Hold your kittens in order to tame them | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I would like to advise all you folk out there whose female cats present you with unwanted litters: If you want the kittens to be adoptable, please handle them, so they’ll get used to human touch. A year ago I adopted a young kitten from a shelter. She was active, healthy, beautiful. But, after I got her home, I realized she was like a wild animal — obviously had not been held or touched by human hands. Hands, to her, were a threat, and to protect herself she persistently bit them.

April 9, 2010 7:17 pm

To the editor:

I would like to advise all you folk out there whose female cats present you with unwanted litters: If you want the kittens to be adoptable, please handle them, so they’ll get used to human touch.

A year ago I adopted a young kitten from a shelter. She was active, healthy, beautiful. But, after I got her home, I realized she was like a wild animal — obviously had not been held or touched by human hands. Hands, to her, were a threat, and to protect herself she persistently bit them.

It took me months, with all the patience I could muster, plus an improvised technique of hypnosis, to teach her that hands are OK, biting is not, and human touch is pleasurable.

Please, you kitten owners out there — spare your kitten the frustration that mine went through, as well as that of its future owner.

Hold and pet those kittens. They’re born wild; tame them while they’re tiny.

Carol Howman

Langley