I am currently fostering a litter of three 6-week old kittens and their mom. I started introducing them to wet kitten food at 4 weeks. None of them wanted anything to do with it at first despite my best efforts to tempt them. This week I mixed in a bit of chicken baby food (onion and garlic free) and two of the three are now happily eating 4x a day. The third however still looks at me like I'm trying to poison him with the food!
The mother is still nursing the kittens and he is still gaining appropriate weight each day. I have seen him and his other siblings (one of which who has Cerebellar hyperplasia) eating the dry kitten food I keep out at all times. They are all also drinking well from the water dish.
I understand that weaning is a gradual process that mom ultimately dictates, however, I'm curious if it would be unusual for a kitten to do this. Could he possibly never eat the wet food and sustain himself just on the dry kitten food throughout weaning? Should I continue to push wet food? If so, any other tricks I can try to entice him?
Thanks!
P.S. The little guy relaxing in the pic below is the one who thinks I'm trying to poisoning him, lol.
The mother is still nursing the kittens and he is still gaining appropriate weight each day. I have seen him and his other siblings (one of which who has Cerebellar hyperplasia) eating the dry kitten food I keep out at all times. They are all also drinking well from the water dish.
I understand that weaning is a gradual process that mom ultimately dictates, however, I'm curious if it would be unusual for a kitten to do this. Could he possibly never eat the wet food and sustain himself just on the dry kitten food throughout weaning? Should I continue to push wet food? If so, any other tricks I can try to entice him?
Thanks!
P.S. The little guy relaxing in the pic below is the one who thinks I'm trying to poisoning him, lol.
What a gorgeous little fellow! You can try offering boiled chicken (again, no onion or garlic, just a bit of whole salt such as Himalyan, RealSalt or unrefined sea sat, and a tiny pinch of thyme, oregano or Mrs Dash seasoning to ease the scent of boiling meat) as males are more prone to urinary problems later in life. Often cats do not drink enough water and the common practice of early neutering seems to have something to do with it (according to my vet here in CA and my sis' vet clinic in TN - early s/n is to keep cat populations down and not necessarily best for the males however seems to be easier on the females).
