Questions about 6-7 week old kitten

[Beansmumoona]

Hiya, I last fed my 6 week old kitten yesterday at 6pm last night. During the night she woke me up to sounds of wretching and i thought a hair ball was coming out but nope it was food... I cleaned her up and she seemed alert playful even. Then slept again. She woke up puking again at 2am, a smaller amount but the same.

This morning she didnt want to eat at all ... Could it be the kitten food or is there something else?

Also this is my first time posting here. THanks! And i am waiting for the vets to open to call them also. Shes my first baby kitten but ive had cats before. This is new to me.

 

[StefanZ]

Hiya, I last fed my 6 week old kitten yesterday at 6pm last night. During the night she woke me up to sounds of wretching and i thought a hair ball was coming out but nope it was food... I cleaned her up and she seemed alert playful even. Then slept again. She woke up puking again at 2am, a smaller amount but the same.

This morning she didnt want to eat at all ... Could it be the kitten food or is there something else?

Also this is my first time posting here. THanks! And i am waiting for the vets to open to call them also. Shes my first baby kitten but ive had cats before. This is new to me.

Good you are taking her to the vet.
The vomiting may be pure accidental. But as she doesnt want eat now, (is she lethargic?) it is fully possible something not so good happens.

She may have swallowed something unsuitable, she may have got an infection...

Please report when you know more. Or have more questions.

Good luck!

 

[Beansmumoona]

Good you are taking her to the vet.
The vomiting may be pure accidental. But as she doesnt want eat now, (is she lethargic?) it is fully possible something not so good happens.

She may have swallowed something unsuitable, she may have got an infection...

Please report when you know more. Or have more questions.

Good luck!

Hiya - she seems ok now! Ate both her breakfast and lunch! I made smaller portions. Shes been playing and napping as per usual. My guess based off of what i read online is that it was a bad tummy ache or dehydration. Im trying to get her to drink but its a bit of a challenge..

 

[Flybynight]

Hi,
If possible, feed her wet kitten food. If she is eating wet food only, she likely will be getting enough hydration from her food. But for kittens any food transition should be slow.
There is also kitten milk that she may like.

 

[StefanZ]

Goats milk is always a good supplement for all cats, as soon you wish to give them some milk.

 

[Beansmumoona]

Hi,
If possible, feed her wet kitten food. If she is eating wet food only, she likely will be getting enough hydration from her food. But for kittens any food transition should be slow.
There is also kitten milk that she may like.

Shes only eating wet food, hasnt touched dry food. Ill check see if i find kitten milk at the store. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[StefanZ]

Good she does eats wet food. Not all cats do, yet wet food is usually better quality than dry food.

Cats eating mostly wet food get most of their need of fluids from this wet food. That is probably why she doensnt wants to drink water more than occasionally...
Still, of course she shall have fresh water always ready for her.
And perhaps goats milk.

 

[lutece]

If she's only 6 weeks old, she might need to eat more frequently. Many kittens are still nursing from mom at this age. How often are you feeding her? Was she raised with her mom, or was she bottle fed / fostered? Do you know when she started eating solid food?

 

[Beansmumoona]

If she's only 6 weeks old, she might need to eat more frequently. Many kittens are still nursing from mom at this age. How often are you feeding her? Was she raised with her mom, or was she bottle fed / fostered? Do you know when she started eating solid food?

The lady fostering her told me the litter had weaned at 4 weeks old, they all ate wet food.
I feed her 3 to 4 times a day and small portions.

 

[Beansmumoona]

So I've had her from 5wks, shes very used to both me and my fiance. I've been feeding her some reduced portions of wet food every few hrs (6 am, 10, 13, 18). Shes lovely and playful and a joy but when its food time she becomes so possessive over her food, she'll climb legs (regardless of if we're wearing long trousers) and constantly cry and beg. Then once food is presented she'll dive into the bowl and yarf the food down.. is this normal behaviour? Will she grow out of it? Can i do something to reduce her stressful eating?
Thanks!

 

[vince]

I suppose it's more a function of how she was brought up. I have a socialized feral (rescued her about the same age as yours) who seemed to be an only. She wasn't aggressive at all. In fact, at age 3 I still have to sit with her to make sure the other two won't push her out of her dish and eat her food. One of the others is a shelter adoptee who used to be an extremely aggressive eater. He once nailed me real good in the thumb while I was trying to hand-feed him. I still have to watch it when giving him treats by hand. The third, also a shelter adoptee, is somewhere in the middle.

From my past experience, they do grow out of the food aggression to a degree, but once a piglet, always a piglet. You can try interactive feeders that force the cat to work a bit for their meal. It should help with the wolfing down of the food.

The aggressive eater of mine is a 'scarf-n-barfer' as well. To stop the after-breakfast barfing, I took the advice of someone elsewhere on this site and started giving them a treat or two immediately upon waking in the morning. I keep the treats in the nightstand right by the bed. It does seem to take the edge off and the morning barfs don't occur nearly so often. It quiets down the other cats as well.

 

[Willowy]

At this age she should be fed as much as she wants. Is offering a bowl of dry food an option? That can help with food aggression. Although she might still climb your leg for canned food!

