Been meaning to post here for a while, but was too overwhelmed to organize thoughts.
About a month ago, someone in our building complex found an abandoned litter of kittens. They had been left in a cardboard box without food or water for we don't know how long. Don't know what happened to the mama cat. The person who found them estimated they were about 4 weeks old and was looking for volunteers to take care of them so they wouldn't have to go to a shelter.
SO and I ended up taking the last kitten of the litter. Neither of us had ever cared for a kitty that young, so there was a lot of internet searching for instructions (especially the 2 days between taking him in and being able to get him a vet check up).
Pleased to say, he's grown from a tiny, wobbly ball of fur into a healthy, active kitten of about 10-11 weeks of age. We seem to have done ok with some major milestones: weaning him onto solid food (he's now on a mix of wet kitten food and kitten kibble), getting him using the litter box comfortably (trial and error process finding the right size box and litter he approved of), finding toys he loves, and starting some clicker training (so far I've got him turning to look at me when I say his name and touching his nose to the end of a stick).
What I'm worried about most is socialization. He is very comfortable with SO and me: loves to snuggle up to us or climb in our laps when he is in the mood to chill or nap, purrs when petted (unless in hyperactive kitten mode, in which case the slightest touch is like touching him with a live wire), and he likes to lounge near us even when not in the mood for play or affection. We're not sure yet how he will react to unfamiliar humans.
But I'm not sure what to do about:
1) Socializing him with other animals. I keep reading about how important these early weeks are for their development and how 4 weeks is far too young to be separated from mother and siblings. SO doesn't want to adopt a second cat since the one kitten already needs quite a lot of attention. I worry it would be difficult for the cat to eventually learn to get along with a second pet (cat or dog) if he has not had enough exposure while young. Not sure how to remedy this, especially with the pandemic going on. Not like I can easily invite a friend with a pet over.
2) Biting. I've been following the advice of some cat behaviorists (or at least so-called) who say to make a noise like "ow" when the kitten bites and then pull away and ignore kitty for a short time. This is meant to teach him that being too rough ends playtime. In addition, whenever we see him lunging for a hand or foot, we try to intercept him with a toy to chew on to teach him acceptable attack targets. I'm not sure how well it's working. He's perfectly happy to maul one of his toys, but if there is a hand or foot in sight, it seems to be a much more tempting target.
Also, not all the cat advice I got was consistent. Some say any mouthing at all needs to be discouraged because if the cat thinks mouthing is ok he will also think biting is ok. Others say gentle nips or mouthing are signs of affection that cats often give each other when grooming.
3) Pouncing on us in bed. He especially likes to go for the face. We've been trying to keep him on a regular feeding and play/exercise routine; but he's in this pattern of sleeping like the dead during the afternoon and bursting with energy around 10pm-1am. We try to tucker him out with an hour of play before bed, but he's still got a couple of more hours in reserve. I've tried to get him to play more in the afternoon so he is more sleepy at night, but he is so naturally sleepy at this time it's hard to get him to engage. I don't like locking him out because he is so young. He cries if not allowed to sleep with at least one of us.
Was hoping to hear kitten-raising experiences from people on the fora, since I prefer to hear from people I pseudo-know than from people I don't know at all.
