Congratulations! You have just decided to foster a kitten. With the right knowledge and care, your little kitten should grow into a happy, healthy well socialized adult cat, even if they are a little hissy and fearful right now.

Kitten Development

The first 8 weeks of a kitten’s life is very important in developing the kitten’s social skills with other animals and people. Kittens use the first 8 weeks to develop skills such as how to play properly with other cats and with toys, how to groom themselves, and learning to be friendly with people.

Socialization

If you have a mother and her litter, you will be the primary one responsible for the kitten’s socialization. Make sure that from 2-8 weeks old the new kittens have lots of play time with proper toys (not human hands) and get handled and pet by people so the kittens learn to be friendly with humans. 

Kittens that are gently handled by people 15 to 40 minutes a day during the first seven weeks are more likely to develop larger brains. They're more exploratory, more playful, and better learners. 

Kittens also need to be exposed to many different things during this time. In addition to different types of toys, such as wand toys, mice, crinkly balls and toys that make noise or flash lights, cats need to be exposed to different surfaces (linoleum, carpet, wood, etc) and given objects to climb in, around and on top of such as empty boxes, cat trees, and shelves. 

Introducing kittens to other types of animals during this period will give them a better chance of getting along with other pets in the home as adults. Only introduce fosters to resident pets after an initial 7 - 10 day quarantine period and only if they are healthy and not on medication. Even if fosters are not showing signs of illness, there is still potential for them to pass an illness onto your pets. Introduce fosters and resident pets at your own risk.

If you are fostering a kitten over 8 weeks old, fear not: it can still learn. The saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is not true and this applies to cats as well. 

When your new kitten is exploring, make sure they get lots of positive reinforcement for being brave and exploring things on their own. 

If your kitten starts doing things you don’t want them to do, don’t punish, but redirect the behavior to something appropriate. If your kitten starts scratching the furniture, move a scratching post or pad to the spot they were scratching and reward them for using the post.

Kittens and cats can learn and change behavior at any age as long as the training is done in a positive way, so it is important that you make sure your kitten has all the needed tools to grow and develop into a happy healthy cat.

When socializing your cat, punishing them for unwanted behaviors after the fact, or even during the act, can cause further trauma to the cat and may even cause them to be afraid of you. Never use a spray bottle, yell at your cat, rub their nose in accidents, or punish your cat in any other way.

None of these things will solve the underlying issue and may even make the problem worse as the cat may start to fear being around you at all.

Top Tips for Socializing Fearful Kittens

• Food is your friend!

  • Offer wet food from your finger tip so the kitten needs to approach you and lick it off your finger.

  • Offer favorite tasty treats (tuna works great, but use very small amount so you don't cause diarrhea) only when you are in the room with them. This can help them associate humans with positive things.

  • Pet them while they are eating if they are comfortable with this. 

• Sit in the room reading or doing other quiet, still activities so the kittens can approach and explore you at their own pace.

• Hold and pet the kitten while watching tv

  • Many fearful kittens will relax after a short period of time of being held and pet. Doing this several times a day every day can make a huge difference in their feelings about humans.

  • Never force a kitten into being held, start slow and if your kitten struggles to get away once you pick them up, do not force them to stay with you. Wrapping kittens in a soft blanket (often referred to as a kitten burrito) is a popular technique to help kittens relax when first being help by people.

Additional Resources

Socializing Feral Kittens by The Kitten Lady

Socializing Kittens by Alley Cat Allies

Ask the expert: Socializing kittens by The Humane Society of the United States

Fearful Kitten Socialization 101 by Chirrups and Chatter