Advice and opinions needed on young kitten

[hayabusa]

My little Aurora, the kitten whom was abandoned at only 2 days old, is 3 weeks old today, and is very underweight due to a kidney infection. She was put on a broad spectrum antibiotic on Saturday, and already the huge swollen lymph nodes in her neck have dwindled to nothing at all!! I am taken back by this with excitement for her healthy future, and happy that this is a sign that her kidney infection may almost be over. But I do have a few questions.

I have bought Purina kitten chow, some cans of soft food, some baby powered cereal (pablum) and some Maxx 99% dust free natural clay cat litter. Now.. my questions are, when should I start introducing these? And when should I allow her access to a water dish of her own? (I have held back as to not give her any problematic stools)

I have already had a great opinion on mixing 90% KMR (Which she is currently on, it is the powered version that we mix ourselves as we didn't have access to the liquid stuff. If I find the liquid stuff, I will gradually switch itover, that is for sure) and 5% baby cereal, and 5% crushed up kitten chow. Then the next day, make it 80%KMR, 10% baby cereal, and 10% crushed up kitten chow. Etc..

What are your opinions? When to let her try her first lap out of a dish ? Should I first off try giving her a shallow dish of KMR? See what happens with that, or what?


These were taken on Sunday night (You can find a lot more pics in my thread in Health and Nutrition forum):

 

[momofmany]

You can put out a dish anytime to see if she will lap, but I doubt that she will do it until she is at least 4-5 weeks old. I can't help you with the food mixture, as I got mine off KMR to Science Diet A/D to kitten food without needing to mix it. Science Diet A/D is awesome for kittens as it is extremely soft.

For the litter, I started stimulating them over the litter box at about 3-1/2 weeks old and they started going in there themselves about 4 weeks old. So you are definitely close to that. If you do get some solid waste from her in the next few days, place it in the litter box so that she can smell it. Be prepared to teach them how to lift their tails and paw around in it to cover it when they are done. At her age, you might have to build a little ramp (I used folded towels) to help her get into the pan. I bought the smallest litter box I could find and the sides were still pretty tall. An alternative is a cake pan or even a shallow cardboard box.

Aurora is precious!! I'm so glad that you have gotten her thru her kidney infection!

 

[hayabusa]

I am using one of those disposable pie pan thingies for the litter bo. But.. I wont try it until I after I feed her next so that she isnt trying to eat the litter (She suckleson the side of the sink while I heat up her bottle all of the time, and any little dribbles that were left from me washng it out before putting ehr in there are usually gone, and her face is moist. hehe. So I just dont know when to try a water dish- as she may just shove her whole head/body in to it. But i know this is expected at such a young age, especially seeing as she is just starting out. '

Yes she is soo precious, but I am sad with the fact that I think her right eye is going blind. It is bluish cloudy compared to the other one. The third eyelid is still showing a bit, but I think it may go away with help of the broad spectrum antibiotic we are using for her kidney infection. ..At least I hope.

An additional question: Any quick to make home remedies for constipation?

Any other comments, advice, facts, pointers, even opinions are VERY appreciated at this time!

 

[goldenkitty45]

If she is your only cat/kitten, then please get one of the higher quality kitten foods. Purina is not all that great. She needs to also have the kitten canned food.

Just keep tryijng a little at a time on your fingers for her to get the hang of solid food. Might also try some boiled shredded chicken for her to eat - in very tiny pieces.

Since she's had a rough start, you can leave her on kitten food for longer then most kittens till she's of normal weight/size

One good thing for vitimins is Nutracal - get a tube of that and give her some on your fingers.

Keep a shallow water dish available at all times - I've had 3 week old rex kittens lapping up water from mom's bowl