New kitten questions

Sarthur2

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It may be that she thinks this baby has something wrong with it, or that she plans to nurse it separately.

Is this the kitten with the scratches?

Have all kittens been nursing well?

Are you weighing daily and are they all gaining weight?

Have they all seemed healthy so far?

S skrumtuoscatlayd
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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Yes they are perfectly healthy to me
The were gaining weight steadily day by day
Last time I weighed was yesterday and they were all over 180g
I think I agree with you that she try move or get rid of them because they are weak because the two kitten she attempted to separate were two that weighed the least below 200g when others are all over
One thing thats worrying me is that some sneezes quite frequently and none has opened their eyes fully. Some have eyes only half way open, not fully
Should I be worried they are not opening their eyes at day 10?
Also I dont know whats wrong with tge mother cat, shes being picky with food, out of her nest more frequently, lethargic
She did nurse them couple of hours while I was out grocery shopping and she didnt harm them in any way so that was a relief
May be its because she didnt approve of the nest location and she simply wanted to move because I peeped in frequently to flea comb the kitten everynow and then to get rid of fleas which reinfested them
After I changed her nest location to somewhere cosier she went in and nursed them until I got back from outside

If its the case that she wants to nurse them separately to fatten them, should I make another nesting box nearby?
 
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Sarthur2

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They should all stay together if possible. Mother cat may need some extra calcium if she is lethargic. Give her a dish of kitten formula daily or a tablespoon of yogurt or a scrambled egg.

Kittens can take up to 14 days to fully open their eyes, but if the eyes are crusty or goopy, clean them gently with a warm damp cloth but do not force them open.

Sneezing can mean colds. Watch for kittens getting upper respiratory infections. If they get sick they may need antibiotics.

Keep us posted!
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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They should all stsy together if possible. Mother cat may need some extra calcium if she is lethargic. Give her a dish of kitten formula daily or a tablespoon of yogurt or a scrambled egg.

Kittens can take up to 14 days to fully open their eyes, but if the eyes are crusty or goopy, clean them gently with a warm damp cloth but do not force them open.

Sneezing can mean colds. Watch for kittens getting upper respiratory infections. If they get sick they may need antibiotics.

Keep us posted!
I tried scrambled egg this morning but she didnt eat it. I will try yoghurt, but can it be any kind of yoghurt? I have full fat greek yoghurt in the fridge but wonder if lactose would upset her stomach
Today she went back to her normal appetite and was eating ok and didnt attempt to move her babies
One other thing I notice is that some kittens were sticking out its tongue or twitching while sleeping. Should I be worried about this?
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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Hey guys thankfully all kittens are safe and sound. Their eyes are fully open and now are walking and playing although their coordinations are developing
They are still on mothers milk but I am not sure when they can have solid food or go litter on their own nor how to make these transitions smoothly. Any advice? Should I give them canned kitten food now as they are 22days old now? Would fancy feast kitten be good food choice for them? Most website tend to say to introduce solid food when 3 weeks old, so as the litter box. As for litter box I am not sure whther they automatically know how to use one without seeing their mother use one because I am planning to let them use separate litter box fron the mother
 

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Most kittens are not ready to eat soft foods until 5-7 weeks, so you should wait. They should cut their baby teeth around 4 weeks.

Once they do begin eating soft foods mom will not clean their bottoms anymore so they need to learn the litter box. This means you’ll start putting them in the box before and after meals several times a day. You can even take a little paw and show them how to dig.

Here are helpful videos:


 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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Thanks for your reply, but the video is using kitten formula because the kittens are orphaned. In case the kittens were having mothers milk previously what do I mix the canned food with to make it slurry?
 

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Use powdered kitten formula. Mix it to make milk, then mix the milk into their food to make the slurry. My kittens had a mom and still nursed through the transition, but I mixed kitten formula into the soft pate to make the slurry and they loved it when they were ready.

