New kitten questions

[Furballsmom]

Goodness little guy!

 

[kuu]

os it okay to ask 2 minor questions in this thread or am I supposed to start a new one? Its about eye boogers and weaning

 

[AbbysMom]

os it okay to ask 2 minor questions in this thread or am I supposed to start a new one? Its about eye boogers and weaning

If it is about the same mother cat and kittens, yes you can ask in this thread. We prefer to keep it to one thread.

 

[kuu]

oh oke thats nice! So my female kitten has eye boogerd i obviously cant get out since shes very fragile, can I just wait it out? And on the other hand, can I introduce my kittens to kibble mixed with KRM before wetfood? Because for the love of god I cant find Kitten food for the age of 1month atleast. It always says 2months to 6 months

 

[Sarthur2]

You can always (and should) gently wipe away eye discharge gently with a warm, damp, soft cloth to clear the eyes. This is preferable to letting discharge build up. Otherwise they may end up with a full blown eye infection that requires antibiotic ointment, called Terramycin. Or they may end up with an untreated infection that causes blindness.

Also, kitten food softened with kitten formula is a perfectly acceptable food. My kittens loved it. But feel free to mix older kitten food with formula to make a mush that they might suck or lick. I did this too, and they eventually took to it.

Your problem is that your kittens are still not quite 3 weeks old, and 3-week-old kittens are NOT ready to wean yet. Kittens wean best between 6 and 8 weeks old.

Stop rushing things. They need to nurse from mom for another 3 weeks at least. You cannot force it. They get their baby teeth at around 4 weeks. Most kittens do NOT wean to soft foods until they are between 6 and 8 weeks old.

I’m concerned that you are getting ahead of what Mother Nature intends. Please back off and let things happen naturally.

Is there some reason you are rushing everything?

I invite you to visit our forum articles which explain things in detail and give guidance as to what is appropriate at what age.

I encourage you to follow these guidelines and not rush your kittens’ development.

 

[Norachan]

Because for the love of god I cant find Kitten food for the age of 1month at least. It always says 2months to 6 months

That's because kittens can't eat food until they are closer to 2 months old.



I have an orphaned kitten I am raising and he's close to six weeks old now but I've only just, in the last 48 hours, managed to get him to lick a bit of wet food from a bowl.

There's no need to rush things. Let the kittens nurse from their mother for as long as they want to. She can supply them with all the nutrition they need and encourage them to eat when they are ready.

 

[StefanZ]

os it okay to ask 2 minor questions in this thread or am I supposed to start a new one? Its about eye boogers and weaning

Yes, normally you keep asking in the same thread you already have.

If there is some dramatic change needing immediate answer, it may be wise to ask a new quiestion; it attracts more attention. I for example, Im not always following old threads, while I always answer asap on alarmic new messages...

Still; as the others said; normally you keep your question on the same momma and kids in one thread yes.

AbbysMom

 

[StefanZ]

As said, they are far too early to try and wean them. If you by any reason dont think they get enough from momma, say, they seem to nurse, but dont add 10+ grammes a day, you can try with supplementing them.
but you do supplement them with milk; ie KMR and or goats milk. Kitten food will come much later.
As you DO have a nursing momma, you dont have any reasone to rush things; unless there are some visible problems at hand...


Ps. You may probably had heard about someone whom did tried with kitten food at this here age, and baby did OK??. But its in desperate cases, say someone found orphans, no momma, no good kmr nor even goats milk to get, so what to do??

Dire necessity has its own laws, you must try to save what may be saved... And thus, you try with wetted down kitten food or baby food... Someone may survive with any luck.

Why, I have heard one forumite whom gave the orphans nutrition solution in drops for baby birds... Yeah, the kitten survived.
Another forumite, living on a small island, gave the kitten her own breast milk... The kitten survived until it got more common kmr...

 

[kuu]

hey, since there are a lot of answes Ill iust answer overall. Do not worry I have not tried to wean them yet at all, I do see that they are not interested in anything but the cats milk, its just very odd that eveeeery page I visit tells me to slowly introduce them to kittenfood at age 3-4 weeks. Im literally trying to follow the protocol¿ I do very much realize that they are too young so I havent done anything, my cat is still full of milk and they still want milk so Im not going to wean them yet. So Im gonna assume that theyre fine till 6 weeks of age huh?

 

[kuu]

Also I know that they arent 3 weeks old yet but im trying to think ahead every week so Im prepared

 

[mani]

I honestly don't know what your search engine is doing but I don't find any that mention three weeks. I thought I'd just post the ones that came up for me, that are credible sites.
Sometimes if they are orphans there may be some accelertion of the process but slowly is definitely the best policy.
There are some exceptionally knowledgeable people here at TCS.. you've met some already.. and I think you can trust their experience.

