Just Got A 7 Week Old Kitten

[browniecat3004]

Hellooooo,
i just got a 7 week old kitten and i’m a bit worried. The guy who gave her to me originally advertised that he would give the kitten away at 8 weeks, but after my parents viewed the kitten he said i could collect her at 7 weeks old. Another thing is that my mum told me she didn’t see the kittens mother when she viewed the kitten which is strange and worrying. What’s your opinion? do you think my kitten will be ok? she’s eating and drinking fine and uses the litter tray and is very playful. I will be taking her to the vet next week hopefully, to get her vaccinations and just general health check, in just a bit paranoid as i wanna take care of her as best as i can.

Thanks

 

[kashmir64]

If she's not already, give her canned food. Kitten. Also I would offer her a kitten kibble so she can munch. You can't overfeed a kitten. I would also offer her a saucer of goats milk. Raw is best, but you can use pasteurized. You can get it in the dairy section of Walmart.
She is not old enough to be weaned, hence the goats milk. Do not give her cows milk as cats are lactose intolerant and it could make her sick.
Do you have a digital scale to weigh her? Weighing her at the same time every day will help you to keep tabs on her overall health.

BTW...where's the pictures....We want pictures. And what's her name?

 

[LTS3]

If you can't find goat's milk, kitten replacer is fine. Any pet store sells this. KMR is one brand. Like Human baby formula, kitten milk replacer is available as a ready to use liquid or as a powder you add water to.

Are you feeding canned kitten food or dry kitten food? Kittens have tiny mouths that aren't very strong so canned food is easiest for them to eat. You can add a little water or kitten milk replacer to the food to make it mushier to eat. When your kitten is a little older, around 12 weeks or so, you can offer some dry food.

 

[ArchyCat]

If you buy KMR, buy the powder form. Then you can mix up what you need. Also in powder form, it won't spoil. I also think canned kitten food would be best for your kitten. Pate, if you can find it.

And your cat is considered to be a kitten until he reaches 1 year old. That means keep feeding him kitten food until then. It has the extra fat and protein he needs for growing plus being very active.

 

[war&wisdom]

If you can't find goat's milk, kitten replacer is fine. Any pet store sells this. KMR is one brand. Like Human baby formula, kitten milk replacer is available as a ready to use liquid or as a powder you add water to.

Are you feeding canned kitten food or dry kitten food? Kittens have tiny mouths that aren't very strong so canned food is easiest for them to eat. You can add a little water or kitten milk replacer to the food to make it mushier to eat. When your kitten is a little older, around 12 weeks or so, you can offer some dry food.

Wait, my kittens were eating both dry and wet food with their foster mom by the time they were 6-7 weeks old, and they were entirely happy and healthy. If the kitten is eating the food well, as the OP said, then I believe the kitten is weaned. Am I wrong?

 

[kashmir64]

Wait, my kittens were eating both dry and wet food with their foster mom by the time they were 6-7 weeks old, and they were entirely happy and healthy. If the kitten is eating the food well, as the OP said, then I believe the kitten is weaned. Am I wrong?

Kittens need the antibodies from mom. They would normally nurse until 11-12 weeks when mom would wean them. If a kitten is forced to wean before this time, even if they are eating and drinking well, they are not getting the benefit from mom. KMR or goats milk (or both) will give them the added oomph they need for a healthy immune system.

 

[war&wisdom]

Kittens need the antibodies from mom. They would normally nurse until 11-12 weeks when mom would wean them. If a kitten is forced to wean before this time, even if they are eating and drinking well, they are not getting the benefit from mom. KMR or goats milk (or both) will give them the added oomph they need for a healthy immune system.

I thought that the antibodies come from the colostrum, which is only produced in the first day or two after birth: Colostrum

Also, to clarify, my kittens were orphans.

 

[war&wisdom]

B browniecat3004 , your kitten will be okay. She should have stayed longer with her mom, but you are capable of putting in the work of being her mom now. Make sure to keep an eye on her eating, drinking, and litter box habits (as I know you already are), and make sure to give her a ton of attention and love. You will probably also have to teach her how to play nicely, since she doesn't have her littermates to do so. We're here to help!

 

[kashmir64]

I thought that the antibodies come from the colostrum, which is only produced in the first day or two after birth: Colostrum

Also, to clarify, my kittens were orphans.

KMR gave them the antibodies the need. If they are orphans they had to have had this or something very similar.

B browniecat3004 I am not saying that you HAVE to give them the KMR or goats milk, I am advising that you do so your kitten will have a better immune system.
If you opt not to do this, at the very least, get a kitten pate for her. About 3 x's daily for a young kitten.

 

[Willowy]

KMR gave them the antibodies the need. If they are orphans they had to have had this or something very similar.

KMR doesn't have antibodies. It's just baby formula for kittens. Very necessary for those whose mothers can't feed them, but no antibodies, which is why mother feeding is preferable if at all possible. I know you can get powdered cow colostrum for bum calves but I don't think there's anything made for kittens. But it wouldn't hurt, either. A little extra nutrition is good for babies.

I tend to keep orphans on KMR until they're 3 months old or so (or whenever the can of KMR runs out, lol), just because I think they need a little extra nutrition, but I think mother-raised kittens should be fine after 7 or 8 weeks.

