Do Kittens Pick Up Behaviors From Other Cats?

There was a stray kitten that stayed outside and my husband and I would feed her and gave her a nice bed to sleep in when it was cold. About 3 months ago we found her outside our front door, shivering and injured. We brought her in and doctored her up and now she is part of the clan inside. We just couldn't put her back outside.

Anyway, my question is this, do kittens mimic the behaviors of other cats, like a child does an older sister or brother? Kitten seems to have some of the behaviors as the older cats. It's nothing bad, but my husband says that she picks that up from watching the others. I had never heard of this before and I just wondered if anyone else has seen this happen or is dear hubby just imagining things?

 

Awww, you're so lucky! Many people have strange fantasies and mine was to rescue a helpless little kitten, lol. It may sound strange, but it is what it is, haha.
I know that kittens can pick up behaviours from their mothers. Like using the litter, kittens often mimic their mother behaviour in that way, or at least thats how it was for my cats. So no, I don't think your husband was imagining things, lol.

 

I've been lucky three times because 3 of my 4 kitties I rescued when they were kittens. The other two weren't injured, just homeless. One of them I found in the middle of town running across Main Street dodging traffic. He crossed the street and ran up into the yard of a business and I pulled over, jumped out of my truck and grabbed him. I was afraid he would get run over if I didn't get him. He was just a tiny thing then, barely weaned.The other one was a also a stray that someone had dumped, he was just a little guy too and I brought him in so he wouldn't get in the street and get hit by a car too. They have been blessings for sure. Maybe someday you can find a helpless kitten to rescue too. I think you would be a great "mommy".

 

I imagine that kittens would mimic the behaviour of the older cats. After all, they need to learn "how to be a cat" from somewhere! Younger animals will generally follow the behaviour of older ones. It is simply their natural behaviour. If they see the older ones doing something, they will regard it as normal and think they should do the same too. This is partially for their own safety. In the wild, if they see another cat avoiding something dangerous, then they should do the same thing. This is how they learn to survive.