Will my kitten learn how to clean herself?

Question

She was given to me at 5 weeks old, too young to be taken from her mommy. She doesn't seem to clean herself, will she learn or is this something she was supposed to learn from her mother?

So many wonderful answers. Thanks to all of you. I'm putting the question up for voting. ;-)

Answer 1

It's an instinctive thing. She will figure it out. I found a stray kitten younger than that wondering in the woods behind my apartment building. He's now a healthy adult cat and cleans himself.

Mother nature gifts every creature with certain innate abilities.

Answer 2

Put some tuna juice on her paws.She'll lick it off. Put some on a different spot the next day but make sure she can reach it. Tell her she is a good girl and pet her, if she does. If she is still really young, though, no she doesn't have to know how to do that if she doesn't feel anything on her, bothering her. Kittens walk around with feces on them and seem oblivious to it much like kids at a picnic have food all around there mouths. The mothers of those children make me angry, though. They need to teach their kids, huh?

Answer 3

Five weeks was to young to be taken from her mommy, she still had things to learn, one of which was how to keep herself clean. If you have other cats in the house she may pick it up from them, but theres no guarantee. I had a cat once that never learned to clean itself and finally my other cats took over and did it for him. Good luck.

Answer 4

Actually surprisingly it's a combination of learned behavior and instinct. They know what to do after they see it. If you can visit someone with a cat and take new kitty. Watch how much she will watch the big kitty. If it cleans itself..she will go home and try it out. I know this sounds strange but if you can't find a potential teacher..you can help. lick your fist and rub your face when baby is watching. It helps.

Answer 5

While she is young you might have to clean her but as she grows older her instinct will tell her to clean herself...Cats dont like being cleaned by humans once they reach the age they can do it themselves. The saliva on their tounges act as a soapy sudsy substance, almost like shampoo.

Answer 6

Sure she will learn how to clean by herself when she gets a bit older. Be patiient, it takes a while to learn.

Answer 7

I had a cat that finally learned it when he was 1 year old from a kitten that we got. (I hated giving him a bath, all teeth & claws.) Some cats just need to be taught by other cats.

Answer 8

We bottle fed ours from 2 weeks, and while we were cleaning ours for a LONG time they did eventually figure it out. I agree with trying to wipe her with a bit of moist towel and trying to clean them like mom would.

Answer 9

My Russian Blue was the same way. He was abandoned and had no mommy so he was hand raised and didn't really know much about grooming.

I bathed him lightly for the first few months then we moved on to just using a damp towel to kind of mimick the way another cat would groom him.

He kind of got the point after a while and he's a great groomer now. Sometimes he misses large spots on his back but he's getting better.

Try that trick with the towel. Just wet a corner with warn water and "groom" your kitten with it gently. It feels nice to them and hopefully she'll start to do it herself.

Answer 10

if the kitten stayed with its mother it would be easier for it to clean itself cause cats will learn from their mother though they have insticts but it may take more time if it has been seperated.