 

[Beansmumoona]

I suppose it's more a function of how she was brought up. I have a socialized feral (rescued her about the same age as yours) who seemed to be an only. She wasn't aggressive at all. In fact, at age 3 I still have to sit with her to make sure the other two won't push her out of her dish and eat her food. One of the others is a shelter adoptee who used to be an extremely aggressive eater. He once nailed me real good in the thumb while I was trying to hand-feed him. I still have to watch it when giving him treats by hand. The third, also a shelter adoptee, is somewhere in the middle.

From my past experience, they do grow out of the food aggression to a degree, but once a piglet, always a piglet. You can try interactive feeders that force the cat to work a bit for their meal. It should help with the wolfing down of the food.

The aggressive eater of mine is a 'scarf-n-barfer' as well. To stop the after-breakfast barfing, I took the advice of someone elsewhere on this site and started giving them a treat or two immediately upon waking in the morning. I keep the treats in the nightstand right by the bed. It does seem to take the edge off and the morning barfs don't occur nearly so often. It quiets down the other cats as well.

Thanks for your reply! Ill see if i find a slow feeder locally. I'm also concerned if im feeding her enough because i hate seeing her barf out her food at 3am i dont want to over feed her.

Maybe if i feed her larger portions to the point where she stops begging after eating shell stop being so agressive and demanding? (Even tho she might end up barfing)

 

[Beansmumoona]

At this age she should be fed as much as she wants. Is offering a bowl of dry food an option? That can help with food aggression. Although she might still climb your leg for canned food!

Ive actually just introduced dry food mixed in with her wet food today in hopes of her getting used to it and filling her up a bit more... Ive been holding a bit back on the portion size because she had barfed a few times at night

 

[Ellis75]

Has she been seen by a vet yet? There are a lot of reasons she could be vomiting and she should get checked out if she hasn't yet. I assume her mama isn't around, did you find the kitten?

Do you know how much you're feeding her in total? It's usually best to leave dry food out all the time and offer wet food meals throughout the day to make sure she's getting all the calories she needs to grow

(Edited because my last sentence got cut off somehow!)

 

[Beansmumoona]

Has she been seen by a vet yet? There are a lot of reasons she could be vomiting and she should get checked out if she hasn't yet. I assume her mama isn't around, did you find the kitten?

Do you know how much you're feeding her in total? It's usually best to leave dry food out all the time and offer wet food meals throughout the day to

She was weaned at 4 wks, adopted at 5 from the fosterer. Shes been checked by a vet, given dewormer and anti flea spray. Vet also said to book an appointment when shes 9 weeks for vaccines which is soon. I leave her dry food out but she doesnt take it, today i mixed a bit of dry with wet and she ate it so tomorrow maybe shell eat the dry food alone.. idk how to measure her food but she'll go through a sachet of wet kitten food a day. Also she hasn't barfed in a few days and she hasnt changed her behaviour much other than feeding time. also i saw her drinking water today so thats a good sign

 

[vince]

More small meals is the answer. She just has a little tiny stomach at her age. If you can take the time to feed her more little meals of whatever she'll eat in addition to the dry food left out, she will do better with respect to the barfing.

Since your kitty seems to want only soft food (at six weeks, she's pretty young for hard stuff), maybe something semi-moist, on the order of "Tender Vittles" could be used as a soft food treat at your bedtime and upon waking? I don't use that, but my Mom used to feed it to her cats and it kept pretty well without refrigeration.

 

[Beansmumoona]

More small meals is the answer. She just has a little tiny stomach at her age. If you can take the time to feed her more little meals of whatever she'll eat in addition to the dry food left out, she will do better with respect to the barfing.

Ok will do! Thanks! So when you say small portions? Like a spoonful of mashed up wet food? Or something smaller? I might be feeding her too small a portion i cant find visual diagrams anywhere online and its frustrating because some people say one thing, others say another .. I just wana do whats right for my little one...

 

[vince]

Perhaps a teaspoonful of the kitty gruel at a time is a good starting point. As long as she has something to munch on between meals, she'll be okay. If she has teeth, she'll be able to deal with dry, but I suspect she might not at six weeks of age. That's why I suggested the semi-moist food as an alternative. You can give her KMR as well to supplement her other foods.

Kitties her age are growing machines and have very high caloric needs when compared to full-grown cats. Unfortunately they have little kitty-sized innards that can't hold much. Kitten-specific foods have higher caloric value to address that need. Lots of small meals and food readily available are the answer.

 

[Beansmumoona]

Hi again! Gosh i see her growing and i find new things to worry about! I know kittens dont really get fat and shes constantly growing but im a little worried that her belly is on the big side. (Hopefully the images come thru).
Im feeding her a mixture of wet and dry food (shell only eat dry food if it smells like wet food so sometimes i put in just a little bit of wet food to get her to eat it) and i feed her frequently and small portions. She drinks water on her own and uses the litter well (her stool is normal). She hasn't thrown up in the past week! And goes through moments of zoomies and then naps.

My main issue with her belly is that it feels hard and bloated but its not huuuge but if i look at her from above she reminds me of a pregnant cat.
Let me know what you think please! Thanks