New kitten....questions & advice (merged)

lizzak

Little_Chicken wrote: »

I wouldn't give him milk - it's more likely to make him ill. As long as he's drinking he should be ok. You could try giving him some cooked chicken, chopped up, or a different flavour of food?

So far he's had whiskas tuna, whiskas cod and whiskas turkey. still doesnt like it!! i've tried putting fresh tuna infront of him but still wont eat.

picklepick

perhaps you coudl try and give him some scrambled egg? ive heard its supposed to help firm up their poos aswell. make sure its cooked thoroughly though. hope hes ok

UKTigerlily

I wouldn't give kitten milk, they don't need it & it could make him worse. It's probably down to the change of circumstances for him, nerves can cause diarrhoea too. You could try some bland human food like scrambled egg (Not made with milk if I remember rightly), chicken, fish (boiled) etc

Sirbendy

When we got Fudge, he was..I'd say about 5 weeks old, if that..still had the blue eyes, could stand on my palm, was unsteady on his feet and so on..he'd been kept with his litter in a cupboard under the stairs with no parent cat. 450g is all he weighed, and he was a mess..

He did a fair bit of "don't leave me on my own", and a LOT of sleeping - he had my fleece as a bed, and we were coming home at lunchtimes to feed him. We relocated upstairs to the room we had him in for a few weeks until he settled down, and we could keep an eye on big cat too.

God knows what he was fed..very little. We had to feed him small portions of watered and mushed up food (not cat IIRC..it was human food, I'm sure), several times a day. Sometimes we had to put some on our fingertips, so he'd lick it off and get a taste for it. In between times we'd fuss him, let him explore the room, and sleep. He had a bad stomach at first, but it settled. That may have just been the stress of moving and all he'd been though.

A vet check is always good..our vet's comment was along the lines of "my god, he's TINY..I can't do much of an exam until he's bigger." - you shouldn't have the problem.

Try him with kitten food (cat food is a bit chunky, we found)..then move to normal cat food. Both Fudge (now 7 months) and Hex (1 year, 6 months) now have 2 meals of Felix a day - we're lucky as they will eat ANYTHING.

As long as he's drinking keep food available (and make sure he knows where it is), let him sleep, give lots of fuss, spend as much time "in sight" as you can, and make sure he knows you're there. Try an article of clothing you can spare - see if he'll sleep in it. Both of ours go for my or jems fleece, or will fall asleep on me with their heads stuck up my shirt. Fudge does still occasionally go to sleep suckling on Hex's foot!

Taken from mum too early, poor lad. He's so affectionate and funny though.

lowis

aw...i hope he is just nervous. try heating the cat food in the microwave for 30 seconds to make it a bit stinky, sometimes this triggers their appetite. congrats on your new addition

Pip26

Hi - have only just discovered this forum (this site really does have everything on it!!!!!) through someone posting a pet querie on the freebies board! - can't believe I didn't notice it before.

Just a quick thought (although may well be just home/mother sick) to check no fleas. Fleas can drain such a tiny kitty and make v. lethargic. Am sure will be ok for one night if has had some liquid and vet can reassure/help tomorrow.

In_Search_Of_Me

hi there...as suggested would try vet to check for fleas and worms...depends on house he was at but one of mine was infested and anemic when I rescued her because of it. No proper milk (their tummies dont like it and it can cause ikky tummy...cat milk expensive and water is as good) and little and often kitten food. As people have said if he/she was still drinking from mum he will be missing that plus having to adjust to new home, smells etc...lots of tlc and ideally he should have been fully weaned before moving home...also make sure you introduce letter tray with lots of reminders where it is...they like the closed top ones cos they can go in private!
Look forward to update and photos!

Sirbendy

we bought a closed top one...and they wouldn't approach it. It's now topless again, heh. In fact, IIRC we're not using it at all - we're moving in 10 days so we've reverted to the original tray in the bathroom as that's the one they know best. 2 weeks in the new place and I'll be moving them to the litter kwitter..fudge has never used it.

MrsE_2

Sirbendy wrote: »

we bought a closed top one...and they wouldn't approach it. It's now topless again, heh. In fact, IIRC we're not using it at all - we're moving in 10 days so we've reverted to the original tray in the bathroom as that's the one they know best. 2 weeks in the new place and I'll be moving them to the litter kwitter..fudge has never used it.

Be interested to see how you get on with the litter kwitter;)

Marg

Lizzak - When we got our first set of 'twin' cats they were very tiny & taken from their Mum a bit soon as she was ill - the vet recommended white fish -when we got home all I had in was fish fingers! (this was years ago before 24 hour shopping) so I set to & cut all the crumbs off & boiled the resulting fish - not a pleasant experience but the kittens liked it... I also gave boiled chicken to help the weaning proccess perhaps cat food is too tasty IYSWIM. Please don't give Milk. Hope all goes well @vets

Sirbendy - Not heard of a litter kwitter can you explain please?