But, yes, definitely get kitten food, both canned and dry. I like Purina ONE kitten food better than Kitten Chow, and I like Fancy Feast turkey flavor for canned. And there are other brands of kitten food too, it's just that Purina is the most common.

 

[browniecat3004]

If she's not already, give her canned food. Kitten. Also I would offer her a kitten kibble so she can munch. You can't overfeed a kitten. I would also offer her a saucer of goats milk. Raw is best, but you can use pasteurized. You can get it in the dairy section of Walmart.
She is not old enough to be weaned, hence the goats milk. Do not give her cows milk as cats are lactose intolerant and it could make her sick.
Do you have a digital scale to weigh her? Weighing her at the same time every day will help you to keep tabs on her overall health.

BTW...where's the pictures....We want pictures. And what's her name?

thanks for the advice and sorry but i’d rather not put pics of my kitten up on here, haven’t got a name for her yet

 

[browniecat3004]

If you can't find goat's milk, kitten replacer is fine. Any pet store sells this. KMR is one brand. Like Human baby formula, kitten milk replacer is available as a ready to use liquid or as a powder you add water to.

Are you feeding canned kitten food or dry kitten food? Kittens have tiny mouths that aren't very strong so canned food is easiest for them to eat. You can add a little water or kitten milk replacer to the food to make it mushier to eat. When your kitten is a little older, around 12 weeks or so, you can offer some dry food.

sorry i’m from another country, i don’t think we have canned food here it’s wet food that comes in pouches that we are giving her. We bought some dry food but she isn’t eating it yet so we mixed it with some water. Kitten milk we have been giving as well but i’m trying to get her to drink water as well and she just won’t

 

[browniecat3004]

Wait, my kittens were eating both dry and wet food with their foster mom by the time they were 6-7 weeks old, and they were entirely happy and healthy. If the kitten is eating the food well, as the OP said, then I believe the kitten is weaned. Am I wrong?

yes she’s been weaned

 

[browniecat3004]

B browniecat3004 , your kitten will be okay. She should have stayed longer with her mom, but you are capable of putting in the work of being her mom now. Make sure to keep an eye on her eating, drinking, and litter box habits (as I know you already are), and make sure to give her a ton of attention and love. You will probably also have to teach her how to play nicely, since she doesn't have her littermates to do so. We're here to help!

thank you that means a lot!

 

[browniecat3004]

just to clarify i’m from the uk so we don’t have canned food i think haha just the pouches, also i’ve given her kitten milk too but it’s different brand from what you guys are talking about

 

[war&wisdom]

just to clarify i’m from the uk so we don’t have canned food i think haha just the pouches, also i’ve given her kitten milk too but it’s different brand from what you guys are talking about

The UK has wet food made specifically for kittens, in pouches instead of cans, of course. (We have several UK members on this site, so it's been mentioned.) Have you found some?

 

[LTS3]

Columbine what are some good UK canned (tinned) / pouched / moist kitten foods?

I found these on Zooplus UK: Product Search - Over 10,000 Products

KMR gave them the antibodies the need.

KMR doesn't have antibodies. It's just baby formula for kittens. .

There are no antibodies in formula.

KMR® Kitten Milk Replacer Powder | PetAg

The UK equivalent of KMR is this: Royal Canin Babycat Milk

 

[browniecat3004]

The UK has wet food made specifically for kittens, in pouches instead of cans, of course. (We have several UK members on this site, so it's been mentioned.) Have you found some?

yes the guy we got the kitten from told us to get felix brand kitten food so that’s what we have been feeding her

 

[browniecat3004]

Columbine what are some good UK canned (tinned) / pouched / moist kitten foods?

I found these on Zooplus UK: Product Search - Over 10,000 Products




There are no antibodies in formula.

KMR® Kitten Milk Replacer Powder | PetAg

The UK equivalent of KMR is this: Royal Canin Babycat Milk

we gave her a different brand of kitten milk but i’ll try to find that as well, also i’m fine with the feeding and all i know what brand to get im just worried if anything will happen to her since we got her a bit too early, i’ve booked an appointment at the vets for her this friday to get her vaccinations and a health check so i can ask some questions that day

 

[Columbine]

There are tons of decent wet kitten foods over here, even some of the supermarket ones.

Whiskas kitten in jelly (widely available)

Webbox natural premium kitten (Asda)

Lily's Kitchen kitten

Thrive Complete kitten

Nature's Menu kitten

Little Big Paw kitten

Wainwrights kitten (pets at home own brand)

Purely Holistic kitten (pets at home own brand)

Pure kitten

Most of the Zooplus.co.uk own brands are pretty good too, and Zooplus is my go-to for most cat supplies generally. They have some great, cheap brands that have better ingredients (imo) than equivalent prices elsewhere.

I tend to stay away from Royal Canin and Hills because they're overpriced and full of fillers.

Felix is pretty good for a supermarket food, but I prefer Whiskas because it doesn't have any sugar or vegetable protein (two things that cats aren't designed to digest).

As a rule of thumb, I just read the ingredients and avoid anything with sugars or high amounts of vegetable extracts/grains, especially when they're high up on the ingredients list. I don't fuss about a little inulin or other vegetable fibre, or extras that are listed AFTER minerals. In those situations, the quantity added is so low as to not be worth fussing about

Hope at least some of that helps