I just adopted a 9 week old kitten. Right now he pounces on stuff and bites, and climbs up my leg and chews on me. I've read that this is all normal behavior, and he'll grow out of it. I'm sure hoping so! What I want out of Jasper is a loving, cuddly cat, like my 7 year old, Rista. Is there a way I can encourage that, or is it just going to be a matter of his personality? Right now he doesn't seem to like being held. He doesn't really fight, but he cries and squirms a little.
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Nature or Nurture?
- Thread starter angel3115
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I do think that the cat you end up with is a combination of nature and nurture. The cuddly snuggle cat you want is usually born with the cuddle gene, I think. The rest can learn to sleep with you but may well choose the foot of the bed. As for the biting and climbing, they learn a lot of their manners from siblings and if they were hand raised, they may not know the rules yet. As far as climbing you, that is easily solved by keeping the nails clipped short so they have no hooks to climb you with. If he bites hard, hiss at him loudly and fiercely, or scream in pain, both things his litter mates would do if he were playing too roughly. You can also tap him on the head with a finger, as they would hit him with a paw.
I have raised litters with and without their moms, and the cuddle thing does seem to be there at birth or else absent. I am in touch with a friend who adopted two of my kittens from a large rescue (we pulled 3 moms with 5-6 kittens each from animal control, and the moms were sisters). I still have two of the moms and several of the kittens, now adults, and his boys are still not cuddly and will sleep at the bottom of his bed but not the top. Those kittens were handled from birth so they had plenty of nurture, and one of the moms is cuddly but the other two are not. The non-cuddly boys come from one of the non-cuddly mothers, and ALL of these kittens have a wild side, so that's genetic.
Do keep working with your boy. Get a DaBird toy (search for it, you can get them at Petco and on Amazon) and wear him out, THEN feed him, and after that he will be the most cuddly that HE can be and may curl up by your side and take a nap.
I have raised litters with and without their moms, and the cuddle thing does seem to be there at birth or else absent. I am in touch with a friend who adopted two of my kittens from a large rescue (we pulled 3 moms with 5-6 kittens each from animal control, and the moms were sisters). I still have two of the moms and several of the kittens, now adults, and his boys are still not cuddly and will sleep at the bottom of his bed but not the top. Those kittens were handled from birth so they had plenty of nurture, and one of the moms is cuddly but the other two are not. The non-cuddly boys come from one of the non-cuddly mothers, and ALL of these kittens have a wild side, so that's genetic.
Do keep working with your boy. Get a DaBird toy (search for it, you can get them at Petco and on Amazon) and wear him out, THEN feed him, and after that he will be the most cuddly that HE can be and may curl up by your side and take a nap.
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