Kittens Not Eating Dry Food At 5 Weeks 2 Days

[CrazyCatLady86]

My kittens are not at all interested in their dry kitten food. They are still suckling from mother cat. They hurt her quite a lot with their nails. A few days ago I bought some kitten milk supplement from the pet store kmr and had ground up their kitten food and mixed the mixture. They seem to somewhat eat it but mainly just lap up the milk that is in it. They show a little bit of interest in wet canned food but I don't really want to make habit of them eating it as its quite messy out of the back end. Any advice on how to get them to eat dry food like little champs? Thank you.

 

[Sarthur2]

First, trim the very tips of the kittens' nails so they do not hurt mom as much. Then apply coconut oil to mom's belly.

Second, the kittens are not eating the dry food because at 5 weeks they are not ready yet.

Third, it is the KMR that is giving them loose poops, not the wet food. They are used to mom's milk, not KMR.

Kittens need both dry kitten chow and wet food. When they are ready they will eat the pate-style wet food without KMR mixed in. They will begin crunching dry food too when they are ready.

This will occur in the next couple of weeks. Let them wean on their own timetable since they have a mom. They also need to continue nursing her for several more weeks.

 

[catsknowme]

I agree with the above advice. You can also offer them boiled, skinless cicken. Also, try adding some water into the canned food (you can also dilute the KMR) and gradually work up to full sttength. Just feed more often because you will also be diluting the nutrition. If they have diarrhea, try adding some plain, canned pumpkin - it really works!

 

[CrazyCatLady86]

6 weeks and 1 day. Still not eating dry food, they have teeth. I am a little bit confused because I got all 4 of my cats at 6 weeks old and they were eating dry food like champs when I got them and these kittens wont even try it. They wont touch wet food either anymore except for one of them but not enthusiastic about it. They just want mothers milk. Two of them will drink kmr but the other two wont... Why do so many kittens get adopted out at 6 weeks and eat dry food by this point?

 

[catsknowme]

My 11 week old kittens didnt start eating kibble until about 8 weeks. They did eat canned food, though. They were offered Royal Canin Baby Cat, then Purina Kitten Chow and now O.N.E. kitten. One kitten is 2 go 2 her new home this week so I need her adjusted to what her new home will feed.My kittens are part Siamese and I think they mature more slowly - that was the case with my Maine Coon, he didnt reach maturity until 5 yrs, but he is big and very intelligent.

 

[ashade1]

You can mix in some turkey baby food with the kitten food as well. I use it when weaning kittens. They love it because it is so smelly!

 

[Sarthur2]

Give it time. They will be eating like champs soon!

 

[CrazyCatLady86]

8 weeks still not eating dry food, still only on mother. Picky little boogers.

 

[Sarthur2]

At 8 weeks they need more than just mom's milk.

Are they eating pate-style wet food?

They should be by now!

How much do they weigh?

 

[Willowy]

Um, yeah, they should be super hungry by now. I've known 8-week-olds who were still nursing heavily, but none that weren't eating at least some solids. What have you tried so far?

 

[ashade1]

I am surprised Mom is letting them nurse this much! They aren't eating anything else??

 

[catsknowme]

I vote for feeding those kittens some chicken boiled with some real salt/himalayan salt/pink salt (regular table salt is sodium chloride with other essential minerals removed in order to sell them as supplements - smart business practices). That should help stimulate their dietary preferences. Also, offer KMR or kitten glop to the entire family, including mom. At this size, they can really deplete mama cat's nutrition.
My kittens were born 4/29 and just yesterday, I "caught" mama kitty enticing one of her kittens to nurse - i feel bad because I blurted out, "Leo! Be a big boy" and they both looked up at me as if they were guilty. I apologized, "Sorry, Kelli, if you want to keep nursing those kitties, it's your choice" and walked away. At least, they won't grow up suckling on blankets.