push her away but she keeps licking. Upon some research I found this-

Cats who were weaned before it was time or who were orphaned develop an oral fixation that makes them excessive lickers. They missed out on their fair share of suckling and with no appropriate outlet, licking is the closest they can get to the soothing comfort that nursing gave them.

and

When kitty is especially anxious, she may begin licking compulsively. That’s a good sign that she needs to be petted and cuddled to reduce her stress. If your cat seems to lick incessantly, try giving her more attention and affection to soothe her and hopefully back off the sandpapering a bit.

both from petmd.com and I began to think that it's possible that the licking, kneading and constant clinging could be due to the fact that she was separated from her mother too soon. To my knowledge, a kitten is safe to remove from their mother and litter mates at 12 weeks (though I did find some sources that say 8 weeks) either way, this kitten is too young. Am I right in thinking it's separation anxiety? What can I do to manage it and rid her of these habits?

(She is a mostly outside cat, if that has any bearing on your answer)

Here she is, licking me. Maybe it can help you guess the age better than we can.

Pig licking me face blurred.jpg

• helloitsmeagain
• Jan 7, 2017

Thank you!

 

[iwilltakethem]

Its 100% because she was seperated too soon and more on how she was seperated then the actual separation. She was scared alone and her mom wasnt coming even though she was crying. So now yu all are the new 'moms' but you dont have anything to suck on. Its a sign of affection and not only does it soothe the kittens, mother cats are relaxed and happy when their kittens are nursing.
But if yu dont start correcting her she will have this behavior forever and while she's young its cute and endearing but when she gets older she might be a little rough.
I know she was a good size when yu found her but did yu try bottle feeding her at all? It may help her calm down on the licking.
But for the corrections mom cats put there hands on the babies heads and push them away, make loud noises, bite softly, and get up and walk away. Mimicking any of those should help. I don't mean to say make the kitten scared but those are natural motions mom cats and kittens go through.

 

[plan]

My cat was a serial earlobe-licker when he was a kitten. Actually more of an earlobe-nurser. If I was laying down, he'd pad up my chest while purring like crazy, park himself near my head and "nurse" on my earlobe while making biscuits on my shirt. If I stopped him, he'd try again, and again, and again, each time from different angles as if he just needed to find the right approach.

Same deal if I was sitting down, he'd just climb up on my shoulder for some earlobe-nursing time.

And yes, I believe it's because he was separated from his mom too early. I still feel horrible about that more than two years later.

For what it's worth, I tried to mitigate the behavior a bit, but I also felt bad and allowed him to do it as long as he didn't get too crazy. (And sometimes he did.) But by six months he had calmed down quite a bit, and by the time he was a year old he didn't do it much at all. Now it happens once every few months, if that.

I can't promise your cat will stop doing it like mine did, but I think the important thing is you have a kitten who needs love, and is looking to you for love because you're her new "mom." The good thing is, you can give her lots of love, and you can try to distract her with toys, treats and attention when she might otherwise want to lick you for 10 minutes.

And think on the bright side -- there are lots of people whose cats aren't affectionate at all, and they'd love to have a super affectionate cat.

 

[maggie101]

My cat also has separation anxiety. Can it ever be cured? It's been a year