- Joined
- Apr 17, 2021
- Messages
- 21
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Hello! My sister and I adopted a kitten at the beginning of the week. It was supposedly from a reputable breeder, but on bringing the poor thing home, over the course of the week we've come to realise that they were not truthful on a number of accounts. Seeing as the kitten is staying primarily in my room for the time being, I'm taking on a majority of the work, which I'm happy to do, but I am also now dealing with some things that I'm not 100% sure about, so I was hoping someone here could help me.
So the kitten was SUPPOSED to be 8 weeks old, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be younger than the breeder said. He was underweight for his age, which means he can't have his vaccines just yet, nor was he allowed the typical flea treatment from the vets. That was fine, we thought we could wait.
He was supposed to be in good condition, but as we discovered on day 3, the poor baby was infested with fleas- after 2 baths and looking extensively through his fur with a flea comb we managed to pull over 20 LIVE fleas from him... And the vet prescribed a flea treatment that wouldn't be harmful to him. Immediately, he's started crying less and sleeping more, which is brilliant!
We've sprayed the house down, fumigated my room and everything he's been in touch with. Thats fine.
Regarding his appetite, we've bought him the exact food the breeder specified (wet and dry), but he's not interested. We've additionally tried him on about 10 other types of wet food and 4 other types of dry food to see if anything strikes his fancy, but had no luck. We've tried warming it up, the stinkier brands, gravy vs jelly, soup, pate. No joy. He sniffs it, but won't eat a bite. Yesterday (day 5) And today, he finally ate some boiled red lamb, which we are extremely thankful for... because it's better than nothing. But I'm aware that boiled red meat will not give him everything he needs to grow up healthy. He shows no sign of wanting to eat anything else though...
He was also supposed to be litter trained, but of course, the litter training was a lie, so we're working on litter training him. He's had a few mishaps (R.I.P my duvet, my rug, his blanket... but he's getting the hang of it! :') ). He's also had an awfully bad tummy and is on the runs when he manages to go (after a lot of effort) - vet prescribed him a paste to help, but it just makes him puke, and stop eating and drinking, which is worrying, because he is barely eating and drinking anything as is. We've made the decision to keep him off the paste for a few days until he gets at least a few more meals in him, so he gets some energy. He'll drink a little water, and is completely uninterested in cat milk.
Despite all of this, he's a peppy little boy and is very energetic and adventurous.
But I was wondering if you guys had any more ideas about food? How do I get him to eat and drink? Specifically, how do i get him to eat actual kitten food when we're tried 14 different kinds and he's completely uninterested? We've tried different bowls, moving them around the room, etc.
I had a bit of success getting him to drink by warming the water up to tepid, but he's still not drinking as much as I'd like. I know kittens are supposed to be eating more than an adult cat, but this one is averaging less than 1 real meal a day and it's worrying. The vet didn't seem too worried when initially checking him over, but I need him to eat! I know how fast things can go wrong.
.
He also has a bed that he slept in the first few days just fine, but now always wants to sleep next to me/on me/on my bed. Is that ok for him to do in the short term, or should I always return him back to his bed to avoid bad habits? I don't mind him sleeping on me if he needs the comfort- I just wanna do what is best for him. I just don't wanna encourage behaviour that will screw him over in the long run. Ideally I'd like him to use his own bed when he's a little older, but whatever. He's a baby rn, I can't begrudge him wanting comfort.
And a final thing! I have a whole number of toys for him and he is uninterested in play completely. We try every day with different methods, and nothing catches his interest. Any ideas on how to change this? I feel like if he was more active, maybe he'd eat better? Thank you for reading! And thank you in advance for any responses.
So the kitten was SUPPOSED to be 8 weeks old, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be younger than the breeder said. He was underweight for his age, which means he can't have his vaccines just yet, nor was he allowed the typical flea treatment from the vets. That was fine, we thought we could wait.
He was supposed to be in good condition, but as we discovered on day 3, the poor baby was infested with fleas- after 2 baths and looking extensively through his fur with a flea comb we managed to pull over 20 LIVE fleas from him... And the vet prescribed a flea treatment that wouldn't be harmful to him. Immediately, he's started crying less and sleeping more, which is brilliant!
We've sprayed the house down, fumigated my room and everything he's been in touch with. Thats fine.
Regarding his appetite, we've bought him the exact food the breeder specified (wet and dry), but he's not interested. We've additionally tried him on about 10 other types of wet food and 4 other types of dry food to see if anything strikes his fancy, but had no luck. We've tried warming it up, the stinkier brands, gravy vs jelly, soup, pate. No joy. He sniffs it, but won't eat a bite. Yesterday (day 5) And today, he finally ate some boiled red lamb, which we are extremely thankful for... because it's better than nothing. But I'm aware that boiled red meat will not give him everything he needs to grow up healthy. He shows no sign of wanting to eat anything else though...
He was also supposed to be litter trained, but of course, the litter training was a lie, so we're working on litter training him. He's had a few mishaps (R.I.P my duvet, my rug, his blanket... but he's getting the hang of it! :') ). He's also had an awfully bad tummy and is on the runs when he manages to go (after a lot of effort) - vet prescribed him a paste to help, but it just makes him puke, and stop eating and drinking, which is worrying, because he is barely eating and drinking anything as is. We've made the decision to keep him off the paste for a few days until he gets at least a few more meals in him, so he gets some energy. He'll drink a little water, and is completely uninterested in cat milk.
Despite all of this, he's a peppy little boy and is very energetic and adventurous.
But I was wondering if you guys had any more ideas about food? How do I get him to eat and drink? Specifically, how do i get him to eat actual kitten food when we're tried 14 different kinds and he's completely uninterested? We've tried different bowls, moving them around the room, etc.
I had a bit of success getting him to drink by warming the water up to tepid, but he's still not drinking as much as I'd like. I know kittens are supposed to be eating more than an adult cat, but this one is averaging less than 1 real meal a day and it's worrying. The vet didn't seem too worried when initially checking him over, but I need him to eat! I know how fast things can go wrong.
.
He also has a bed that he slept in the first few days just fine, but now always wants to sleep next to me/on me/on my bed. Is that ok for him to do in the short term, or should I always return him back to his bed to avoid bad habits? I don't mind him sleeping on me if he needs the comfort- I just wanna do what is best for him. I just don't wanna encourage behaviour that will screw him over in the long run. Ideally I'd like him to use his own bed when he's a little older, but whatever. He's a baby rn, I can't begrudge him wanting comfort.
And a final thing! I have a whole number of toys for him and he is uninterested in play completely. We try every day with different methods, and nothing catches his interest. Any ideas on how to change this? I feel like if he was more active, maybe he'd eat better? Thank you for reading! And thank you in advance for any responses.