I’m currently fostering three 6 week old kittens. Two of them are doing great food and weight wise but the third seems to be fluctuating in weight a worrying amount. I’ve noticed that she isn’t quite as ravenous as the other two which is weird to me for a kitten. The shelter gave me royal canine mom and baby wet and dry food. I leave them with kibble all the time but I’m not sure any of them are eating it yet. They get 4 wet food meals a day. I noticed the third one, Kitt, would only take a couple of bites then run off and start playing. She likes the fancy feast bite in gravy that I feed to my adult cats but it seems like she just licks the gravy and has trouble getting the larger “bits” into her mouth. So I got fancy feast kitten pate and of course she doesn’t like that very much. I’ve tried formula from a bottle, gruel with formula, gruel with water, royal canine baby wet food, fancy feast baby wet food, heating up the wet food/gruel, and she just doesn’t seem to be a big fan of any of them. However, she LOVES the tiki cat baby thrive mousse packs and the fancy feast chicken purée treats but she can’t just live off of either of those. Sometimes if I top the wet food off with those she will eat a nice full meal but she’s still not where she needs to be with her weight. So she has an appetite, just not a big one or she’s just picky.
I’ve done the skin pinch and she doesn’t seem dehydrated, she’s still using the bathroom/pooping, and she is still running around like crazy with her siblings. I will just give her the adult fancy feast because it’s better than nothing but I’m wondering if anyone has any tips for getting a picky kitten to eat. I do plan on reaching out to the shelter tomorrow but just wanted to see if anyone here could offer more insight until I can contact my foster coordinator. I’ve been troubleshooting and not feeling super concerned because her activity levels are normal and she’s not dehydrated but I am starting to worry. Her weight in grams is staying around the same, even dropping by 10 g some days.
I’ve done the skin pinch and she doesn’t seem dehydrated, she’s still using the bathroom/pooping, and she is still running around like crazy with her siblings. I will just give her the adult fancy feast because it’s better than nothing but I’m wondering if anyone has any tips for getting a picky kitten to eat. I do plan on reaching out to the shelter tomorrow but just wanted to see if anyone here could offer more insight until I can contact my foster coordinator. I’ve been troubleshooting and not feeling super concerned because her activity levels are normal and she’s not dehydrated but I am starting to worry. Her weight in grams is staying around the same, even dropping by 10 g some days.