Long term psychological effects of kittenhood abandonment

Question
Hi there, I have a 6 month old kitty who was abandoned by his mother at 2 weeks old. I successfully bottle-fed him and now he's happy, healthy, and very affectionate. I remember hearing somewhere that cats can experience psychological and behavioral problems due to their kittenhood abandonment.  I'm wondering about the validity of that thought, and if it's true, what sort of problems can I expect and how do I deal with them?

Answer
Kristen,

Yes, there can be long term psychological effects when a kitten is taken from mom at such an early age. Some cats will develop excessive attachments to their caregivers to the point that they will cry and be quite distressed when they're left alone, other cats will develop a habit of nursing on clothing, bedding, stuffed toys, finger tips, ear lobes or even their own fur which becomes a lifelong behavior that's somewhat equivalent to a human child sucking their thumb for comfort. Obviously if your kitty is not showing any signs of odd behaviors for his age he's probably fine, you will in all likelihood notice that he's very attached to you though. Where this attachment can become a problem is if you find yourself in a committed relationship or having children, hand reared kitties can become quite jealous and when cats (hand raised or not) become jealous they can exhibit a wide variety of behavioral issues. There are a number of different other possibilities, but to get into them all in this answer isn't practical, it's just way too long and involved for what experts on this site are expected to do. If you do have specific concerns about your kitty's overall behavior, psychological development or any other feline related issues I'd be more than happy to help you out to the best of my ability.