Food Weaning help for some littermates

[User2425]

Hi,
My kittens have reached an age of 4 weeks 6 days, I've started to help them get through the weaning process.

One of the littermates is chomping off a plate with no issues, but the other two are not as interested.

They are all gaining weight at a healthy rate, they have no issue drinking the gruel from a bottle, but as soon as its on a plate or dish they don't care for it, the most I've gotten is for them to bite the plate.

I've tried placing some on the mouths, leading them to the plate with some gruel on my finger, is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks

 

[susanm9006]

Hi,
My kittens have reached an age of 4 weeks 6 days, I've started to help them get through the weaning process.

One of the littermates is chomping off a plate with no issues, but the other two are not as interested.

They are all gaining weight at a healthy rate, they have no issue drinking the gruel from a bottle, but as soon as its on a plate or dish they don't care for it, the most I've gotten is for them to bite the plate.

I've tried placing some on the mouths, leading them to the plate with some gruel on my finger, is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks

You can try putting a dab on a front paw. Instinct is to lick it off and in the process they may discover that stuff tastes pretty good. But kittens do differ in readiness for food, so try every day or couple days. It could be another week or two before they figure it out.

I don’t know about feeding gruel in a bottle. Maybe plain milk so that they only get meat if they eat it. We will see what others have to say about thst.

 

[User2425]

You can try putting a dab on a front paw. Instinct is to lick it off and in the process they may discover that stuff tastes pretty good. But kittens do differ in readiness for food, so try every day or couple days. It could be another week or two before they figure it out.

I'll try this method, they are aware of the taste , just not taking initiative, the mother cat is still lactating and they are feeding off her, so I'm assuming she's not ready for them to be weaned off?

Thanks for the tip either way and I'll keep posted on how it goes.

 

[Sarthur2]

Kittens wean to soft foods more easily from 6-8 weeks, especially when they have a mom to nurse. Give it time and don’t force it. They’ll get there!

 

[User2425]

Just thought I'd post an update, another kitten has joined in with the first born and they are slurping the gruel/slurry perfectly fine.

The final kitten of the litter mates went straight for the mother cats dry feed and started chomping it down, I'm assuming I should ensure that he gets sufficient water, but just let him continue with this?

Thanks for your help, seems like time is all they needed.

 

[Sarthur2]

You can soften the dry food for the kitten with kitten formula. My kittens used to love it. It ensures they get liquid as well, though they may still be nursing and getting their fluids that way.

 

[User2425]

You can soften the dry food for the kitten with kitten formula. My kittens used to love it. It ensures they get liquid as well, though they may still be nursing and getting their fluids that way.

Will definitely be doing that, increased the number of wet bowls as well to ensure the little one is drinking plenty, they all do still nurse from the mother.