8 Week Old Kitten Help

[uhhlexaaa]

I have a kitten who’s about 8 weeks old and i brought him home on saturday. the shelter says he’s about 8 weeks but he still has those adorable blue eyes so i’m assuming he’s a little younger? my dilemma is that i’ve been feeding him wet food and trying to get him to eat his kibble but he is not interested in the kibble at all or even his water.
so today i picked up some KMR (vets recommendation) and he slurped that all up as if he was so hungry even after he ate his wet food with leftovers on the dish?! i have also tried soaking his kibble in warm water which did not interest him. another time i soaked it in the KMR, but all he did was just lick up the KMR and ignore the kibble!
So, does anyone have any advice to help him to eat his dry kibble? i work 9-4 everyday so i want him to be able to eat his dry kibble throughout the day until i get home to be able to feed him his wet food? also should i be concerned that he isn’t drinking his water?? any advice would be great, thanks in advance!

 

[Kieka]

The important thing with kittens that age is that they are eating. So if he likes the KMR try making a slurry with the KMR and wet food. Over time slowly reduce the amount of KMR until he just is eating wet food.

As to when you are gone, how long are you gone? If it's 10 hours, keep putting out the kibble while you are gone. Make sure to feed him just before you leave and as soon as you get home. Plus another meal before bed and first thing when you wake up. It is not ideal but it won't harm him, eventually he will investigate the kibble and start munching on it while you are away if he is hungry. Chances are he will sleep most of the time you are gone.

As an aside, try to do a vigorous play session before you leave then feed him. Repeat before bed with vigorous play and then dinner. The play followed by food should trigger him to want to sleep. There ensuring he is mostly sleeping when you are gone and when you are asleep

 

[LTS3]

If the kitten won't eat kibble, don't feed it Kibble isn't good for cats anyways. That's a hot topic for another discussion. Offer some kibble if you wish but your kitten may still ignore it.

Use a timed feeder to provide small canned food meals throughout the day. I like the Petsafe 5 compartment one. Catmate is another brand and has ice packs. Canned food is ok if left out all day. The food is cooked. Some people like to freeze portion sizes of canned food and put the frozen cubes into the feeder to slowly defrost over the course of the day.

Always provide a fresh bowl of water daily even if you're not sure if the kitten is drinking from it. The KMR might be providing your kitten with plenty of water. Canned food is a great way to get more water into a kitten or cat. You can add extra water to the food if you wish.

Kittens eat a lot of food in order to grow so offer as much food as the kitten will eat. Don't worry about the kitten getting fat.

 

[ileen]

Can you post a photo of your kitten so the experts can better judge his age? Is that him in the photo to the left of your post? Can you see how many teeth he has?