At around four weeks old, kittens are ready to begin weaning. Under four weeks of age, kittens are considered neonatal and might not be ready for weaning from their mother’s milk or formula.

Weaning a Kitten From Mother’s Milk to Solid Food

Learn about weaning kittens from the beginning of this process to eventually introducing the kitten to solid food.

pets.webmd.com

Kittens' bodies are very sensitive to premature weaning, so be careful about starting them too young. A kitten 0-5 weeks old should be nursing or bottle feeding. Around 5 weeks of age, the kitten's premolars will begin to emerge, indicating that she is likely ready to start trying out some meaty foods. However, some kittens may need a bit more time on the bottle due to health issues, or differences in weight or size. Use your best judgement and follow the kitten's lead to determine the appropriate age to wean. If you see any changes in the kitten's health or energy during this process, immediately step back to bottle feeding.

Weaning — Kitten Lady

www.kittenlady.org

Once kittens grow past four weeks, they’re no longer considered neonatal.

How Old Is That Kitten? Kitten Guide: Four Weeks

Learn how to raise 4 week old kittens including weaning and eating solid food. Our kitten guide has everything you need to care for your kitten.

www.alleycat.org

 

[kuu]

0_0 damn Im thankful that Ive been prevented on making such a mistake. So many pages requested introducing them to wet fold at around 3-4 weeks. I too find that odd considering they cant even coordinate too well. So I will wait up till 6 weeks or perhaps a bit earlier if they show indications that they want meaty food. Very thankful for the advise!

 

[kuu]

hey guys so I know this thread is basically finished but there was a change yesterday. The female kitten gained 0 gramm yesterday, infact she even lost 2g. Before Im told to go to the vet I would like to provide some infos ahead: She did nurse from the queen and yes she was getting milk.
She was very active half the day and the other half she basically slept. Is it possible that she burnt off all that energy she gained? So when we noticed this we intentionally put her on the moms teats to nurse and it turns out she falls asleep like 10 seconds in, so wed gently tap her and shed continue nursing. And that happens multiple times, then she finished and we quickly weighted her again and she had gained 6gramms (4 if u think about the lost 2g). Today as of 6am I let her nurse again and she now gained 8 gramms (just the morning, I have yet to weigh her at the upcoming midnight) Is this cause for concern yet or is everything still containable?

 

[kuu]

the weight would be 368, 366 turning to 372 with help, and 380 next day morning

 

[StefanZ]

the weight would be 368, 366 turning to 372 with help, and 380 next day morning

So how is the raise per day? It seems to be lower than 10g? It may be OK, but seems to be a lower raise than before...
Or day or two doesnt matter much; but as you describe it, she seems to be weakish and doenst have the energhy to nurse properly, she gets tired and falls asleep.

You can try to put a droplet of glucose sugar / white caro syrup, on her gum, under the lip; a few minutes before the nursing. This gives quick energhy, and I hope she will find the strengh to nurse more properly, dont fall asleep as quickly.

 

[Sarthur2]

She’s in the normal weight range for 3 weeks. She should weigh about 16 ounces at 4 weeks, so continue to encourage her to nurse. A little honey on her gums may perk her up enough to nurse more, but she sounds overall okay.

 

[kuu]

So how is the raise per day? It seems to be lower than 10g? It may be OK, but seems to be a lower raise than before...
Or day or two doesnt matter much; but as you describe it, she seems to be weakish and doenst have the energhy to nurse properly, she gets tired and falls asleep.

You can try to put a droplet of glucose sugar / white caro syrup, on her gum, under the lip; a few minutes before the nursing. This gives quick energhy, and I hope she will find the strengh to nurse more properly, dont fall asleep as quickly.

I know she seems weak from what Ive described but shes very active and roams around a lot 'exploring' (ofc supervised) I will weigh her tonight again and hopefully shell have proper gain

 

[kuu]

She’s in the normal weight range for 3 weeks. She should weigh about 16 ounces at 4 weeks, so continue to encourage her to nurse. A little honey on her gums may perk her up enough to nurse more, but she sounds overall okay.

alright if she doesnt gain more then 10 today I will try it out. Perhaps its heat making her tired, its around 32°C right now. We do have a cooling mat and provided shade just incase

 

[kuu]

hey guys I just weighed her shes 390 now! so she gained 18g

 

[Sarthur2]

Are they inside your home?