Handling Kittens

Video Transcript

"Now we're going to talk about handling and socialization of kittens. If you have, are lucky enough to have kittens that are newborn, the time to start handling them, is as soon as the Mom feels comfortable letting you touch her kittens. You want to make sure that you don't interfere with the bond Mom has with the kittens. But as they get older, you want to start handling them, holding them, turning them upside down. You want to be able to pet their head, look in the ears, touch their ears. Touch their little feet, so that they'll get used to the idea of having their nails trimmed. And, just generally petting them and allowing them to feel human contact. If you handle a kitten five to ten minutes, every day, each individual kitten in the litter, you will help them to become well socialized to humans and be a good part of any family. As you can see, this kitten is also very interested in moving around and exploring its environment, so you want to make sure that you give it opportunities to do that too."