Okay, so we went and got our new addition last weekend.. he was eight weeks old. He's a Tonkinese. He still seems to be wanting to nurse, though, and now I'm a bit worried that he wasn't completely weaned from mommy when the breeder had us come get him.
now I'm having my doubts about whether I should have gotten a kitten from her or not, but I have to say he's quite a dear. And, the breeder honestly didn't do anything in specific that I can say was exactly wrong, but.. having worked with other breeders (three other ones, to be exact) and having contacted many others about different kittens at different points in my search.. she doesn't seem as... diligent and .. well, for lack of a better term after a sleepless night.. (no one shoot me here, I swear it's not an insult.. it's actually what I prefer)... um.. we'll go with "uptight" or "by the book" as most of the others (much admired from my point of view) that I've worked with.
Anyway.. he's definitely a social little thing, but one of the things he does is trying to nurse from Joyeux (who is his new best buddy) and/or from us when we hold him. He climbs up by our neck, lays across our chest right by our neck (pulse point??) and then tries to nurse.
I talked to our vet assistant today and he suggested getting a bottle and some KMR just to appease his need to nurse still, and maybe just bottle feeding him every so often for the next week or two..
He's eating fine (he *loves* raw, and scarfs it down), and he's no stranger to the wheat grass (he munchs that too) as well as the dry around the house...
He's still such a baby in so many ways.. I really wish she'd kept him with his mom another two weeks or so. He is learning from our other four-footers, so I'm not so worried about the socialization or about learning his survival skills... he's washing himself, jumping and so forth, but..
Does anyone have any suggestions about the nursing? I know there has to be something to give him that emotional support, especially given that there are so many litters of kittens that for some reason or another can't feed from an original mom and are often hand/bottle fed. Is there something I can do to aid his emotional development?
Thanks!
Anyway.. he's definitely a social little thing, but one of the things he does is trying to nurse from Joyeux (who is his new best buddy) and/or from us when we hold him. He climbs up by our neck, lays across our chest right by our neck (pulse point??) and then tries to nurse.
I talked to our vet assistant today and he suggested getting a bottle and some KMR just to appease his need to nurse still, and maybe just bottle feeding him every so often for the next week or two..
He's eating fine (he *loves* raw, and scarfs it down), and he's no stranger to the wheat grass (he munchs that too) as well as the dry around the house...
He's still such a baby in so many ways.. I really wish she'd kept him with his mom another two weeks or so. He is learning from our other four-footers, so I'm not so worried about the socialization or about learning his survival skills... he's washing himself, jumping and so forth, but..
Does anyone have any suggestions about the nursing? I know there has to be something to give him that emotional support, especially given that there are so many litters of kittens that for some reason or another can't feed from an original mom and are often hand/bottle fed. Is there something I can do to aid his emotional development?
Thanks!