Kitten Lady urges an early transition with orphans, but you can wait since they have a mom. Kittens will naturally begin to eat slurry anywhere between 5-8 weeks, with most being at 6-7 weeks.
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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Do you think I can give them some supermarket kitten milk as a treat now, or use this to make the slurry instead of kitten fomula? The mother cat sometimes won't feed even if they request
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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Yes, you can use treat milk for now, but it does not provide the nutrition they need in the long run.

S skrumtuoscatlayd
But would giving the milk give them any diarrhea or make them poo instead of peeing only? If they start pooing before they are toilet trained I worry if that would make cleaning the kitten harder for mother cat. Also couple of them are starting to pee on their own. Although one of them used litter box the others pee in random places on the floor. The mother cat only pee and poo once a day in the evening and kitten hardly see her using the litterbox. So how do I initiate them to use the litterbox? Also I notice some gagging during sleep as if it is about to throw up. Is this anything of concern?
 

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Here is a helpful video:


Keep an eye on the kitten who is gagging during sleep. Hopefully that improves. If not, you should consult a vet.
 

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make them poo instead of peeing only
The kittens will already be pooing, and they will have done so since birth seeing as it is a natural bodily process. Mama cat will just have cleaned it up, the same as she has done with their pee. The milk may cause diarrhea, but there is no way to know for sure without trying it first.

I put a litter box in a play pen with my kittens and they just automatically started using it once they started being able to walk around. I then let them out of the play pen so they could roam and would put them back in every 10 minutes or so and they would use the litter. Eventually they learnt to return to the litter box themselves and I then moved the litter to a space I wanted it. Sometimes sharing a litterbox with the mother cat can encourage them to use it as well.
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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Its weird because I only seen them pee for the first 4 weeks and only thus week they started pooing after eating kitten kibbles and chicken breast which they naturally ate themselves without me having to make slurrys for a smooth transition
But theres couple that still depend on moms milk alone - the black one among them
Their poo was remarkably well formed and odourless too
When they ate canned fancy feast they had diarrhea but kibbles and chicken breast always produced well formed poo
20210910_180026.jpg

This was an accident, they usually use litter box but after suffering so much headache with my adult cats I was so surprised how nice their poo was. I guess they must be healthy
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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Hi, I got a litter of 5 kittens 6 weeks ago which likes to climb onto bed. I'd put up with them playing in bed if it was just playing, but I've had them have few accidents in bed (both pee and poo) They are toilet trained but I think they can't get themselves in front of litterbox from top of the bed fast enough to avoid that
Is there any way for me to deter them from climbing onto bed in the first place? I have to keep them in my bedroom because there's no where else to put them in my house. I have a playpen but feel like I'm locking them up if I put them there
 
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I would lock them up until they are a little older and learn to get to the litter box. Their teeny bladders go often and quickly. They have each other for company and shouldn't be lonely. Just let them out when you can supervise. Get some good enzyme urine destroyer like Nature's Miricle so they don't smell where they went and go again. Or you might try putting a litter box on the bed when you can't be there.
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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I put cardboard box around my bed to keep them out of bed. I think playpen is way too small to leep them all in there. There's some who have very loose stool and some who have good solid stool.
I have one more question, the mom cat growls and hisses at them when they request her milk, and she doesn't really feed them even though they are not 8 weeks yet. Luckily they are all able to eat kibbles now but still why would the mother cat be so hostile towards her own babies?
 
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skrumtuoscatlayd

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I'm sorry to keep bringing up topic about poo, but I need help
The mother cat is suffering from severe diarrhea for almost 3 days
I fed her 2 cans of fancy feast and 3 pouches of wet food daily because she seemed to lack the appetite when she needed to nurse her kittens and now she's having very very loose and frequent stool
Picture for reference
20210915_010654.jpg

Sorry if its disgusting
How can I fix this? Also should I not feed her wet food even if she starve herself to prevent diarrhea? She only gets solid stool on kibble
 

Sarthur2

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She needs to see a vet ASAP. Orange poop indicates too much bile in the liver or an inflamed gall bladder. The treatment is usually antibiotics and sometimes steroids, but it can be serious so get her to the vet right away.

She needs wet food for nursing.

S skrumtuoscatlayd
 
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