[Mad_Maddie]

My boyfriend and I just adopted a 10 week old kitten named Maddie on Tuesday night, so she's been with us for about 5 days/4 nights now. She lived with her 3 other sisters and mom on the porch of my boyfriend's coworker's home (she rescues stray cats) until we took her home with us on Tuesday. We spent Tuesday night and all of Wednesday with her, then we both had to go to work the rest of the week. We keep her in our bedroom and I come home on my lunch breaks at 12:30pm, after leaving at 7:30am, and am able to spend about 15 minutes with her before I have to leave and come home at 5:00pm.

She's the runt and is quite small; the woman said she had been attached to mom until about 5-6 days before we took her. Maddie has been very sweet but is it possible for a kitten to get too attached to a person? She will lick and lick and lick me, which I know is definitely a compliment and I find it very adorable, but it gets to a point where it could border on an almost OCD or nursing-replacement behavior (to me, at least). She also follows me around (and the boyfriend if I'm in the bathroom/somewhere else) and meows constantly until I pick her up or pet her. The meows and talking are very cute and hard to resist but I don't want to reinforce the meowing for attention too much and I'm also concerned it mean she's too attached.

So is it possible she could get too attached to me? Or is it just the result of leaving her mom and siblings and she's still acclimating? I don't want to discourage any of the behaviors if they're normal (and because they're soo adorable too!) but I want to make sure I'm doing the right things for her that will make her a healthy and well adjusted cat.

 

[Nan]

It's only been a few days. She's looking to you for reassurance. Better that than being scared and hiding.
It's not unusual for her to follow you around. I have 2 & they usually end up in the same room as me.

 

[Susan]

Maddie sounds normal to me. As Nan says, she's just looking for reassurance. Maddie's behavior is very similar to how my cat, Abby, acted when I first adopted her (other than the first day when she simply hissed at me :wink. By the time she was a few months old, she became more independent. Abby is now 3 years old. She still tends to follow me around a bit and she likes to be in the same room as I, but she doesn't need or want to be picked up or petted all the time. She hops on my lap 3 or 4 times a day, but otherwise she prefers to sleep in her cat tree or play with Muffs.

 

[Mad_Maddie]

This makes me feel better about her behavior- we're first time kitty owners, so I don't really know what's 'normal' for a kitten to do for the first few days. I've always owned dogs but dogs obviously are much different from cats. I was worried that I wasn't doing something right and was a horrible kitty owner! She's seemed to get more and more comfortable just last night even; she climbed her kitty tower all the way and slept up there for an hour and a half instead of next to us and she seemed very content to just look down on us.

 

[rightsaidfed]

My kitten was very brave and explored all over the place from the minute I got him home, but once he left the room and realized I wasn't there he would cry. It was like he'd leave then suddenly realize he was alone. I stopped going to get him and started just talking to him instead. He'd either come back to the sound of my voice or he'd keep exploring. I think talking so they know you're there even if he can't see you will help build confidence.

 

[zubie75082]

I recently cared for a little baby (between 3 and 4 weeks old) and she had similar behaviors. It's a big scary world to a little kitten who only knows the comfort of their mama. You've got to step in and be that support for her. Once she gets acclimated and comfortable, she'll venture out on her own and won't need as much support anymore!

 

[Tutubean]

It's only been a few days. She's looking to you for reassurance. Better that than being scared and hiding.
It's not unusual for her to follow you around. I have 2 & they usually end up in the same room as me.

My cat loves me so much she slumps into a depression when she sees me get dressed for work (I am not at all kidding), greets me at the door when I get home, licks me, and follows me just about everywhere (including the bathroom). I adopted her as an 8 year old, so, no excuse for a mother replacement there, unless she was taken away from her cat mom too young. But your cat was not, so I am guessing you just found a cat-daughter that loves you.

 

[RoxiesMummy]

Roxie did all of these things. I didn't know it when I got her (she was a porch kitten too!) but she was only six weeks old. She would ride around on my shoulder as I walked through the house. Now, she is a little more independent. For example, she still wants to be in the same room with me, but she is sleeping in her cat carrier at the mo. If I was to get up and go to the bathroom or kitchen, though,she would somehow magically wake up and come with me.

I am no cat expert, but I think she just loves you. And enjoy it now, bc I kinda miss my baby being so clingy.