how do you?!

[azreal mccray]

teach a kiten to drink water from the bowl (lap) i was recently in the hospital and my bf started to give him water from his bottle instead of the formula once every night and amazingly he drank it...he would have him lick it off the nipple and follow it to the bowl and then he would drink a little but that only worked i guess when i wasnt home because my boyfriend tried show me and he wouldnt do it....so were off formula but still using a bottle to hydrate at 8 1/2 weeks how do i get him to lap....and is tap water ok thats what i used to mix with the kmr but if tap water ok for just water to hydrate? someone said hes probably frinking and you just dont see i doubt it because he crys i give him water and he stops...any help would be appreciated

 

[momof3rugratz]

I think he might be drinking also... But just a little because he knows if he cries you will give him his bottle.. Just like a baby you have to break him

 

[azreal mccray]

what if he dies from dehydration?

 

[ryanjay]

the litter i handraised varied-first started drinking out of main bowl at 5 weeks, 2nd at 6 1/2 weeks and the last didn't drink water till he was well over two years old(I know for sure since most of time he would have been dehydrated except i few him wet food and added water...he never tried to drink till one day and i was like OMG OMG BENJIS DRINKING

now his fav spot is to hit the toiliet bowl...go figure. the current litter I have(with a mom cat(THANK GOD!) started at around 5-6 weeks..they went through a few days of coughing and water up nose but now they are all drinking without falling in bowl

..They are 8 weeks old thursday/friday. I'd try giving him lots of wet food and add water making it a bit sopupy-but to much might give hi the runs...Major issue with not drinking would be in time a urinary issue(talking when hes 4 month or older) Also kmr makes a weaning powder...think its aimed at older kittens who kmr isn';t complete enough but not sure. RJ

 

[missymotus]

Originally Posted by momof3rugratz

I think he might be drinking also... But just a little because he knows if he cries you will give him his bottle.. Just like a baby you have to break him

I agree, he knows if he cries he'll get his way.

If you feed him wet food, he will get moisture from that. Also some cats don't like their water right next to the food dish, my cats like it on the other side of the room and they only like a stainless steel bowl. Won't drink from plastic or ceramic.

 

[hell603]

You can check for dehydration by pulling his skin up around the neck area if it snaps back fairly quickly - no problem - if it stays up or takes a long time to go back then he is dehydrated.

 

[wookie130]

Hell603 is right...do the dehydration skin test. Personally, I'd just leave the bowl of water out for him at all times, in an easily accessible area...he is probably drinking, and you don't even know it. At this point, it is time to completely 100% ditch the bottle...it is doing nothing for him at this point. If he's eating wet kitten food in a can, he may need much less water than you think...a lot of cats retain a lot of the water they need from wet food, and will not drink a lot of water from a bowl.

Once he's a bit bigger, and if you're still concerned about his water intake, you may want to invest in a pet fountain...many cats LOVE to drink from these, much more so than a bowl. Since they've come out a few years ago, the fountains have gone down a lot in price...they're worth checking out at Petco or Petsmart, possibly even at Wal-Mart.

I rarely see Captain Steuben (12 weeks) drinking...but I eventually caught him in the act. Azreal will get the hang of it, and you will spot him doing this soon.

How's the litterbox training going?

 

[wookie130]

Oh, and tap water is just fine.