Super clingy and needy kitten. Is this normal?

[kungpaokitten]

I have what appears to be a Balinese male kitten that we adopted 4 weeks ago. He is about 10 weeks old now and super needy/clingy. He was really sick when we had gotten him and so we did a lot of nursing back to health and force feeding because he was on so many different medications.

He is completely healed now and super hyperactive. It's like this entirely different, but very joyous kitten erupted from the sickly, sad kitten we first brought home.

His hyperactivity isn't the source of the issue. He's a kitten, we expect it. The issue is his clingy behavior throughout the day. At times he is super independent and will climb to the second tier of the cat tree and nap on his own. He can climb things but freaks out about climbing down. He will wait hours (and scream for help) of need be for me to physically pick him up and place him on the ground.

On top of this, when I am in bed he immediately demands I stop doing what I am doing to allow him to lay on my chest and suckle my cheek/nose/lip. I've tried ignoring him, putting him on the floor, telling him no and pushing him off but he is a persistent little bugger! He will literally climb up my back and arms to reach my mouth for a suckle.

Is this normal behavior? The incessive desire to suckle and be pet to sleep as well as not being able to climb down the cat tree himself? Thank you in advance for any advice!

 

[cocobutterfly]

Yes, it's absolutely normal kitten behavior. He's a little baby, and he needs your attention and nurturing. Our cat is two, but there are times throughout the day when she just needs one or all of us to drop everything we're doing to play with her and shower her with attention and reassurance. We do not hold back or ignore her because a few minutes of undivided attention will make her happy and she'll run along as soon as she's had her fill. 

And your cat needing you to get him down from his cat tree is real and not just attention seeking behavior. Cats can climb up anything with ease, but their claws, paws and the gravity were not designed to aid them in climbing down anything. For that reason, they actually cannot physiologically climb down anything vertical; they have to jump down. However, a 10 week old kitten doesn't know how to jump long distances with confidence just yet. 

 

[ginny]

It sounds like he needs a mate. Plus he was taken from mama kitty way too young. Kittens ought to stay with mama at least 12 weeks. 16 weeks preferably. They learn so much from mom and siblings about proper kitty behavior after 6 weeks. Your kitty missed out on that

Why was he so sick at first?

Also, he may just be hungry too. You can't overfeed a growing kitten. Dry food tends to leave them hungry if it has grain in it. Wet food is best as long as meat is the first ingredient on the label. No grain. It's a filler and not appropriate for cats.

So leave out a quality dry food all the time and feed canned food several times a day. Like whenever he asks for it. He is growing so he won't get fat.

Lastly, he is just a baby like coco butterfly said. But he was taken away from mom too soon and so there will be behavior problems that stem from that. I understand that there are reasons why they have to go at six weeks and sometimes it can't be helped.

The advisors will be here soon to help with what to do to help those behavior problems. Good luck! Send pictures of the little one!

 

[StefanZ]

You got him at barely 6 weeks.  Way to young to be separated from momma and siblings (I presume it was some sort of emergency - especielly as he was very sick).

And you did helped him back to health - which is normally a very potent way to foster, to get them attached. -  It would even work with an adult ferale!!

So, nothing peculiar he is very mommy, he sees mommy in you.

And he is still a young kitten. Look, the recommended age for selling kittens is 12 weeks, not earlier!   NOTHING peculiar he is seeing you as his momma, and even this somewhat overdone behavior.

If it bothers you, get him a friendly cat companion.  Say, a friendly young adult cat.

This with climbing up, but being afraid of jumping down...  Perhaps a little peculiar he isnt taking his risks.  But its surely more relaxing for you...  

It reminds me of my two residents. Whom when younger, they were agile and sporty.

The younger one was very good climber and dared.  BUT. He was afraid of jumping down.  So I learned, I stood under him, and he could jump down on my shoulder, and from the shoulder, to the floor.

Our older wasnt that adventorous.  But the times he DID climbed up, he had no problems nor fears with just jumping down when he wished to come down.

 

[StefanZ]

It sounds like he needs a mate. Plus he was taken from mama kitty way too young. Kittens ought to stay with mama at least 12 weeks. 16 weeks preferably. They learn so much from mom and siblings about proper kitty behavior after 6 weeks. Your kitty missed out on that

Why was he so sick at first?

Also, he may just be hungry too. You can't overfeed a growing kitten. Dry food tends to leave them hungry if it has grain in it. Wet food is best as long as meat is the first ingredient on the label. No grain. It's a filler and not appropriate for cats.

So leave out a quality dry food all the time and feed canned food several times a day. Like whenever he asks for it. He is growing so he won't get fat.

