[piperfan28]

Hey,

As I have previously posted, my cat had kittens recently. They turned four weeks old today. I've been reading all over the intenet that I should be starting to introduce food to them. The only problem is... what kind? I know it should be soft... but after that I'm at a loss. Shuld I just water down the dry stuff I have or should I buy something new? HELP!! :confused:

[labman]

Ah experts, they know what they are thinking of. Chances are there is kitten food just like puppy chow, specially formulated for youngsters. Add a little water to the dry.

[piperfan28]

Thanks labman, you're my hero! Hopefully Mama cat won't eat the food before her babies get to it.

[koriani]

Hello Piperfan,

As long as they are still nursing momma, I'd wait to offer them solid food. Their teeth are just now coming in at 4 weeks and they are barely able to go potty on their own. Solid food is almost impossible for them to eat at this point.

Start offering them dry kitten food (remember, HIGH QUALITY) that has been soaked in warm water and mushed up (try to stay away from canned food at all costs!) at about 5 to 6 weeks of age.

Once they are eating the 'mush' really well, start offering dry kitten food.

Regards,

[labman]

Thanks labman, you're my hero! Hopefully Mama cat won't eat the food before her babies get to it.

For cats, my answers are only meant to help until Koriani or somebody else knowing more cats than I do shows up. I guess kittens are a little slower developing than puppies.

Piglets are given creep feed in a creep feeder. Not sure of the details, but the creep feeder is too small for mama to get into.

[piperfan28]

Thank you both for your help. I will hold off feeding them until nest week. Ophelia is still nursing them well.

PS. Anyone want a kitten? Lol. Only one left that needs a home!

PPS.

Is it eight weeks when they can leave? Or later?

[koriani]

8 to 10 weeks is a generally accepted age to find kittens new homes. If a kitten is a runt, I usually let it stay the longer period.

Good luck, I wish I could take the kitten but I'm maxed out at 5 cats right now. Hubby's looking for a small, house-trained terrier type dog right now anyway. *sigh*

Regards,

[piperfan28]

8-10 weeks. Awesome. The three that have homes have amazing places to go. I'll keep their little sister until she finds a home.

If your husband is looking for a terrier type dog I know someone that breeds miniature Shnauzers (I spelled it wrong). She has them going to the bathroom outside from the time they can walk well, so they come essentially house-trained.

I'll post a pic of my kittens when they get a little older!

Thanks for all the help

[koriani]

I'd love to see the kittens!

Unfortunately, my husband doesn't like Schnauzers. Neither do I really, had a bad experience with one when I was in school! ACK!

Thanks for the offer though.

Regards,

[Ireland&Germany]

Hello Everyone! I've been looking through internet about learning how to feed my kitten. I got 2 kitten (germany and ireland) when they are only 3 weeks old.. I fed them from bottle, then to syringe, and one is eating on his own.. they are 5 weeks old now. The other one, Ireland still won't chew.. still suck on food.. I tried putting kitten soft food in his mouth to make him learn how to CHEW, but he still suck on the food. I'm not sure what I should be doing to him. Continue on syringe? I think he's big enough to eat on his own.. Just like his brother Germany.. :confused:

Any suggestion? It'd be helpful! Please let me know ASAP, Ireland's crying for food, and I'm trying.

[tiggerella]

I work at a cats-only vet clinic in Maine, so if you don't mind me sharing some stuff I've heard from our doc more than once...

Even though the kittens were born at the same time, Germany may be advancing faster due to having been conceived earlier. (Unlike some other animals, cats can stay in heat for a few days after their first sexual encounter, and can therefore have several kittens with several different fathers all in the same litter that were all conceived on different days.) Ireland will probably eventually learn to eat regular food just like Germany has, but it may take a lot more patience on your part.

A suggestion for trying to back off the syringe feeding is to get a good quality canned kitten food and water it down with either milk, kitten formula or water to the point that it's runny enough to syringe feed, but let Ireland "suck" it out of the bowl. As Ireland starts to get the idea that the food is always being served in the bowl and starts to react when the bowl comes out to be filled for dinner, you can begin to back off on how much watering down you're doing a little at a time. As the food becomes more difficult to "suck" out of the bowl, Ireland will probably take a tip from Germany and start chewing the food a bit more (although in watching my two-year-old Maine Coon mix eat, he still does something closer to licking the canned food he gets at the morning feeding and chews the dry that he gets in the evening).

Of course, nothing beats having the kittens seen by a vet to determine if there is a physical reason for Ireland's refusal to take to the normal kitten food, and the vet you see may totally disagree with what the vet I work for tells people. (In fact, the first vet I worked for would have a totally different approach to what I've just said than the one I currently work for - just as the person who responded to the posting above yours had the view that you should NEVER feed a kitten canned food. My doc would tell you to never feed dry food because she feels that dry food is the equivalent of feeding your cat Twinkies for breakfast... :) )

Best of luck with your kittens, and here's hoping little Ireland realizes soon that crying about food doesn't fill the belly as quickly as going nose-deep into a dish of the stuff... ;)

[Binzer]

Spay your cat!
Why are you letting her have kittens?
Do you not know that millions of unwanted pets die each year in shelters?