New 5 week old kitten, a few questions.

[rumi_azul]

Hey there everyone, glad I found thing place I live in Canada, Ontario and I'm 23 yrs old, I recently got a 5 week old kitten this Monday that passed from my mom as a gift/surprise, I knew the moment I saw her she was still really young to have left her mother, but the woman she had taken it from wanted to get rid of them as fast as possible. The kitten who I named Artemis is from a litter of 9.

I think she is doing well but it has been a loooong time since I've owned a cat this young, the others were around 8 weeks when we got them and eating solids and litter trained by the time we got them. So I have a few questions for you guys that I hope some people can shed light on.

1- I have been feeding her KRM (kitten replacement milk) it says to give it to her every 4-5 hours for small/young kittens, which I'am. Then I also read that at this age she can start eating wet/dry food but it must be mixed into the KRM and mashed into a paste then given to her. I have been giving her KRM mixed with Pro-Life kitten wet food from a can, and mashing it into the milk. I give her this when I wake up, afternoon around 12, then when I get home from work. My question is, am I doing right by feeding her this way? and when and how do I gradually turn to hard food and just water, when does she stop having milk?.

2- When she is done eating, all she does is meow constently and wants to be around me and have her hold her, is that normal and why is she doing that?.

3- She's nibbling/licking my hands (knuckles, figers etc) and feet (toes etc) whenever I go near her, is it because she is teething? if so what can I give her to help, if she isn't teething then what is she doing and will she grow out of it?.

4- The litter box, I have a kitten litter box, filled with world's best cat litter. She's been in it once or twice, but is still not sure about it. I have placed her in it a few times and taken her paw to make digging movements etc, then she jumps out. My question is, will she use it if I just let her do whatever she wants after she eats?, or should I put her feces in there the next time she poops on the carpet? lol. Or should I just watch her and try and guess when she's ready after she eats, then rush her to the litter box? lol.

I will appreciate it alot if these questions were answered, I want to do everything right for her, to ensure she gets larger and healthier.

 

[Willowy]

1) I keep giving KMR in their canned food until they're 10-12 weeks old. Just because I think that orphans need extra nutrition. But it's not strictly necessary past 6-8 weeks. Since she was with her mom until now, I think 8 weeks would be fine. You can start offering a bowl of dry food now, to ger her used to it, but don't expect her to eat much of it until 9-10 weeks--their teeth aren't well developed until then. Canned food is better for cats anyway, so you don't ever have to give dry food if you don't want to. I would try to get 4 feedings a day into her at this age.

2) She's just a baby, and is now away from her mama and siblings. She's lonely

. You're all she has. Some clinginess is to be expected.

3) This is how kittens play with other kittens. Kittens removed too young from their siblings frequently have trouble learning bite inhibition. If you have older cats, they'll teach her this as she grows. If you don't have any other cats, honestly, I would recommend getting another kitten for her to grow up with, if at all possible. Raising a single kitten (especially one taken too young) to be a stable adult cat is difficult, IME.

4) All those things you mention sound good---put her in the box after meals and if you see her looking for a place to potty. If you find poop somewhere else, put it in the box to give her ideas. I would recommend not actually moving her paw in the box. . .this can backfire and make her want to avoid the box. Instead, with baby kittens, I dig my fingers in the litter, kind of a playful sort of scratching, and this usually makes the kitten also dig. The digging triggers something in their instincts, and then they potty. Well, it's always worked for me anyway!

 

[rumi_azul]

Thanks, but I can't get another kitten, I had enough trouble convincing my dad to keep this one as I still live at home. And we do not have other cats, any other way to suggest the teething/nibbling/biting to stop or atleast some way to help her?

Also I noticed late last night she went for two poops not using the litter box, and they were runny, she went for a small one this morning again not in the litter box, and it was runny. What would someone suggest to help her stool not be runny?, could it be the KRM and the wet food, or just the wet food that is making her have diarrhea at the moment?. Should I take out the wet food not and just give her the KRM, or should I decrease the KRM and add more wet food?.

