weaning kittens

AFAIK, my kitten was weaned with dry food mixed with warm water so they were soft, and occassionally some minced beef, and also given plenty of water. Ive heard the mum cat will supervise the kittens in their first forays into food, so long as there is enough and it isnt too dry for them to eat, then they should get the hang of what is going on pretty quickly!

As for re-homing, our local loot type paper that comes out on a sunday usually has all pet listings, and they seem to go really quickly! When I was looking for my kitten, It took me three weeks to actually find an owner who had some nearly ready, and my little one was 10 weeks old when I picked her up.

It could be worth advertising them a week earlier than you want to let them go, and have prospective 'parents' over to check them out, and so they can pick one (assuming you trust them as potential owners). That way, you can get them to come back a week later to pick up the kitty, they have everything prepared, and you are sure they are ready for a new home, and those 'desperate' for a kitten that same day get weeded out - they have to wait!

To be fair, my kitty isnt old enough to have her own babies yet, but the original owner who I got my kitty from had it organised a week in advance, i.e which kitty was going where, and she staggered them leaving, 2 per day, so mum cat didnt get too distressed. It seemed to go really well, and I didnt really have any trouble settling in my girl, although she was very reclusive for the first couple of days! She soon blossomed though, she is wonderful, and is currently chasing a fly that has gotten into the house, so she is all over the place!

Jo xx

Prudent wrote:

I have three four week old kittens. I am about to start weaning them and wondered if anyone has any helpful tips? Any tips about homing would also be welcome.

My first bit of advice to you would be to get your cat booked in the vets to be spayed ASAP!!!

Now your kittens are weaning they won't miss her for a few hours while she has the op, otherwise you're going to find yourself with yet another litter to deal with in 9 weeks time, and there are already far too many unwanted cats in rescue shelters up and down the country without adding to the numbers!

The best place to advertise the ones you currently have is at your local vets, and you may find they already have a list of people looking for kittens in the area, but please don't consider re-homing them until they are at least 9 wks old, at which age they can start their vaccination courses. I'd also advise making a small charge for each kitten to deter those just looking for a "throwaway" freebie, and it will also help you cover the costs of spaying the mother

As for weaning, the kittens will take their lead from mum and follow her to the food bowl to sample what she's eating, so make sure you provide enough for them all. She should be eating a kitten diet at the moment anyway to give her extra protein and nutrients during lactation so this will be perfect for the kittens to be weaned on.

Murtle wrote:

I'd say that most people do rehome before 9 weeks, so that they don't have to pay the vaccination charges. I got mine at 7 weeks, and really they should have stayed with Mum for another week, but they are fine, and absolutely adorable!

Re-homing at 9 weeks doesn't necessarily place the onus on the owner to vaccinate them before they leave, although most reputable breeders of pedigree cats will do this as a matter of course anyway. What it means is that when the new owners collect their kitten/s, ideally they should be visiting their vet for a full health check within the first day or two and will thus be ready to start their course of vaccinations, assuming they pass the health check. Some vets will start them at 8 weeks if requested, but the ideal time is 9 weeks, when the anti-bodies received from mum start to disappear leaving them susceptible to anything going, with a follow-up shot at 12 weeks.

There are also other reasons not to re-home kittens (or pups) too early as it can impede on behavioural and socialisation skills learnt from mum and siblings, causing many problems further down the line for owners and pets alike.

Unfortunately not everyone goes by the book, but then we don't live in an ideal world either, but it's the poor animals that suffer in the long run (along with the poor unfortunate humans that are at the receiving end when things do go wrong!) and we can't force people to follow good advice