Nursing cats and pooping.

[Christykitty]

Hi!

I have a momma and her 3 kittens. They will be 5 weeks tomorrow. They are not interested in food yet and nurse from momma. I put out a small litter box this week and I know at least 1 of them has been peeing in it. I'm using Yesterday's News litter. Oddly I'm not finding any poop anywhere, not inside or outside of the box. Is momma still stimulating them? Everyone appears healthy and well and full of energy. I'm so confused. Thanks!

 

[vince]

It would seem Mom is still cleaning them. Besides, there isn't a whole lot of stool when they're on a liquid diet. The poopsters will come when they try solid food. At five weeks, it's probably time to try weaning them. You might try introducing "kitty gruel" for them out of a bit of wet pate food (or plain meat baby food without additives) and KMR. You might have to try a syringe, but most often just putting some on your finger and poking it in their mouth will do the job. Once one starts, the others won't be far behind.

As far as the box goes, they might need some incentive. If you can put a bit of scat in the litter, that will give them an idea of what to do there, cats being very scent-driven. That they're already urinating in the box is a good sign.

 

[Christykitty]

It would seem Mom is still cleaning them. Besides, there isn't a whole lot of stool when they're on a liquid diet. The poopsters will come when they try solid food. At five weeks, it's probably time to try weaning them. You might try introducing "kitty gruel" for them out of a bit of wet pate food (or plain meat baby food without additives) and KMR. You might have to try a syringe, but most often just putting some on your finger and poking it in their mouth will do the job. Once one starts, the others won't be far behind.

As far as the box goes, they might need some incentive. If you can put a bit of scat in the litter, that will give them an idea of what to do there, cats being very scent-driven. That they're already urinating in the box is a good sign.

Thanks for the response. I got some wet momma/ kitten food and put that out today. One kitten was very interested but the others not so much. It makes sense the will start when eating solid food, like human babies.

 

[vince]

They'll probably walk all through the food at first, kitten weaning being a messy proposition. Might just put it on a paper plate until they get the hang of it. Mama probably will help clean up after the little ones, too. That's a boon.

 

[Christykitty]

They'll probably walk all through the food at first, kitten weaning being a messy proposition. Might just put it on a paper plate until they get the hang of it. Mama probably will help clean up after the little ones, too. That's a boon.

The poop has happened. 2 out of 3 have been potty training pretty well!

 

[vince]

Took awhile, but they're doing it. Yay, kitty poops! The other one's probably not too far behind.