Lastly, when can I start giving her water in a bowl? and can it just be plain tap water?. Or just stick with the milk and wet food till around 8 weeks old?.

 

[Willowy]

Start offering water in a shallow bowl now. She may not know what to do with it at first but it'll be there if she's thirsty.

I don't really know how to teach bite inhibition to a single kitten. The only thing I can think of is to have a lot of stuffed animals, and whenever she wants to pounce and bite something, give her a stuffie instead of your hand. And never play rough games with your hand, if she wants to wrestle have her wrestle a stuffie.

She needs both the KMR and the canned food, you can't cut either one out. I doubt those are the cause of the loose stools anyway. She probably has worms or some other parasite. I'd get her to the vet soon, and have them run a fecal exam to look for nasties.

 

[jack31]

I hand raised 5 kittens last fall, and as their mother I had to teach them about biting. Because there were five, they did help teach each other, but as I said they definitely saw me as mom and would play very rough with me. I basically would just pinch them when they got rough with me, to replicate the bite of a mom cat. At a year old now, all my adopters have said they have no issues with them and biting.

Leslie

 

[rumi_azul]

Thanks for the replies guys, but I'm still slightly confused on feeding. I'm still giving her KRM mixed with the wet food, but when should I start decreasing the KRM/stopping it all together and move to giving her just water and just wet food?.

Also should I be adding more wet food and just add one tablespoon of KRM, to wean her off of the milk? It says on the can to decrease the KRM, as needs be lol which doesn't help much lol.

Also she's still having slightly running poops, but not as bad as before, any other reasons, I still think it might be the KRM mixed with the wet food?.

 

[kat013]

Definitely offer her KRM, whether mixed with wet food or not, until at least 8 weeks. At 5 weeks I'd be sticking with mostly KRM and a little wet food; gradually change that to 10% KRM / 90% wet food by 12 weeks. Hope that helps.

Hard to comment on the loose stools, other than to say, she should have a full belly after she eats - big and round - and as long as she's consistently gaining weight and is not bony, she'll survive. If the loose stools persist, take her to a vet.

In order to have a well-adjusted adult cat, play with and give affection to this kitten as much as possible. Every time you see her, pick her up and snuggle her, even if it is only for half a minute. Let her sit on your lap, and carry her around, as much as possible. Let her sleep on the bed with you if possible. I put a cat tree next to my desk chair so my kitten at the time could get into my lap at will.

As far as the teething, buy some cat chew toys (if you can find any), or a small dog chew toy, and keep it handy. When she starts chewing on your fingers, give her the chew toy. If one's not handy, you can pinch your thumb and a finger together, and let her try to chew on that; with nails facing out on two ends, her teeth are less likely to hurt you.

If she's play-wrestling, you can do this with her gently, but if she gets too rough, say "too much" (consistently, every time), disengage, and walk away briefly. Disengaging without getting clawed may require you to hold her by the scruff of the neck. I highly recommend a stuffed animal or two of different sizes; when she wants to be rough, give her a stuffed toy and wiggle it around (may be good for when she's just chewing, too). This really works. Also burn off excess energy by playing chase (hop away from her and move away until she catches you; then chase her until she stops; repeat until kitten takes a nap

)

Keep her confined in a bathroom with food at one end and litter box at the other in order to speed box training, whenever you aren't at home or are super busy. Or you can use a kennel for this purpose if it's big enough and a bathroom won't work for whatever reason. I also have to wonder where she's peeing... kittens that young don't produce much pee, and she may have already used the carpet for that too. Agree on seeding the litterbox with her poop. Also, put her in the litterbox frequently. Like, once every hour or so. She may just jump out, just let her do whatever.

And, if you can, please get a message back to the momma cat owner via your mom to please spay her cat after she's done nursing the kittens.