Lastly, she is just a baby like coco butterfly said. But she was taken away from mom too soon and so there will be behavior problems that stem from that. I understand that there are reasons why they have to go at six weeks and sometimes it can't be helped.

The advisors will be here soon to help with what to do to help those behavior problems. Good luck! Send pictures of the little one!

Why?  Your comments were excellent here.  Answering and sharing IS opened for all who wants to share.  Its the point of forums.  Advisors are mostly to guarantee there are always some sort of answers given.  Not necessarily to give the answers.

All forumites are warmthy welcome to give answers, as long as they are honest.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

@kungpaokitten,just as an FYI, I have a 7 year old male who still to this day demand quite the attention from me.  If I don't give it to him when he want it, he will just jump into my arms.  Sometimes it happens while I'm in the midst of getting dressed and I'll have my shirt on half way, sometimes I'm drying dishes, sometimes I'll be brushing my hair, doesn't matter to him

.  It's both endearing and annoying, but I wouldn't change it for the world, especially when I read posts from people who want to know how to make their cats love them.  So I say be thankful your cat wants attention and enjoy it. 

BTW, my husband is one of those who wishes our cats would love him more

.  They sit on my lap and "knead" drool all over me and come and snuggle with me in bed and he says over and over how jealous he is. 

 

[kungpaokitten]

It sounds like he needs a mate. Plus he was taken from mama kitty way too young. Kittens ought to stay with mama at least 12 weeks. 16 weeks preferably. They learn so much from mom and siblings about proper kitty behavior after 6 weeks. Your kitty missed out on that

Why was he so sick at first?

Also, he may just be hungry too. You can't overfeed a growing kitten. Dry food tends to leave them hungry if it has grain in it. Wet food is best as long as meat is the first ingredient on the label. No grain. It's a filler and not appropriate for cats.

So leave out a quality dry food all the time and feed canned food several times a day. Like whenever he asks for it. He is growing so he won't get fat.

Lastly, he is just a baby like coco butterfly said. But he was taken away from mom too soon and so there will be behavior problems that stem from that. I understand that there are reasons why they have to go at six weeks and sometimes it can't be helped.

The advisors will be here soon to help with what to do to help those behavior problems. Good luck! Send pictures of the little one!

We adopted him from the shelter. They had an event and they found his litter sans momma the day before and adopted them out the next day. He was feral; flea ridden; GI infection; upper respiratory infection; fatigue; vomiting; diarrhea. We took him to the vet twice in a week because he was malnourished and looking pathetic.

We have two resident cats. He plays with them but still wants me or my BF for affection.

We do not feed them dry goods anymore after hearing the horror stories of what even the most expensive dry food can do. We had them on blue mountain dry; grain free, gluten free before. Now we feed the two adults stirctly natural balance wet food twice daily.

The little guy is on a strict bland diet per vet's orders. He gets science diet digestive care with a sprinkle of probiotics three times a day. The vet thinks he has inflammatory bowel disease. Well, as his momma, I suffer from IBD and the flare ups are hell. Sympathically, I keep him on this strict diet to prevent the pain.

I ruled out all those possibilities before...

 

[kungpaokitten]

@kungpaokitten
,just as an FYI, I have a 7 year old male who still to this day demand quite the attention from me.  If I don't give it to him when he want it, he will just jump into my arms.  Sometimes it happens while I'm in the midst of getting dressed and I'll have my shirt on half way, sometimes I'm drying dishes, sometimes I'll be brushing my hair, doesn't matter to him :lol3: .  It's both endearing and annoying, but I wouldn't change it for the world, especially when I read posts from people who want to know how to make their cats love them.  So I say be thankful your cat wants attention and enjoy it. 

BTW, my husband is one of those who wishes our cats would love him more .  They sit on my lap and "knead" drool all over me and come and snuggle with me in bed and he says over and over how jealous he is. 

Lol yeah. The joke between my BF and I is which of our cats love the either of us more.

 

[kungpaokitten]

Yes, it's absolutely normal kitten behavior. He's a little baby, and he needs your attention and nurturing. Our cat is two, but there are times throughout the day when she just needs one or all of us to drop everything we're doing to play with her and shower her with attention and reassurance. We do not hold back or ignore her because a few minutes of undivided attention will make her happy and she'll run along as soon as she's had her fill. 

And your cat needing you to get him down from his cat tree is real and not just attention seeking behavior. Cats can climb up anything with ease, but their claws, paws and the gravity were not designed to aid them in climbing down anything. For that reason, they actually cannot physiologically climb down anything vertical; they have to jump down. However, a 10 week old kitten doesn't know how to jump long distances with confidence just yet. 

