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Just like humans, cats need to be socialized early in their development. This is true for all kittens, but especially for orphans. As with all children, there is a “golden” period. This is 3-7 weeks for kittens. They can be socialized later, but it is more challenging, and they are less accepting of new things.
Orphaned kittens need to be socialized with both humans and other cats. Some adult cats are amazing teachers, and teach kittens how to be cats. Being a teacher is not for every cat. Our house cat Emme is great with kittens.
For cats with a mom, they should be handled starting around 4 weeks. Be sure and get mom’s permission.
Alley Cat Allies has a great post on socialization of feral kittens. Click her to read more
Here is a video of Ellen and her cat Benny, another good “teacher” working with kittens.