My kitten does not groom himself yet. He's only 2mos old. My 3 year old cat tries to help him out, but he just stays dirty and stinky until I bathe him. Will he learn naturally, or should I be doing something to encourage him? Is he just a stinky, dirty boy??
2006-10-03 05:19:10 · 10 answers · asked by ckmarshall81 1 in Pets ➔ Cats
Cats learn how to clean themselves naturally, also they learn form the mother but just give a little more time and he'll be cleaning himself soon.
2006-10-03 06:14:21 · answer #1 · answered by kimiko20 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jenivive is wrong.
Kits are taught to groom by their moms, some grooming IS instinctive, Paws,face ears, but some is learned, Different breeds of cats have different grooming patterns. Look at a tabby grooming and compare it to a persians or angora's groioming.And then the maine coon cat does everything differnt.
It is important whether your kit is a him or a her: Hims, like humans need more teaching than hers, Shes will figure the most important things all by herself, and further develop her own teaching style when she has kittens. I've raised 42 cats in 4 generations and it is beautiful to watch a fem cat separated from mom too early (by a car) and not completely aware of the whole grooming process for herself, suddenly be able to teach her kits to groom themselves better than she can groom herself. Blue still has'nt figured out how to do the upper center of her chest, even though she taught her kits how to. And I really miss Lucky her mom.
2006-10-03 06:07:11 · answer #2 · answered by Gerard S 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I bought a Himalayan kitten and brought her home at 6 weeks of age, I was getting very upset cause she wouldn't groom her self, I have actually had to give her baths and clean her butt for her. I thought maybe I was going to have a dirty cat, but she is now almost 4 months old and it kicked in all of a sudden. So I bet she isn't cleaning herself cause she is young and in a few months the instinct will kick in for her, just as it did for my kitty.
Good luck.
2006-10-03 05:44:25 · answer #3 · answered by Michelle Lynn 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
He should begin to clean himself naturally. He may not be very good at it at first, but he will learn!! If he just gets to stinky go buy some kitty shampoo and give him a bath. But dont bathe him more than once a week or you'll dry out his skin!
2006-10-03 06:23:55 · answer #4 · answered by ApRiL 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No I think it natural, but then again they are like humans, we watch other people do things and then we try. You may just have a stinky boy cat like so human boys I know.
2006-10-03 05:27:45 · answer #5 · answered by babybird 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no he'll pick it up by instinct and from the other cat- at that age the kitten still wants to be taken care of- he's still absorbing everything like a toddler would. you're lucky you can bathe your cats, mine don't let me. Just keep him indoors and around the other cat, he'll be fine don't worry!
2006-10-03 05:27:21 · answer #6 · answered by Slutlana 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All my kitties figured out how to groom on their own.
This sounds unusual. I think you might consider taking it to the vet (which you should do anyway in the next 6-8 weeks).
Can it smell food and things? Maybe there's a smelling problem?
2006-10-03 05:27:03 · answer #7 · answered by Gypsy Doctor 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have had several kittens over the years and all of them learned by themselves. Just leave him alone and he should figure it out.
2006-10-03 05:27:58 · answer #8 · answered by farm girl 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no it will soon find out on his own that he needs to groom himself and it will kick in sooner or later
2006-10-03 06:47:06 · answer #9 · answered by gurls 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
nope. they know it from instincts. just sit back and watch :)
2006-10-03 05:26:49 · answer #10 · answered by jenivive 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