That makes total sense! He is a bit of a dare devil compared to our other two cats when they were kittens. He will climb to the very top of the tree and sleep there but as far as climbing down, he hasn't figured this out quite yet. Thank you for your input! =^^=

 

[kungpaokitten]

It sounds like he needs a mate. Plus he was taken from mama kitty way too young. Kittens ought to stay with mama at least 12 weeks. 16 weeks preferably. They learn so much from mom and siblings about proper kitty behavior after 6 weeks. Your kitty missed out on that

Why was he so sick at first?

Also, he may just be hungry too. You can't overfeed a growing kitten. Dry food tends to leave them hungry if it has grain in it. Wet food is best as long as meat is the first ingredient on the label. No grain. It's a filler and not appropriate for cats.

So leave out a quality dry food all the time and feed canned food several times a day. Like whenever he asks for it. He is growing so he won't get fat.

Lastly, he is just a baby like coco butterfly said. But he was taken away from mom too soon and so there will be behavior problems that stem from that. I understand that there are reasons why they have to go at six weeks and sometimes it can't be helped.

The advisors will be here soon to help with what to do to help those behavior problems. Good luck! Send pictures of the little one!

Before I forget again!

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• kungpaokitten
• Jun 19, 2016

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• kungpaokitten
• Jun 19, 2016

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• kungpaokitten
• Jun 19, 2016

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• kungpaokitten
• Jun 19, 2016

 

[tallyollyopia]

AW--what a little sweetie! 

IMG_20140806_170702.jpg

• tallyollyopia
• Jun 6, 2016

Picture of Rose suckling.

 

[kittens mom]

Before you know it you will long for the days when he clung to you. It's a baby. I highly recommend tummy kisses.

 

[kittens mom]

Picture of Rose suckling.

Little Mercy done the same thing. I discourage but don't stop her. It's really very seldom now she feels the need to use my arm.

 

[kungpaokitten]

AW--what a little sweetie! :heart4:  How big is your bed? Can you put a small blanket, just for him, on it? One of the things we did with Rose when she first arrived (and she was just as attention needy--but she was much older when we got her) was put a blanket on the bed for her and slowly moved it down the bed on on the floor. (Not sure what to say about the suckling thing. Rose did the same thing--but it stopped that winter. I'm not sure if she just outgrew it, or if she couldn't reach the skin she wanted to suckle because AWM was wearing long sleeves.)

IMG_20140806_170702.jpg

• tallyollyopia
• Jun 6, 2016

Picture of Rose suckling.

Our bed is a queen. We're shopping for a king as we speak. He has a binky I used to place on the bed for him but he perfers to drown in the folds of our comforter instead.

I suppose I should've been more descriptive with my intention or reason behind why I asked. I love his affection and kisses. I just wanted to be sure it was normal and I didn't hinder his psycho-development. I suppose since I am knees deep in writing a research essay on homosexuality and the Oedipus complex, I am projecting my fear of hindering his kitten psyche by allowing him to remained attached to me. More especially since he is at such an impressionable age. : /

 

[ginny]

 
Why?  Your comments were excellent here.  Answering and sharing IS opened for all who wants to share.  Its the point of forums.  Advisors are mostly to guarantee there are always some sort of answers given.  Not necessarily to give the answers.

All forumites are warmthy welcome to give answers, as long as they are honest.

Thanks!  What I mean is in case I've forgotten anything, which I am famous for doing.  

 

[ginny]

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• kungpaokitten
• Jun 19, 2016

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• kungpaokitten
• Jun 19, 2016

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• kungpaokitten
• Jun 19, 2016

OMG she is SOOOO Cute!!!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

He is absolutely adorable

.

The only thing I might add to this entire conversation is I'm not sure 3 meals a day is enough for a 10 week old kitten since you aren't supplementing with any dry left out overnight. (and I understand why, I really do) Someone mentioned he might be hungry, and this could very well be the case why he is suckling.  Is it possible to give him one more meal, minimum?  At that age they're like human babies and need to eat frequently.  I would feed him first thing in the morning, noonish, 6ish and right before bedtime, if possible, at the very minimum. 

 

[kungpaokitten]

Yeah! That's not an issue. I work from home so I'll try that. Usually when he is hungry he will run into the kitchen (where we feed all of the cats) and start to meow at the top of his lungs. This is usually the indicator he is wanting to be fed. He's a funny little guy but nevertheless a sweet heart.

 

[kittymom143]

Don't ignore him! I have a super clingy kitten and he's 11 weeks old. He's gotten skinny over the past few weeks but he's finally starting to get back to his old self. You'll be amazed at what little amount of attention you give him too. Pushing him away will make him think you don't want him around anymore and he'll distance himself from you later on in life. He just wants love so give it to the poor little boy.