Cat advice

123lisa123

I have an older cat and a younger one who has had kittens five weeks ago both adult cats don’t get on and older cat hates the kittens how can I get kittens to eat wet food. They will eat it when I feed them it but not on their own I can’t leave it down as mother cat will eat it I can’t let kittens free to roam as older cat is nasty to them. I only do that when I’m around any advice I’d appreciated thanks

TBagpuss

It's quite normal to start with feeding them a bit - remember they are weaning and if mum is providing plenty of milk they may not be particularly hungry.

basics - make sure that the dish is small and low enough that the kittens can get to it easily. If you aren't already, break it up so it is in small pieces and easier for them to eat 
Maybe offer them food at the same time you feed mum, so she is eating her own food, or when you are giving her treats / snuggles so she is distracted, while they get used to feeding. 
Are you only offering them wet kitten food or are you also offering kitten kibble? 

Can you not shut doors so that the cats are in separate parts of the house if you are worried about the older cat .

What do you mean by the older one being nasty? Cats will take a little while to sort out who is boss - the older one hissing at the kittens or 'batting' them away if they try to play with him isn't unusual, although you should be making sure that the older cat has places he can go to feel safer - this might mean blocking off doorways with cardboard that's too high for the kittens to get over but easy for the adult cats, which allows you to let the kittens explore a little while ensuring that the older cat has some kitten-free space, and you can also try to provide some kitten safe spaces - maybe upturned boxes with small entrnce holes, so the kittens can hide from the bigger cats?
Be cautious about leaving them unsupervised

TripleH

Our experience of an older cat with kittens was completely different. Older cat had been on his own a few years then 2 young uns arrive. He turned the brother into an old man and they'd cuddle. The sister had kittens and the boys were allowed to observe until the kittens were about older.

Then the uncle and great uncle pretty much took over the non-feeding part and loved every moment.(we got our middle 2 from the 2 litters and when we picked up our boy, found him, his uncle and great uncle all asleep on their sides on a play tower.

When we bought our second one home, the eldest had been an only cat for almost 10 years. She did not like the kitten (hid for first 2 days) and to be fair never has (she likes our subsequent clan, but they don't try and wind her up). Maybe supervised time is needed?

Once the kittens go, her attitude may change when she realises the kittens aren't permanent.

Feeding all cats wet food at the same time is a good recommendation. If the kittens are slower, maybe separate them from their mum but where she can still see them?