Introducing 9w Baby To A 5w Bottle Baby

[Sherryangelajones]

The gray tabby is Jojo. She was orphaned/abandoned under my in-laws' house 2 weeks ago. We took her in as a bottle baby and quickly decided that she was our forever princess. We're estimating that she's about 5 weeks now. She's doing great, and oh-so-spoiled. We've relied on the Kitten Lady to give us a crash course in bottle baby care, and we decided to get Jojo a kitten friend. We brought 9-week-old Lady Loki home from a local rescue yesterday. Jojo isn't phased. We have 3 dogs that she constantly wants to be with, so to her, this is one more playmate. The dogs quickly realized she's a baby, so they want to love on her like they do with Jojo. They go nuts if she starts crying (which is the opposite of helpful!) Loki is not as open. Granted, she's had a rough 24 hours. She got taken away from her foster mommy and bio brother, dropped off for surgery, and then taken to a new home while still under the influence of pain meds. She has accepted her 3 new humans and loves to be cuddled. She's a purr machine with us, but she stares at Jojo and the dogs and growls quietly (sounds like she's buzzing). She's not being physically aggressive, but we're not allowing her to be too close, either. I'm a little surprised that a kitten would already be stand-offish. I expected Jojo's reaction from both babies. What can we do to facilitate her settling in and hopefully help her become friends with all her new siblings?

 

[war&wisdom]

It sounds like she simply needs more time. She's just had surgery, as you said, so she isn't exactly comfortable. And everything is brand new to her. Spend a lot of time loving on her separately for the next several days so that she feels safe and has time to heal, and then think about introductions. I'm sure it will work out fine.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Totally agree with war&wisdom !

These kittens are both young, so expect to have to teach them boundaries that they would have normally learned from their moms had they been able to stay with them longer.

Maybe some tips in these articles will help?

6 Ways to Train a Kitten

How to Train and Discipline Your New Kitten

 

[Sherryangelajones]

Thank you! We struggle with setting any sort of boundary with Jojo because she's so stinking cute and sweet. We have to buckle down and do it, though. We don't want her to grow into an insufferable monster. We'll read these articles and start following the "rules" of raising a kitten properly.

Totally agree with war&wisdom !

These kittens are both young, so expect to have to teach them boundaries that they would have normally learned from their moms had they been able to stay with them longer.

Maybe some tips in these articles will help?

6 Ways to Train a Kitten

How to Train and Discipline Your New Kitten

 

[FeebysOwner]

stinking cute and sweet

…will get you into trouble every time!!!! They learn very quickly how to take advantage of that!!

 

[Sherryangelajones]

That raises another question. Her royal highness has decided it's way too much trouble to eat out of a dish on her own. She wants the canned food-formula mix off our fingers, or ideally just drink her milk from a bottle. I don't think we should be pushing the issue right this minute, but when should we?

…will get you into trouble every time!!!! They learn very quickly how to take advantage of that!!

 

[FeebysOwner]

You can still give her milk from a bottle, but it can't hurt to try a few different things with the formula mix, even now. Try a very shallow dish, a small dinner plate, or even a paper plate.

 

[Sherryangelajones]

She can easily eat from the little dish we've been giving her. She did great for the first couple of days. It's like she decided that she'd rather get snuggles and a bottle instead. We weren't planning on discontinuing the bottle completely until about 8 weeks, so we have plenty of time. At her age, we don't want to get tough on the eating topic, but when should we firm up and say, offer cuddles if she asks, but withhold the bottle until she's eaten some canned food?

You can still give her milk from a bottle, but it can't hurt to try a few different things with the formula mix, even now. Try a very shallow dish, a small dinner plate, or even a paper plate.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I wouldn't withhold from her at this point. But, still think you should try other types of food containers, just to see. Some cats/kittens can be a bit skittish about having their whiskers touch the sides of a bowl/dish. That may or may not be her issue, since she did eat from a dish for a few days.

Also, she could have decided she doesn't like the formula mix. So, while still feeding her a bottle, you can try adding some Gerber baby food meats (no onions, garlic, etc.) to the formula mix to see if the taste change makes any difference.