Saved Kitten Help Feeding

[Thesaint117]

Need help with a male kitten we found here... We found out from one of our colleagues and tracked it down. Waited a while and no sign of his mother.. decided to take it home and put it with another cat who was nursing 6 kitty's but oddly the kitten was going hunchback and hissy at her. So we decided to split him away from them.

Thing is we believe he is 5-7 week old, has teeth, eyes focus and iris has half colour changed. It randomly poops around (has had 2 accidents) and Needs stimulation for pee.

Tried to feed it KMR in a shallow plate but it didn't take it and have had to syringe feed to make sure it dr.

He's not keen on biscuits or soft foods, and meow quite alot.

Luckily we have a male 1yr cat who is mothering it surprisingly (we didn't know males do that till now) and cleaning, taking care of and grooming.

Please advise on how to feed it better? I'm worried of overfeeding KMR with a syringe? How much do they drink and how often?

 

[StefanZ]

The need with kmr or goats milk is 8 ml / 30 grammes a day. If he is 300 grsmmes it will give 80 ml a day.

You can mix in something with this. Say some unflavored naby food. Or egg yellow.
Making it more energy dense

 

[Thesaint117]

Havnt weight him yet but I shall tomorrow when I have access to a weight scale. Currently feeding him about 6-8ml a session when he meow and asks for it (even during the night.)

 

[lacy2000]

At this age, he may no longer be drinking KMR and could like real food better. Try pate wet food or chicken/turkey baby food (with no ingredients other than the meat). You can mix it with some KMR if he likes it.

He should also be eliminating completely on his own, but might still be litter box training. Put him in a smaller space to stop him from pooping on the floor and maybe he will pee as well.

 

[Thesaint117]

Tried putting and keeping him in a box but he manages to jump and climb out, otherwise he starts meowing loud.. I assume he's older than the 6x 4week litters I have as he can jump and has much larger teeth... But I'm not sure how old he is.... does not tumble like other kittens do.

Also when I put him together with the other kittens who were playing he choose to sit further away from them on his own.... I feel it may be due to him possibly not having any siblings so he does not have his play mood.. instead just comes towards me and sits there... even while the other kittens are around him.

Been trying to give him whiska pouch food for junior but no luck yet... And I've tried mashing it... all he does is step in it accidently and make a mess

 

[lacy2000]

You may want to try baby food then. I’ve had kittens that hate every type of wet food but will down the baby food. Maybe try wiping some on his mouth or paw so he can lick it off and get a taste for it. I think your age estimation of 5 weeks is correct.

I wouldn’t recommend putting him with the other kittens or even your own cats until he has been dewormed and tested for diseases.

 

[Sarthur2]

He probably needs much more than 6-8 mLs of formula at a time. Try mixing Gerber turkey or chicken baby food in with the milk to make a slush, and feed through the syringe.

How long have you had him? He probably just needs more time to adjust and learn to eat food. It should not be too much longer!

It’s very sweet that the male cat is helping to care for the kitten. This will help him learn to be a cat.

Thank you for taking this kitten in!

 

[Thesaint117]

Have only has him for 2 days today, kinda hard working out what he needs, but just going through the checklist of feeding, making sure he pees, so far he has done 2 poop accidents (1 a day) but I assume this is due to not eating and only drinking milk.